WHAT ENGINE HAS THE VANOS

[dellboy]

Hi there, habe just been reading various things about the vanos (what ever it is) and there seems to be problems with them. I googled it but still not any wiser, It talks about changing bolts and filters but not sure if it is on all engines or just Z4M. Mine is a 2003 2.5 smg (still dont understand what the "E" numbers are eveyone talks about)
Thanks
Ray

[chris]

The E numbers relate to the chassis format, so you can have a Z4 but to differentiate between them they are given model numbers, so E85 for the roadster, E86 for the coupe etc. But like the 3 series E46 is just the E46, they revised the new 3 series to the E90/E91/E92 and so on.

And i think most BMW if not all have Vanos systems. Certainly the 6 cyl's do, not sure about the 4 cyl's but would have thought so. Never had one so not looked into it

[sk93]

have a read of this first:
http://www.bimmerforums.co.uk/forum/f2/ ... ained-t62/

it explains everything you could want to know about the VANOS.

Then, to learn what engines have VANOS, take a look at the list on this page:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VANOS#List ... OS_engines

finally, to see which cars have those engines, click the links on that page
for example, this is the pre-facelift E85 (z4 Roadster) engine page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_M54


As for the "E" numbers, the "E" actually stands for "Entwicklung", which is German for "Development".
As each new car project is started by BMW, it's given a new number.
For our cars, we have E85 - the Z4 Roadster, E86 - the Z4 Coupe, and the E89 - the new Z4.

Sometimes you get a whole host of cars listed under the same "E" number, as the project assigned the number was a multi-car project (meaning that BMW knew that they wanted to create several versions of the same car).
A good example of this is the E36 project.
This includes the Z3 Roadster (E36/7) and the 316 Compact (E36/5).


As well as "E" numbers for cars, BMW also use "M","N" and "S" for denoting engine models.
If the engine starts with an "M", this indicates the engine was designed by BMW BEFORE 2001.
If the engine starts with an "N", this indicates the engine was designed by BMW AFTER 2001.
If the engine starts with an "S", this indicates the engine was built by BMW, but tuned by BMW Motorsport.
The numbers that follow directly after this letter indicate the model number of the engine.
For example: M52
This is the model number of the engine used in the pre-facelift Z4 Roadster.

Now, after the engine model number, BMW go on to explain what fuel and capacity each engine is.
The fuel is either denoted by "B" (for Bezin, German for Petrol) or "D" (for Diesel).
The capicity is given in centilitres - meaning a 3 litre would be "30", and a 2.5 litre would be "25".

The following are the engine numbers for a few Z4 varients:

M54B25 - The pre-facelift 2.5l
M54B30 - The pre-facelift 3.0l
N52B25 - The post-facelift 2.5l
S54B32 - The Z4M
N54B30 - The new model (E89) Z4 3.0l twin turbo


Hopefully that helps a bit
(it also makes you a fully fledge beemer nerd )

[chris]

M54 is the engines used in the Z4, M52 was the 6 cyl E36 lump etc

Good little write up though

[Shipkiller]

On the non-M's, the VANOs uses engine oil at normal oil pump pressures to operate.

On the ///M's, the VANOs is a different animal. It has a separate VANOS pressure pump. Like I said above, in regular-production BMW engines the main oil pump supplies the pressure to operate VANOS; here the VANOS system has its own radial-piston hydraulic pump. Integral to the exhaust camshafts VANOS mechanism, the pump produces up to 120 bar (1740 lb./sq in.) of pressure to vary valve timing more quickly at the very high rpm this engine reaches. BMW M refers to its VANOS system as High-Pressure Double VANOS; it is also used in the M5 and M6’s 500-hp S85 V10 engine.

[sk93]

M54 is the engines used in the Z4, M52 was the 6 cyl E36 lump etc

Good little write up though

slip of the keys - sorted now

[AlanJ]

And a useful link to specs. and engine configurations....

http://www.bmwz4roadster.net/

[dellboy]

Guys, that was very helpfull (I want to be a BMW nerd as well). Is there anything I should get done to the Vanos as I read somewere about a filter and bolts etc or do you leave alone until it gets noisy. Car has only 37k on it (2003 2.5)
And I now know I have a E85

[chris]

On the M3 there is a filter you need to change every service, and if this is not done it can cause problems, and bad ones. But there is not one on the M54 engine, as the above post says, different system.

[Shipkiller]

Only the S54 has an inlet filter. There is no recommended change interval with this filter from BMW. It is not listed on the Inspection 1 or Inspection 2 lists. It is just a small screen to catch the larger particles. I pulled mine out this weekend (took 1 min), checked it and then replaced it back.

[dellboy]

Thanks guys, are they something that give much bother?