To VANOS or not to VANOS?

[Peter C]

Last year I had an E36 320i SE saloon. Sweet car. It was a 1991 model so pre-VANOS. The straight six engine was superb.

 

I have my eye on a 1997 E36 323i Touring, which has VANOS.

 

Does anyone have any experience of this engine? Is VANOS a liability at 155k miles?

 

Any other issues with these engines? Nikasil problems?

 

I like the car but I don't want to invest in engine repairs.

 

Peter C

[Cavcraft]

I don't know what a VANOS is but my 1999 323i has 160,000 odd on the clock and runs fine.

[r.welfare]

I'd have thought after 155k, VANOS and Nikasil worries shouldn't really be at the forefront of your mind. The age and mileage should have proved things are OK.

 

More of a concern are the plastic impellers used on the original waterpumps on these engines, which tend to detach and cause overheating, particularly as the later 323i and 328i are all-alloy units. I seem to recall Scooters had a 523i that overheated in a big way. That said, I believe that most OE replacement pumps now have a metal impeller. Worth asking the question of the vendor as to when it had the pump changed, and the radiator and/or coolant come to that.

 

There's an excellent buyer's guide for the E36 in the April 2009 issue of Car Mechanics magazine.

[shite_meister]

Depends if its single or double Vanos, my M3 single vanos was reliable, I used to change the tiny gauze filter which is often overlooked. I belive its the double vanos units that have the issues.

 

I did find mine would rattle briefly when first started but once I changed to a decent oil it stopped rattling. You'll know a fucked vanos when you hear one because they make a horrific rattle like ball bearings in a can pretty much constantly.

[shite_meister]

Oh and as for the Nikasil issue do some research on e36coupe.com because there is a way to see if the car has had a replacement engine, itheres some sort of metal tag on the block that would tell you if its a BMW replacement engine without Nikasil.

[Peter C]

Some good advice there. Thank you chaps.

[andrew e]

I HAZ VANOZ RATTLE.

 

It sounds like a skeleton having a wank in a biscuit tin, but at 185k, its done it for 5/6000 miles now to ill effect (except you notice how effective it was below 3000 rpm torque wise). Water pump umpellors and shagged plastic thermostats are your biggest worry - good news is they are easy to get to. If its one lump on the end of the camshafts (where you would expect a dizzy) its a single vanos, if there is full width lump that you can't really notice its a double.

[Richard]

What does VANOS mean?

[ashmicro]

Hier:

 

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