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Thread: N52 VANOS Warranty?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2019
    Location
    Los Angeles
    Posts
    6
    My Cars
    2011 128i

    N52 VANOS Warranty?

    Had my 2011 128i for about 2 yrs super fun car to drive has aftermarket headers/135i m performance exhaust. Anyways no problems til recently, car just hit 75k. new belt/pulleys, oil filter housing which lead to the new belt, and most recently the valve cover. Seconds after pulling off from paying 1k to do the valve cover the service light comes on again. The auto shop said that's what I wanted to happen that bmw wouldnt touch it with the leaking valve cover or with the light off. but that now it's just the vanos faults and after they fix that the car would be %100. Has anyone had vanos done recently at the dealer under warranty and if so how long did the whole process take? The dealers had the car for about 3 days now all I've got was one call yesterday saying theyve diagnosed the car and it's giving vanos fault codes. That they need to look at it for a bit longer while they take pictures and wait for approval for the warranty? Then they will need another full day after the approval. Sounds to me like they're going to try to blame the vanos failing on me somehow but I'm curious if anyone else has had the dealer try to not fix a warranty/recall
    Last edited by Bigboss473; 01-31-2019 at 05:22 PM.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2019
    Location
    Los Angeles
    Posts
    6
    My Cars
    2011 128i
    Update

    Went in person to the dealer since I wasn’t getting any updates, now they say it’s vanos but that they need to do a teardown and take the valve cover and oil filter housing off to make sure it’s forsure the issue and see if the bolt is inside or dropped to the oil pan. That they needed me to give the go ahead because if anything goes left it’s gonna cost me another $400 on top of the first $200 diagnostic charge but that if all goes right I won’t come out of pocket and I’ll be getting a new oil pan out of it but I won’t be getting my car back til Tuesday realistically
    Last edited by Bigboss473; 01-31-2019 at 08:54 PM.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Nov 2018
    Location
    Minnesota, MN
    Posts
    10
    My Cars
    2011 BMW 328i xDrive
    I have a similar story, my 2011 BMW 328xi had stalling issues and was making whistling noises and my indy mech said that the diaphragm in the valve cover was bust, and hence I replaced my valve cover along with the eccentric shaft sensor. whistling noise fixed but engine stalling was not, the 2A7C and 2A82 codes wont go. I have now given up after replacing camshaft position sensor and cleaning/swapping vanos solenoids. taking it to BMW tomorrow, fingers crossed hoping for the vanos bolt warranty.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jan 2019
    Location
    Los Angeles
    Posts
    6
    My Cars
    2011 128i
    That’s literally what happened with me first it was the whistling, hopefully you’ve already took it to the dealer.. I just got my car back today, everything was covered under warranty as it should of been. In the paperwork it says they found 1 sheered bolt in the cylinder head and the other 3 were in the oil pan. Everything’s running smooth they even drove it 8 miles to make sure lol. My only complaint is I feel like now it’s not as responsive when I step on the gas it takes a few seconds for it to respond it feels like but it is also a cold day and I’m sure it’s been sitting for a few hours. Other then that bmw came through for once

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Nov 2018
    Location
    Minnesota, MN
    Posts
    10
    My Cars
    2011 BMW 328i xDrive
    That's good news man, I am glad you got it all fixed without paying out of pocket. I ended up towing the car to BMW as it would not start on Friday just as I was getting ready to take it to the dealership (only saving grace was that it was in my garage and not in the middle of the road here in Minnesota with -40 weather we had last week). They told me that they would take care of it for free if it ended up being the vanos issue, and they just called me today and asked me to provide them oil change records from 70000 miles onward for whatever reason. Let's see what happens now.

    I hope your car gets back to its normal responsiveness soon, like you said it may be because it was a cold day and the engine may be getting used to the new oil and timing.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Nov 2018
    Location
    Minnesota, MN
    Posts
    10
    My Cars
    2011 BMW 328i xDrive
    Update: Dealer called and told me they are replacing the Vanos adjustment unit and it will be done for free. Can't say how much relieved I am. Will write a blog post about this once I get back my car and everything. It is a disgrace BMW did not recall all these cars and put some in extended warranty. It's like kicking the can down the road. Shame on BMW.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    CT
    Posts
    780
    My Cars
    '97 840CI
    Older thread, but this may be helpful. I had very noisey upper timming chain chain area. 2010 X3 with N52 engine. Dealer ran VIN and stated the car was under the 10 year warrenty but not recall for faulty vanos bolts. Don't understand why some would be under warranty and some recall. Did not want to have the car towed in to find out that the problem was not the bolts. The dealer stated that removing the valve cover and diagnosing would be $1,700 and that is what I would pay if they simply put the valve cover back on and returned the car.

    So, purchased a $40 endoscope on AMAZON, snaked the probe through the oil cap opening to photo the vanos bolts and confirmed bolts have been sheared. In the shop now.

    my vanos 3.JPG
    Vanos bolts 3.JPG

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    CT
    Posts
    780
    My Cars
    '97 840CI
    Follow-up to above. All four bolt heads on the intake were sheared. One on the exhaust was sheared. The liberated bolt heads did enough damage to the engine that the BMW dealership had a new engine sent from Germany and just finished the install Friday. In four months my 10 year extended warranty for this issue would have been up.

    Link to Service Information Bulletin: https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2014/RCRIT-14V176-2716.pdf

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Oct 2012
    Posts
    7
    I just experienced the broken bolts myself.
    2010 x3 n52, i had a P0015 code no matter what I did, cleaned the solenoids and filters, replaced the cps, did an engine flush.... code kept coming back and engine noise got more and more serious. decided to take the VC off and have my own inspection. Found one bolt sheared off on the camshaft side and one bolt almost completely out (used a screw driver to get it back in more so it doesn't fall out completely).

    I had it towed to my local bmw dealer and now just waiting on their official confirmation call. I know its not official yet, but since the probelm is there, its black and white warranty claim to me.
    Im hoping the engine is not full funked but considering the noise level i was getting, it wouldn't surprise me if something like Mike's situation happened. I think I wouldn't mind it at all considering it be a new car lol.

    keep you updated on my claim.
    Attached Images Attached Images
    Last edited by pawelgawel; 11-22-2019 at 03:06 PM.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jan 2020
    Location
    Eugene
    Posts
    1
    My Cars
    2011 BMW 328i
    Was your car under any warranty back then, I'm facing similar issues.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
    Location
    Portland, OR
    Posts
    3
    My Cars
    1993 E34 M5
    My 2010 X3 with N52 motor just had the VANOS adjuster units replaced under the 10-year warranty. I had a P0015 code, crazy loud whistling coming from the back of the valve cover. Found a video online indicating a torn pcv valve rubber flap ($2 of rubber, maybe?). But, this is integrated into the plastic valve cover. I replaced the valve cover and the eccentric shaft sensor after I found oil in it and busted off one of the brittle seuring tabs when removing it. Whistle went away, car then started throwing a 2A82 code. Cleaned and swapped the solenoids and the non-return valves (I needed a mirror). Code persisted. Car went to indy shop, they found the sheared VANOS adjuster bolts, I never looked for that, right in front of me when replacing valve cover. When troubleshooting, I came across the service bulletin, had the car towed to dealer. Yep, under 10-year warranty, barely. They pulled the oil pan to find the sheared bolts. While in there, they found two busted cylinder head bolts, oil leaking. Now, they want $2K to easy-out and replace those head bolts. Good Lord! This is BMW's pinnacle of their normally aspirated straight six?

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Location
    Arlington, VA
    Posts
    9,933
    My Cars
    2018 BMW M240i
    Contact BMW NA. Be polite but firm. Tell them that this car is the love of your life. Ok, maybe not the love of your life, let the person know how much you like the car, etc. Tell the person that you’ve maintained the car better then BMW’s required maintenance schedule.

    BMW NA can exert some pressure on the dealer but we have to realize that the dealer is a franchisee and is not owned by NA. Also remember that the dealer gets paid at a lower hourly labor rate compared to what any us would pay for a non-warranty repair. That’s why dealers try to convince you that the warranty doesn’t apply to a customer’s situation.
    Last edited by MarcoZandrini; 03-29-2020 at 07:03 AM.

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