Description

The S65 V8 VANOS adjusters are sold by BMW as a single unit. There are four total, (2) intake, (2) exhaust.  BMW strictly notes that these adjusters are not user serviceable and are not to be disassembled. We have seen many internal failures of these VANOS adjusters, usually in the form of broken internal rotors or binding caused by scoring.  For DIY’ers and most workshops, it is not possible to know the internal status of each VANOS adjuster, so BMW’s prognosis during processing the ISTA-D ABL is to simply “Replace the adjustment unit”, at significant cost.  Historically, the only reduced cost solution has been blindly purchasing replacement used units from parts engines which is full of risk and far from ideal given the significant labor costs to remove and replace an adjuster.

Over the years, Mporium has seen the need for a solution here. Our remedy provides an as-new adjuster for roughly 60% of the new part cost.  There are no internal soft seals within these units and instead rely on extremely precise fitment and clearances inside each unit.  Potential for severe mechanical failures such as broken internal rotors (pictured) leading to severe rattles and faults for travel deviations are the most common cause for faults.  Other common failures can be attributed to damage caused by swarf due to poor maintenance or rod bearing failure resulting in scoring of the VANOS adjuster internals which lead to VANOS slow response, leakage deviations, or tightness faults. Mporium has developed methods and tooling to properly disassemble, assess, restore, and reassemble these units to like-new functionality.

Not all units we receive are suitable for restoration. As many as half of the units we see must be discarded. For this reason these are not offered on a rebuild basis and are being sold outright. If desired, buyers may inquire to have their old adjusters sent in for appraisal and credit, usually ranging from $100-$250 per unit depending on condition after inspection by Mporium.

Each adjuster restored by Mporium is carefully disassembled, thoroughly cleaned via ultrasonic processing, surfaces conditioned or polished, vapor honed, measured, and re-fitted during assembly with clearances measured and improved where possible. Reassembly is performed in jigs with specially developed tooling to ensure radial alignment of individual components and the internal check-stop. For the exhaust gears, proper pre-loading of the anti-chatter gear is also performed and set in its “installation” position just as a new unit is from BMW. No plastic spring cover is included. These adjusters may be installed with popular aftermarket clip-on type covers, however we strongly recommend reinstallation with our exclusive steel VANOS spring cover CUPS, sold separately to fully capture the spring set. Our cups replace the plastic spring cover as a bullet-proof alternative to the failure-prone plastic spring caps and is a more robust and lifelong solution compared to any clip-on variety.