Some concerns after putting m3 cams in my m50

[JGood]

I dropped a set of s50 cams in my 94 e34 m50 engine today. I got the timing done correctly and got the full travel of the sprockets, and the vanos was installed on the first tooth I could get it on. I used the cam blocks and tensioner (thanks FredK). I put the m50/M3 cams chip in at the same time.

The car pulls strong from what I can tell so far. There is ridiculous amounts of smoke, but it's the valve cover gasket leaking onto the headers, which is now plastic as opposed to rubber due to age. The company I ordered it from managed to not ship it by the date I requested, so it won't be here for another two days.

Anyway, I now have what I believe is vanos rattle. It's a loud rattling sound coming from the vanos assembly, and it's audible while driving.

My m50 intake cam didn't have the "spring style" stop plates at the end, and my s50 cam didn't come with them. So I converted the studs over to the older m50 style and used that setup. Is this a problem?

I'll have to let the drag strip trap speeds give me real numbers, but so far I'm not so sure it was worth it. We'll see. The ECU probably still needs to adapt a bit. I didn't beat on it too much as I was trying to break it in a bit and the smoke had me concerned.

[ed94r]

I had vanos rattle...and I had the old style thrust washer on the intake cam. First I replaced the vanos with DR Vanos stage 1, and still had the noise. Put the new style cam/vanos thrust washers and the noise went away.

The noise is not hurting anything..in fact you'll probably lose a fraction of a horsepower by fitting the new washers (makes the vanos engagement much more tight=friction), but it does make the motor much quieter.

Ed

[dude8383]

I hope you pair that up with a chip because it isn't reaching its full potential with a stock m50 chip.

I don't think that the thrust plate will change much though. I bolted mine back up with the older setup but then again, my vanos unit was already fecked prior to installation.

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=BF33&mospid=47484&btnr=11_1541&hg=11&fg=25

Newer style:

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=BF33&mospid=47484&btnr=11_1437&hg=11&fg=25

I'm not 100% sure that the noise will go away though...might be worth it to replace the seals and this

[trackbball21]

I had the exact same thing. I got S52 cams puts in, and soon afterwards my vanos started to rattle and tick very loudly. I just got the vanos seals and anti-rattle kit put in today. I still have the tick. But the car feels soooo much smoother with the seals replaced. Get the Beisan Systems Seals and anti-rattle kit. It makes all the difference in the world.

I bought all the parts from Beisan and it came to $80 bucks, so that saves a crapload of money compared to the Dr. Vanos setup.

[JGood]

I hope you pair that up with a chip because it isn't reaching its full potential with a stock m50 chip.

I put the m50/M3 cams chip in at the same time.

;)

I had the exact same thing. I got S52 cams puts in, and soon afterwards my vanos started to rattle and tick very loudly. I just got the vanos seals and anti-rattle kit put in today. I still have the tick. But the car feels soooo much smoother with the seals replaced. Get the Beisan Systems Seals and anti-rattle kit. It makes all the difference in the world.

I bought all the parts from Beisan and it came to $80 bucks, so that saves a crapload of money compared to the Dr. Vanos setup.

Thanks, I'll look into that if the updated stop discs don't do the trick.

I had vanos rattle...and I had the old style thrust washer on the intake cam. First I replaced the vanos with DR Vanos stage 1, and still had the noise. Put the new style cam/vanos thrust washers and the noise went away.

The noise is not hurting anything..in fact you'll probably lose a fraction of a horsepower by fitting the new washers (makes the vanos engagement much more tight=friction), but it does make the motor much quieter.

Ed

Perfect. I think I will try this first if the noise turns out to bother me. It's a relief to know it's just an audible annoyance rather then a problem. Thank you!

[e30polak]

Should have made a noticable difference in the car. We did s52 cams on my buddy's OBD1 m52 swapped e34 touring, with an Active chip, and it pulls much harder from 3k-redline!

[JGood]

Should have made a noticable difference in the car. We did s52 cams on my buddy's OBD1 m52 swapped e34 touring, with an Active chip, and it pulls much harder from 3k-redline!

I think m52's respond much better to s52 cams. I've seen some dyno 220whp or so. I'm probably more like 185-190whp.

Don't get me wrong, it pulls harder, but I guess I was just expecting a miracle. I spent more on this cam/chip combo then I did on the whole engine swap. So my expectations are probably way too high...

Once I'm able to beat on it a bit I'll report back. I was able to pull 94-95mph in the 1/4 mile previously, so I'll see what difference this makes.

[dude8383]

;)

:rofl:

Doh!

[JGood]

Fredk is hooking me up with the newer style stop plates and diaphragm. Looks like I'm tearing it all back apart and doing it again. Yay!

[dude8383]

Fredk is hooking me up with the newer style stop plates and diaphragm. Looks like I'm tearing it all back apart and doing it again. Yay!

Luckily the job isn't TOO bad, just sucks to do it in cold weather!

[JGood]

Luckily the job isn't TOO bad, just sucks to do it in cold weather!

I'm in my big heated garage

I just don't like tearing apart a motor. So many things can go wrong. The first time I did it, the big bolt at the top of the vanos, where the ground wire and engine lift loop are, broke. So now the rest of the bolt is stuck in the head. I tried getting it out with a pliers and it just mangled the bolt. The head is somewhat thin there so I just gave up before cracking the head. Now it leaks in that area between the head and the timing cover since there are no other bolts up in that corner. I guess I'll try some RTV sealant?

[JGood]

I took it for another drive tonight. The rattle is at idle and up til about 3k, and it does it while reving up or while it's reving down.

I also think there is a significant loss of power below 4k. I can stomp it in 1st gear at 2500 and it will accelerate, but nothing like it used to. I used to be able to break the tires loose by stomping on it like that. now it just kinda putts up to about 4500 then takes off. I also noticed some backfire popping while decelerating.

The increase in power above 4500 is very noticeable, and it pulls the whole way to 7k very hard. It feels like what aftermarket cams would do... not what stock s50 cams would do (yes, these are stock s50 cams, I verified with measurements).


I'm 90% sure my timing is right. I followed the pelican article, used the tools, etc. I aligned the main exhaust sprocket so the holes in the cam gear were to the left of the slots, then put in the dummy tensioner and hand tightened it. I put the intake/exhaust sprockets on so that the slots were centered over the cam holes, and turned that chain the whole way to the left and right to ensure the exhaust cam holes stayed in sight in the exhaust sprocket slots, and they did. I then put the upper tensioner back on, and used the vanos tool to turn it clockwise. I then installed the vanos on the first possible tooth, and turned the vanos tool counterclockwise to draw the vanos gear in, which it did. I tightened the exhaust cam bolts, and that was that. Is this correct?

[trackbball21]

That is exactly how my car felt for 6 months, until I finally got the vanos replaced.

The moment I got my cams put in, the car was fantastic. It pulled hard until 4k, then pulled even harder paster 4k.

Having the bad vanos made me hate my car until I finally got it fixed.

[e30polak]

A bad Vanos unit would cause a loss in low end torque. This is probably what you're experiencing.

[dude8383]

I took it for another drive tonight. The rattle is at idle and up til about 3k, and it does it while reving up or while it's reving down.

I also think there is a significant loss of power below 4k. I can stomp it in 1st gear at 2500 and it will accelerate, but nothing like it used to. I used to be able to break the tires loose by stomping on it like that. now it just kinda putts up to about 4500 then takes off. I also noticed some backfire popping while decelerating.

The increase in power above 4500 is very noticeable, and it pulls the whole way to 7k very hard. It feels like what aftermarket cams would do... not what stock s50 cams would do (yes, these are stock s50 cams, I verified with measurements).


I'm 90% sure my timing is right. I followed the pelican article, used the tools, etc. I aligned the main exhaust sprocket so the holes in the cam gear were to the left of the slots, then put in the dummy tensioner and hand tightened it. I put the intake/exhaust sprockets on so that the slots were centered over the cam holes, and turned that chain the whole way to the left and right to ensure the exhaust cam holes stayed in sight in the exhaust sprocket slots, and they did. I then put the upper tensioner back on, and used the vanos tool to turn it clockwise. I then installed the vanos on the first possible tooth, and turned the vanos tool counterclockwise to draw the vanos gear in, which it did. I tightened the exhaust cam bolts, and that was that. Is this correct?

Quick question, once you buttoned everything up, did you turn the motor over by hand a to make sure everything was still lined up?

Bentley:

Turn over engine by hand at least two full crankshaft rotations. Reinstall camshaft locking tool and flywheel locking tool to make sure all adjustments are correct. If settings are correct, remove locking tools.