BMW 318i N43 VANOS Problems

[nclsamy]

Good morning,

I was a happy owner of a 318i until the problems started to appear. Last year the EML light turned on and after diagnosis it turned out to be "catalytic converter sulphurised" along with "Vanos exhaust and NOX sensor". It dissappeared after being deleted, and after a tough ride on the highway it haven't came back until a few weeks ago. It's still intermitent.

The diagnosis revealed:
2A99 Camshaft Sensor
2A87 Vanos Exhaust
30E0 NOX sensor

Also the car seems weak and has a rough idle when the EML light is on.

On top of this problem, it also leaks some oil.

The car has 38k miles on the clock and it's a 2008 production. The coils were changed two years ago under the recall, but not the spark plugs.

After another test, the mechanic said he should continue with checking the engine's timing. But it costs a lost.

Is it possible that the Camshaft sensor is connected to the Vanos solenoid error. Should I clean and switch the vanos solenoids first?

I'd rather start with cleaning the solenoids, changing spark plugs and then messing with the engine's timing!

Thank you in advance for any advice! Appreciate it greatly!

UPDATE:
Last week I made the regular oil & filter changes and also cleaned and inter-changed the Vanos solenoids.

Now I just came home from an indy and this time the diagnosis revealed just the Exhaust VANOS error, without the Camshaft or NOX Sensor error. Even though I switched the Vanos solenoids, the error is still on the Exhaust one.

He said that the VANOS error is because of timing chain faults and I should change the chain, chain tensioner and guide rail. He didn't check the chain or the chain guide.

What I am afraid of is actually throwing money at the car without solving the problems...

Yes, a slight rattle noise is present.

What are other symptoms of a failing timing chain? The car seems extremely weak lately...

I added a video with the engine's sound https://youtu.be/MoJ20ljzshs

[nclsamy]

I have spent some of my weekend reading about the N43 engine problems and what I found is frightening:

It seems that the timing chain failure is more common than I though and the results are fatal for the engine. At least 5 users driving N43 engines reported the need to change the engine as the timing chain can damage the guide rail or slide rail and bits of plastic can flow in the oil, killing the engine.

I was aware about the injector, coils related problems, but those timing chain problems seems more serious, as they can end up costing half the car's value.

The point is, how do I know if my car is faulty? I am not driving it anymore before a mechanic will inspect the timing chain.

Related threads:
Dead engine at 48.000 km

Dead Engine 123.000km

Dead engine 60.000 km

[Pentea]

Were u based ? Take it to a proper bmw specialist and you'll get it sorted

[nclsamy]

Were u based ? Take it to a proper bmw specialist and you'll get it sorted

Thank you for your fast reply! I am living in Romania. I will get it to a BMW specialist this week, but I was hoping to be informed by then to be able to understand the diagnosis.

On the other hand, I am not sure if I should try and give a visit to the dealer. Any chance for goodwill on a 7 years old car?

[Pentea]

Not sure about the n43, but on the n47 2 liter diesel engine they have a recall campain relating the timing chain issue , not sure if it covers n43 petrol engines , if you have a bmw specialist close by to give you a proper diagnose and then go on to bmw dealers and see what they have to say

If your around dublin there's 2 places you can go , Valdas or Connor , best bmw specialist

[expl0de]

I have engine rattle that can be heard from 3k rpm. No other faults yet. The 30ea error is due to nox catalytic converter sulphurisation. Not the sensor and sometimes noxcat has to be changed for the error to disappear.
I bought timing tools kit with chain and rails and will change them in a month. I will write if the chain was faulty
And if the noise is gone.

[Gar]

If it doesn't fix it try moving onto the vanos unit we changed the chain in ours and it still ticked and rattled it was only when I had two new vanos units fitted that the noise fully disappeared ,car has given zero trouble now since, touch wood

[expl0de]

Hi, I changed the chain and rails. The old chain was in perfect condition(5mm longer than the new one). The guides had 1mm wear on chain surface on some places. There is one screw that is holding the plastic rail for the block, it showed a lot of wear and the hole in the rail had some wear too. The screw has updated bmw part number and the price is 4 euro. It is situated behind the hook for lifting the engine and can be changed through a hole closed with metal cap. No need to open engine. I recommend this to all owners with cars over 200k km. Mine has 230k. The other fixing elements showed no wear. I thing mu noise could be from unwanted play of the guide rail because of this part.