Big Thanks to Steve, aka MrVanos (and a nod to Redish)
Posted: Wed Oct 06, 2021 12:20 am
As per header....
But a bit of background first
My M Roadster has been in my possession since early half of 2012 ,so over 9 years now
In that time,I have had very little to worry about, bar the Odd unexpected repair (one of them being steering,which was caused by my BMW dealer,imo),and the usual M service costs,and the usual wear and tear items.
Fast forward to last year,and I chose,as preventative maintenance,to get My Vanos done,as well as New Timing chain,and replace some Coil packs/leads,to cure a misfire that had appeared (3 worn coilpacks)
Can't fault Steve/Mr Vanos ,for his knowledge and diagnosis skills,as the misfire had already been to another BMW Specialists,and wasn't diagnosed/located
Car felt great afterwards, but wasn't getting much use,as with most of our cars on here,due to Covid restrictions then.
Anyway,that was 2020.
Come January,this year, I start to hear a knock knock knock noise from the Engine,but only when starting it from Complete Cold,and only after it settled at idle....and then only when revving it up, slightly, and once it was the warmed up,circa 10 minutes....the noise wasn't audible after that warm up period.
Cue trips to 2 Scottish BMW Specialists/Indy's, both of whom had the car for a week or two,and couldn't diagnose the cause.
As I then spoke to several other BMW Specialists round the UK,and with Steve having family health issues around that time,the car was booked into Redish Motorsport, Bristol,for various work,Inc Engine mounts,Rod bearing shells,Oil pump (oe Peirpurg unit), as Preventative maintenance again,and cheaper getting done when Bottom end is apart for Rod bearing shells,etc. And also to fix my leaking Differential (found by my local BMW Indy).
They also looked into the strange noises from my engine.
After initially discounting the cause would be Vanos related,as They know Steve's good reputation,they had the car over two weeks,and looked at everything possible.
Other than charging me a minimal charge for Several hours of Diagnostic work,and doing all the other stuff at a Competitive cost,they put the noises down to the start of a Vanos Rattle or groan.
Steve then arranged to come to my house,and had a look at everything,but needed more time than he had then,plus was convinced it was nothing to do with the rebuilt Vanos unit etc he had fitted the previous year. (He was right on this,btw).
By this time,the Knock Knock Knock noises had become more regular,and were there more often,and not just until warmed up,and had been joined by more obvious Groaning/grumbling noises!!
Fast forward another few weeks,and I arranged to take my z to his Garage in Darlington and left it with him for 2-3 weeks.
After looking at several things, including choosing to Replace the rebuilt Vanos unit he had previously fitted in my car,with another Fully Rebuilt Vanos unit, including new Solenoids,etc which he doesn't normally replace unless they are obviously worn,the noises were still there.
As he was very very kindly doing this Diagnostic work for Free (his choice,as he was intrigued by what it could be,and wanted to find it), he was fitting it in between various other cars he has in for work.
After looking at various things,he located an issue with the ECU.
The car previously had been throwing up Cam sensor fault codes,so these had been replaced with BMW ones,but still the sensor fault codes kept appearing,when Steve checked them out.
So,the ECU was sent away to ECUWORKS, who repaired and restored the ECU to current 20/21 BMW software information.
Now,my car has had the Limiter taken off it when I first bought it,so this may have been the cause of a part of the ECU being "damaged" effectively.
Who knows,but all was Finally sorted.
So that shows me two things,that even minor alterations to ECU software from Factory spec,can cause issues,even way further down the line
And,that Steve (Mr Vanos), is able to diagnose faults that maybe others can't
In all fairness to Redish,I can't fault them either,as Steve said himself,you would think the noise was coming from the Vanos unit,but it was actually behind it,and It was the Fault in the ECU that was causing the Vanos unit to act on mechanical parts in the engine,such as Cams, follower's,etc,that were making the different noises that could be heard.
Now , having had the car back fir a couple of weeks or so,and used it plenty,I can safely say,the knocking and Grumbling noises are all gone.
So, Happy days indeed.
And a Big ,big Thank you to Steve at Darlington autotech(Aka Mr Vanos),for finally being the one who located and fixed the faults.
And,as mentioned before,he only charged me the Cost of the ECU repair,and his time in removing and refitting it,then final testing,As he didn't charge me anything for the Diagnosis work.
Can't say fairer than that .
I am now fully in love with my z again.
(The noises were getting annoying,and taking the edge of driving it a bit,so now back to enjoying driving it fully).
That just leaves me to get the Front end painted again at some point,then pro detail,etc and Renew the 62k suspension,for a Freshen up.
The list never ends, haha.
Hopefully this has been of interest to other z4 or z4m (e85/6) owners our there, and if anyone ever has any similar issues with their own zeds,they know a possible cause to get looked at,or to take it to Steve.
Thanks for reading, cheers
But a bit of background first
My M Roadster has been in my possession since early half of 2012 ,so over 9 years now
In that time,I have had very little to worry about, bar the Odd unexpected repair (one of them being steering,which was caused by my BMW dealer,imo),and the usual M service costs,and the usual wear and tear items.
Fast forward to last year,and I chose,as preventative maintenance,to get My Vanos done,as well as New Timing chain,and replace some Coil packs/leads,to cure a misfire that had appeared (3 worn coilpacks)
Can't fault Steve/Mr Vanos ,for his knowledge and diagnosis skills,as the misfire had already been to another BMW Specialists,and wasn't diagnosed/located
Car felt great afterwards, but wasn't getting much use,as with most of our cars on here,due to Covid restrictions then.
Anyway,that was 2020.
Come January,this year, I start to hear a knock knock knock noise from the Engine,but only when starting it from Complete Cold,and only after it settled at idle....and then only when revving it up, slightly, and once it was the warmed up,circa 10 minutes....the noise wasn't audible after that warm up period.
Cue trips to 2 Scottish BMW Specialists/Indy's, both of whom had the car for a week or two,and couldn't diagnose the cause.
As I then spoke to several other BMW Specialists round the UK,and with Steve having family health issues around that time,the car was booked into Redish Motorsport, Bristol,for various work,Inc Engine mounts,Rod bearing shells,Oil pump (oe Peirpurg unit), as Preventative maintenance again,and cheaper getting done when Bottom end is apart for Rod bearing shells,etc. And also to fix my leaking Differential (found by my local BMW Indy).
They also looked into the strange noises from my engine.
After initially discounting the cause would be Vanos related,as They know Steve's good reputation,they had the car over two weeks,and looked at everything possible.
Other than charging me a minimal charge for Several hours of Diagnostic work,and doing all the other stuff at a Competitive cost,they put the noises down to the start of a Vanos Rattle or groan.
Steve then arranged to come to my house,and had a look at everything,but needed more time than he had then,plus was convinced it was nothing to do with the rebuilt Vanos unit etc he had fitted the previous year. (He was right on this,btw).
By this time,the Knock Knock Knock noises had become more regular,and were there more often,and not just until warmed up,and had been joined by more obvious Groaning/grumbling noises!!
Fast forward another few weeks,and I arranged to take my z to his Garage in Darlington and left it with him for 2-3 weeks.
After looking at several things, including choosing to Replace the rebuilt Vanos unit he had previously fitted in my car,with another Fully Rebuilt Vanos unit, including new Solenoids,etc which he doesn't normally replace unless they are obviously worn,the noises were still there.
As he was very very kindly doing this Diagnostic work for Free (his choice,as he was intrigued by what it could be,and wanted to find it), he was fitting it in between various other cars he has in for work.
After looking at various things,he located an issue with the ECU.
The car previously had been throwing up Cam sensor fault codes,so these had been replaced with BMW ones,but still the sensor fault codes kept appearing,when Steve checked them out.
So,the ECU was sent away to ECUWORKS, who repaired and restored the ECU to current 20/21 BMW software information.
Now,my car has had the Limiter taken off it when I first bought it,so this may have been the cause of a part of the ECU being "damaged" effectively.
Who knows,but all was Finally sorted.
So that shows me two things,that even minor alterations to ECU software from Factory spec,can cause issues,even way further down the line
And,that Steve (Mr Vanos), is able to diagnose faults that maybe others can't
In all fairness to Redish,I can't fault them either,as Steve said himself,you would think the noise was coming from the Vanos unit,but it was actually behind it,and It was the Fault in the ECU that was causing the Vanos unit to act on mechanical parts in the engine,such as Cams, follower's,etc,that were making the different noises that could be heard.
Now , having had the car back fir a couple of weeks or so,and used it plenty,I can safely say,the knocking and Grumbling noises are all gone.
So, Happy days indeed.
And a Big ,big Thank you to Steve at Darlington autotech(Aka Mr Vanos),for finally being the one who located and fixed the faults.
And,as mentioned before,he only charged me the Cost of the ECU repair,and his time in removing and refitting it,then final testing,As he didn't charge me anything for the Diagnosis work.
Can't say fairer than that .
I am now fully in love with my z again.
(The noises were getting annoying,and taking the edge of driving it a bit,so now back to enjoying driving it fully).
That just leaves me to get the Front end painted again at some point,then pro detail,etc and Renew the 62k suspension,for a Freshen up.
The list never ends, haha.
Hopefully this has been of interest to other z4 or z4m (e85/6) owners our there, and if anyone ever has any similar issues with their own zeds,they know a possible cause to get looked at,or to take it to Steve.
Thanks for reading, cheers
