BMW 116i 2005 Vanos Rattling

[wannaseemdead]

Hey, so my car is having a VANOS problem that I really want to fix because I genuinely feel like one day its gonna do something to my chain.

The symptoms that the car has now are:

• Extremely rough idle, car shakes side to side
• RPMs drop to 500 and back to normal every 3 seconds, car is hiccuping badly
• Sometimes engine can cut off it car was really standing for long time
• The rattling goes away as the engine warms up, so it only appears on cold.
• When starting the engine, the red oil light comes up for a few seconds and then goes off, which indicates that there is something wrong with the oil pressure.

I gave my car to a mechanic and he returned the car to me saying that engine needs stripping and he suggested me to sell the car, but it's my first car that I would want to keep as I know that VANOS isn't the worst problem that could happen. He also added that if the car idles for 10 minutes on tick there is blue smoke coming out the exhaust, engine is burning oil (I'm not really sure if this is true as I haven't seen it myself, though engine oil does go pretty quick, and I am really hoping it's because two of my cylinders are misfiring because of VANOS.

I removed the solenoids to check if they're dirty, and I forgot to mention that the guy I bought the car off has replaced a lot of things, which are:
New timing chain and guides within last 2000 miles
New vanos solenoids within last 2000 miles
New oil pan gasket within last 2000 miles
New valve cover gasket within last 2000 miles
New rear abs sensors and rings within 3000
Engine flush with new oil and filter within last 100 miles
New coil pack within last 2000 miles
New fuel rail and injectors within last 2000 miles

So the solenoids did look very clean and new, so it wouldn't be them. I also tried to change the cabled in case they are connected incorrectly and it didn't help.

Then I tried to run the car without the solenoids being connected and the rattle was gone, though it was sad to put them back on as torque is lost and fuel consumption is higher when solenoids are off.

So I know for sure that it's the VANOS, but the solenoids are fine. I did a lot of research on VANOS and all what I could find is how to rebuild a double VANOS on cars like 3-series, but mine is a 1 series and I couldn't find a single thing except how to replace solenoids and stuff like that.

Really willing to fix this problem, I think that I gathered quite a bit of information and I'm close to the solution of this problem.

Here's videos of the noise of my car rattling and the codes that showed up when my mechanic was checking it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gx-ROJHnJVY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h826fZCAS_w

https://imgur.com/a/3PrpZpC

[MarcoZandrini]

The first step in diagnosing a problem is to scan the engine computer (DME) for codes. A genetic code reader will be ok to start with. It sounds like you have vacuum leaks. The VANOS can be rebuilt using a kit from Beisan (http://www.beisansystems.com/). You’ll likely need to add the rattle repair part with the seals. Do not buy a repair kit from anyone else. Beisan is the best. Companies that rebuild VANOS units use Beisan kits.

[wannaseemdead]

The first step in diagnosing a problem is to scan the engine computer (DME) for codes. A genetic code reader will be ok to start with. It sounds like you have vacuum leaks. The VANOS can be rebuilt using a kit from Beisan (http://www.beisansystems.com/). You’ll likely need to add the rattle repair part with the seals. Do not buy a repair kit from anyone else. Beisan is the best. Companies that rebuild VANOS units use Beisan kits.

Where is the Vanos located? Is there a video on how to rebuild it? Also if its on the timing and I take it off, then I don't know how to time it back if I rebuild the vanos and put it back

[wannaseemdead]

Also, I did send some codes. If u look at the imgur link u will see it

- - - Updated - - -

Where is the Vanos located? Is there a video on how to rebuild it? Also if its on the timing and I take it off, then I don't know how to time it back if I rebuild the vanos and put it back

I've seen this website many times and its for 3 series or cars with 6 cylinder, my car has 4 so its not ideal.

[MarcoZandrini]

The VANOS is located on the top front of the engine. Here’s a link to the cylinder head.
https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/sho...diagId=11_3296
It looks like the VANOS system is all electrical so disregard my referral to Beisan.
I checked the codes. You have misfires. They are not usually caused by VANOS issues. Lousy performance can be caused by VANOS issue. Try swapping the coils between a misfiring cylinder and a non-misfiring cylinder. Number the coils with a permanent marker before swapping the coils.

This link is for your car:
https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/par...BMW-116i&mg=11

[JCRBMW]

Hello, did you fix this issue? I have the same codes. Runs fine with Vanos disconnected. I think the misfires are caused due to timing being wrong due to Vanos control problem. I have changed all Vanos components, solenoids, actuators, rectangrings. I have scoped the signal from ECU to solenoids. It is all over the place. I haven't found what is causing it. I would be interested to hear your story.