@@WayToManyAssassins I think it would be worth it for a much time I will need to be there in front of the car. I just worry that it all won’t go back on 100% straight
Not sure if it's worth noting (or if you've had this experience), but if the vanos are rebuilt/refreshed, it's likely that you'll not get continuity when testing. Besian agrees that it's okay, you just need to rotate counterclockwise until it stops and snug it up a bit.
I would say a 3. You'll want to do it with the whole front grille and radiator removed to save your back. I must have done it right because I sold it to my neighbor and it now has 270Kmi.
@@garyvanremortel5218 nice!! You did a great job then. If you remember, were there any specialty tools that broke the bank? I’ll do the research about what I need if I choose to go down this un forsaken path. Maybe it will be a good negotiation point with the stealership that has the 540 that caught my attention
@@marcelcovaci9922 You'll need the camshaft tool kit and you'll want to find someone to do a rebuild of the VANOS gears while you're doing the chains, guides and tensioners. I found a guy in Concord CA to do the VANOS gears.
@@marcelcovaci9922i reckon you'd be looking at around $2200-$2500 with current prices (FCP, ECS, etc.) for parts and depending on tools you might have available already.
Great vid. When I finnaly do my vanos seals this will be a big help. I already got the gas timing kit and the vanos rebuild tools. Just need to make time to do it!
I watched your previous video and you mentioned something about the Chinese timing tools and causing a checking engine light ? I’m in the process of diagnosing a friends car, 01 540i. I’m not too familiar with the v8s and all my knowledge is based on working on s5x/m5x engines inline 6s so I really appreciate your videos Nathan!!! I finally got the engine running smooth after chasing multiple vacuum leaks and misfires because of mismatched and defective coils. The mechanic before me charged money the guy lots of money and didn’t do anything at all sadly so I’ve stepped in to bring this car back up to life and that I have so far lol. But I can’t seem to narrow down where I have oil leaks under the intake manifold? Is it likely for the rear oil separator to leak sending down oil toward the front ?
Oh shoot. I was so hoping for you to replace the guides as well. That would have been a 3 hour video I guess. :-) Great explanatory video (as always) Nathan.
THank you for your GREAT videos! Can you tell me if i can replace my VANOS unnits without removing the lower timing cover? I just replaced all guides and chains, etc but need to replace VANOS...Your advice is so greatly appreciated!
Great content, as always. Quick question for you- do you add any RTV to exposed portion of upper pan where it meets with lower timing cover? Guides are intact and I wasn’t planning on removing the pan. Thanks and keep up the great work!
Nice i hope this help me out.. Im using the G.A.S for the timing..That chain slack you were talking at the beginning would that cause that issue. The reason why everything with the kit line up and lock up in place... P.s 37:26 wow great info.
Great tutorial! Couple things, why didn't you show the GAS vanos wrench? It's a lot easier to use, plus I like to hold pressure on the vanos body while snuggling and tightening the T55 cam bolts. Since some people might be doing the besien procedure where you have to bend the pins then they won't work with meter people might go crazy when they don't see 0Ω Torquing cyl 5-8 first is best practice as it pulls tension on the chain, but as long as you have enough tension on the guide it's fine Last thing, I think GAS says put the blocks on one as time and transfer then over when there were only 2 cam blocks in the kit rather than 4
BE VERY AWARE AT 54:26! The camshaft sprocket bolts MUST be torqued before turning the engine by hand to verify correct timing, it's a CRITICAL STEP!!!. I made the mistake, and only snugged the camshaft sprocket bolts, by following this video step by step. The camshaft sprocket bolts got loose in the middle of turning the engine by hand, resulting in the camshafts NOT moving. I had to manually turn them around into the locking position, to start over with the timing.
Help!! Bought a cheap chinese kit with the solenoid socket and well... its chinese and it stripped the 32 mm solenoid nut. My question is there enough room from the top once you take the valve cover off to put an adjustable wrench on it? I don't want to take the front cover off since Im only replacing the solenoids now. Thanks.
EDIT: problem end up being a spun harmonic balancer hub-only thing i can imagine is cranking it on with to many ugga duggas (torque gun). In case anyone has this issue. Had me scratching my brain for a while. Great demonstration. But have a concern: i looked at my m62tu/540 on an engine stand. When i spin the crank and insert the flywheel locking pin the ot timing mark constantly is off and sits at 1oclock as opposed to 11 that the lower timing cover marks are on. Odd part is: ive rotated multiple times to see if it lines up and it does not. Decided to look for tdc by looking at the cams. All cams square up (numbers facing up) and timing blocks fit and the flywheel pin fit but the timing mark on the harmonic balancer is still off at 1oclock. I saw forums with this unanswered. I am really stumped bc if I lock the cams and free spin the cam sprockets with the crank to reach the tdc marking-the locking pin wouldnt be where it needs to be. Any idea?? The motor was running. Im in the middle of a swap and pulled upper timing cover prior to securing guide that keeps tension. So now im trying to ensure timing is correct.
There are different symptoms. From bad to worse. You can search up here on UA-cam plenty of folks have uploaded videos of the noise at various stages. You will also set trouble codes for valve timing. Initially what fails is your tensioner. That one gives a symptom of like a rattle at cold start that goes away after a few seconds. Imo all the aftermarket tensioners are junk and will fail in short time. Don't do the ghetto thing of putting spacers or nuts inside to make it tighter either. All you are doing is shortening the life of your tensioner. Buy the BMW one (under 100 bucks) and you will be fine. From there the next most common failure will be the timing chain guide rail. The lower circular one that runs in the middle of the block between the two heads. That one when it fails you will get a consistent tapping or clacking sound that does not go away. You may also set a check engine light as well. The final one is the VANOS units themselves. Those produce the same clacking, tapping sound, but the pitch and speed of the noise is slightly different as the cams spin at a different speed than the lower rotating assembly. It takes a trained ear to differentiate the noises. But regardless, a bad clacking or tapping noise coming from the front of your engine? Likely a timing job is in your future.
Nathan, I have a 1998 540ia non Vanos m62B44. My question is, is it easier without the Vanos units to change chain guides? Somewhat of a dumb question, just curious. You mentioned a fuse link or fusible link on the M62 engines in one of your video’s a few years back! You did not show the location on the E39 engine compartment. I am also a monthly contributor to your BMW DIY channel. Are you going have any different content for us contributors? Your videos have helped so much and to safe a few bucks here and there. Thanks!!!
Hi Nathan thank you for the videos so far they’ve been a great help. I’m currently doing the draindown filter change on my rebuilt 4.6is after I’ve used a combination of your rebuild videos for Timing chain replacement. Car ran fine and I had no sign of any check engine lights in the interim. Just on the off chance I have taken the valve covers of for paint and I’ve noticed the inlet cam was rotated 1-4. So better safe than sorry l stripped down and reset the timing. However this didn’t fix it…. I have a strange issue when everything is timed and all set if I cut the cable tie that’s holding the tensioner in place the Vanos unit on the left bank rotates back round to the right stop (after I’ve set to fully CCW). This obviously means that the timing goes out upfront on the reluctor wheel as it’s rotated maybe 8-10 mm back CW? What I am mainly concerned about is until oil pressure is up in the the tensioner I can’t remove the cable tie and risk the cam being out of time. But I obviously can’t do this without having it fully assembled. Hopefully you can help or shed some light on the situation! Thanks in advance Warren
Nathan you won’t buy more but YOU KNOW the M62tu engine videos are profitable because people like me will watch it. Now as a tip (Thank Me later) no one has done a video on repairing the self leveling hardware (lines/accumulators) Not one UA-camr…..til this day.
Watching Phillip break those torx bolts loose gave me anxiety. Also, I bought the electric Makita ratchet 18 volts. That way I could use my little Makita impact and big Makita impact 18 volt batteries since I already had those batteries laying around. I'm surprised you didn't also. I'm more of a grit your teeth when starting kinda guy myself. You might bite your tongue sticking that thing out, or worse, lick something tasty, lol. I VANOS solenoid seals still leak even with the damn gasket maker. I guess in this case more is more and I'm just gonna have to glob it on next time. The less is more philosophy is a no go on those solenoid seals.
@@OzzyTheFerret129 I do know there is no pegs on the 4.6 , but it wasnt worth mentioning because the entire procedure other than that one thing is the same
This video is gonna save a lot of engines.
Awesome video mate, can tell you how much you're helping out us 540ers!!
Great video that every E39 4.4 owner needs to see. Wish I had a lift. Being over 6ft tall it sucks to wrench on a car for as long as this job takes.
Jack it up a bit and put on stands
I am not even tall and killed my back working/ cleaning mine. I got a stool 100x better
@@javzee2315 I would've taken off the bumper and radiator
@@WayToManyAssassins I think it would be worth it for a much time I will need to be there in front of the car. I just worry that it all won’t go back on 100% straight
Thanks a lot, if I ever attempt this it will be because of this video. You're the man when it comes to M62TU.
ouch I am actually going to have to do this now.. mine just failed after an oil change.
Not sure if it's worth noting (or if you've had this experience), but if the vanos are rebuilt/refreshed, it's likely that you'll not get continuity when testing. Besian agrees that it's okay, you just need to rotate counterclockwise until it stops and snug it up a bit.
I did the M62 timing chains and guides job on my old 2001 X5 and it's really not difficult.
On a scale from 1 to 5 how difficult is it? I’m wondering if I should pull the trigger on getting a 2002 540i with 108k miles.
Thank you
I would say a 3. You'll want to do it with the whole front grille and radiator removed to save your back. I must have done it right because I sold it to my neighbor and it now has 270Kmi.
@@garyvanremortel5218 nice!! You did a great job then. If you remember, were there any specialty tools that broke the bank? I’ll do the research about what I need if I choose to go down this un forsaken path. Maybe it will be a good negotiation point with the stealership that has the 540 that caught my attention
@@marcelcovaci9922 You'll need the camshaft tool kit and you'll want to find someone to do a rebuild of the VANOS gears while you're doing the chains, guides and tensioners. I found a guy in Concord CA to do the VANOS gears.
@@marcelcovaci9922i reckon you'd be looking at around $2200-$2500 with current prices (FCP, ECS, etc.) for parts and depending on tools you might have available already.
Great video but my question is by taking tension off the timing chain can I just replace the guides
You are the best in this m62,,, learnt that from you long time ago. Keep it up.
When you take the cam blocks off bank 1 , the intake cam moves and then the sensor wheel moves to a different location. Is this correct?
I need this help big time. My 540i e39 on jacks in pieces ready for this.
Great vid. When I finnaly do my vanos seals this will be a big help. I already got the gas timing kit and the vanos rebuild tools. Just need to make time to do it!
I wish you would film the first start.
Where can I find this red timing kit? The link doesn’t shows where can I buy it!
That jump pack would be handy to take to the jy to test window Motors and whatnot
I watched your previous video and you mentioned something about the Chinese timing tools and causing a checking engine light ? I’m in the process of diagnosing a friends car, 01 540i. I’m not too familiar with the v8s and all my knowledge is based on working on s5x/m5x engines inline 6s so I really appreciate your videos Nathan!!! I finally got the engine running smooth after chasing multiple vacuum leaks and misfires because of mismatched and defective coils. The mechanic before me charged money the guy lots of money and didn’t do anything at all sadly so I’ve stepped in to bring this car back up to life and that I have so far lol. But I can’t seem to narrow down where I have oil leaks under the intake manifold? Is it likely for the rear oil separator to leak sending down oil toward the front ?
Oh shoot. I was so hoping for you to replace the guides as well. That would have been a 3 hour video I guess. :-) Great explanatory video (as always) Nathan.
You need both China tools and German solutions together work very good ❤ i fix my 04 land Rover range Rover HSE
THank you for your GREAT videos! Can you tell me if i can replace my VANOS unnits without removing the lower timing cover? I just replaced all guides and chains, etc but need to replace VANOS...Your advice is so greatly appreciated!
Great content, as always. Quick question for you- do you add any RTV to exposed portion of upper pan where it meets with lower timing cover? Guides are intact and I wasn’t planning on removing the pan. Thanks and keep up the great work!
Nice i hope this help me out.. Im using the G.A.S for the timing..That chain slack you were talking at the beginning would that cause that issue. The reason why everything with the kit line up and lock up in place...
P.s 37:26 wow great info.
What's the cost for complete timing chain replacement. Non vanos. Roughly.. I'm out on the west coast.. Thanks.
Great tutorial!
Couple things, why didn't you show the GAS vanos wrench? It's a lot easier to use, plus I like to hold pressure on the vanos body while snuggling and tightening the T55 cam bolts. Since some people might be doing the besien procedure where you have to bend the pins then they won't work with meter people might go crazy when they don't see 0Ω
Torquing cyl 5-8 first is best practice as it pulls tension on the chain, but as long as you have enough tension on the guide it's fine
Last thing, I think GAS says put the blocks on one as time and transfer then over when there were only 2 cam blocks in the kit rather than 4
Also, I definitely recommend counter holding the cams when torquing!
Is this a similar issue with, say, 2006 N62 in a 750li?
Is that kit off amzon the one u put in link good
BE VERY AWARE AT 54:26!
The camshaft sprocket bolts MUST be torqued before turning the engine by hand to verify correct timing, it's a CRITICAL STEP!!!. I made the mistake, and only snugged the camshaft sprocket bolts, by following this video step by step. The camshaft sprocket bolts got loose in the middle of turning the engine by hand, resulting in the camshafts NOT moving. I had to manually turn them around into the locking position, to start over with the timing.
I have done the chain guides on M62 without the special tools.
Help!! Bought a cheap chinese kit with the solenoid socket and well... its chinese and it stripped the 32 mm solenoid nut. My question is there enough room from the top once you take the valve cover off to put an adjustable wrench on it? I don't want to take the front cover off since Im only replacing the solenoids now. Thanks.
Where can I find the same timing tool that you used?
EDIT: problem end up being a spun harmonic balancer hub-only thing i can imagine is cranking it on with to many ugga duggas (torque gun). In case anyone has this issue. Had me scratching my brain for a while.
Great demonstration. But have a concern: i looked at my m62tu/540 on an engine stand. When i spin the crank and insert the flywheel locking pin the ot timing mark constantly is off and sits at 1oclock as opposed to 11 that the lower timing cover marks are on.
Odd part is: ive rotated multiple times to see if it lines up and it does not. Decided to look for tdc by looking at the cams. All cams square up (numbers facing up) and timing blocks fit and the flywheel pin fit but the timing mark on the harmonic balancer is still off at 1oclock.
I saw forums with this unanswered. I am really stumped bc if I lock the cams and free spin the cam sprockets with the crank to reach the tdc marking-the locking pin wouldnt be where it needs to be.
Any idea?? The motor was running. Im in the middle of a swap and pulled upper timing cover prior to securing guide that keeps tension. So now im trying to ensure timing is correct.
Hey boss how do you know when the timing chain and guides need to be replaced ? What are some of the things I should be looking for ?
There are different symptoms. From bad to worse. You can search up here on UA-cam plenty of folks have uploaded videos of the noise at various stages. You will also set trouble codes for valve timing.
Initially what fails is your tensioner. That one gives a symptom of like a rattle at cold start that goes away after a few seconds. Imo all the aftermarket tensioners are junk and will fail in short time. Don't do the ghetto thing of putting spacers or nuts inside to make it tighter either. All you are doing is shortening the life of your tensioner. Buy the BMW one (under 100 bucks) and you will be fine.
From there the next most common failure will be the timing chain guide rail. The lower circular one that runs in the middle of the block between the two heads. That one when it fails you will get a consistent tapping or clacking sound that does not go away. You may also set a check engine light as well.
The final one is the VANOS units themselves. Those produce the same clacking, tapping sound, but the pitch and speed of the noise is slightly different as the cams spin at a different speed than the lower rotating assembly. It takes a trained ear to differentiate the noises. But regardless, a bad clacking or tapping noise coming from the front of your engine? Likely a timing job is in your future.
Hey Nate. Great video. Question for you. Where do you get the crank pin. The one I have in my kit from G.A.S is to short. Let me know thanks
About to get into this video . 1hr good job Nate ;)
Great video Nathan! 👍🏼
OT is top dead center right?
I know you hate this job but Im wondering what you charge to do it? I’m in Missouri down by Branson, could bring the car to you. 03 540 with 179k.
Nathan,
I have a 1998 540ia non Vanos m62B44.
My question is, is it easier without the Vanos units to change chain guides?
Somewhat of a dumb question, just curious.
You mentioned a fuse link or fusible link on the M62 engines in one of your video’s a few years back!
You did not show the location on the E39 engine compartment.
I am also a monthly contributor to your BMW DIY channel.
Are you going have any different content for us contributors?
Your videos have helped so much and to safe a few bucks here and there.
Thanks!!!
Thank you, Nathan.
Hi Nathan thank you for the videos so far they’ve been a great help.
I’m currently doing the draindown filter change on my rebuilt 4.6is after I’ve used a combination of your rebuild videos for Timing chain replacement. Car ran fine and I had no sign of any check engine lights in the interim.
Just on the off chance I have taken the valve covers of for paint and I’ve noticed the inlet cam was rotated 1-4. So better safe than sorry l stripped down and reset the timing.
However this didn’t fix it….
I have a strange issue when everything is timed and all set if I cut the cable tie that’s holding the tensioner in place the Vanos unit on the left bank rotates back round to the right stop (after I’ve set to fully CCW).
This obviously means that the timing goes out upfront on the reluctor wheel as it’s rotated maybe 8-10 mm back CW? What I am mainly concerned about is until oil pressure is up in the the tensioner I can’t remove the cable tie and risk the cam being out of time.
But I obviously can’t do this without having it fully assembled. Hopefully you can help or shed some light on the situation!
Thanks in advance
Warren
Great video with a lot of helpful tips that I wish I knew long time ago
What type of loctite did you use while tightening the screws from Vanos?
Nathan said to use red and suggested they check that tube they had had not gone to dust!
I inherited a e39 that needs this. Since I don’t care about it as much I may do this job myself and take the risk.
How much do you charge to do the timing chain guides?
Just got the fiancé a nice 2001 X5 with 114k miles. Not looking forward to this job but it has to be done.
Nathan I have a question. Where can I get the timing kit that you use on this BMW man?
They were on Amazon and eBay , not sure anymore
Nathan you won’t buy more but YOU KNOW the M62tu engine videos are profitable because people like me will watch it.
Now as a tip (Thank Me later) no one has done a video on repairing the self leveling hardware (lines/accumulators)
Not one UA-camr…..til this day.
There not to bad to do, once you did it, it's all good and those engines are pretty nice to drive and can take a beating..
Omg, so glad I found this…
Watching Phillip break those torx bolts loose gave me anxiety. Also, I bought the electric Makita ratchet 18 volts. That way I could use my little Makita impact and big Makita impact 18 volt batteries since I already had those batteries laying around. I'm surprised you didn't also.
I'm more of a grit your teeth when starting kinda guy myself. You might bite your tongue sticking that thing out, or worse, lick something tasty, lol.
I VANOS solenoid seals still leak even with the damn gasket maker. I guess in this case more is more and I'm just gonna have to glob it on next time. The less is more philosophy is a no go on those solenoid seals.
What's the best generation of 5 series to buy, minus the G30? I'm guessing F10 in the 535i variant with the n55?
My beautiful titanium silver 01 740il thanks you. Paid $3k 1 year ago to get this done. Rattle on cold start happening already.
Change that tensioner
Thank you very much for the sharing
At 5:37 neat I will have a slightly easier time since I am missing the hardware that mounts the airbox to the car lol
Absolute legend
You rather do this or timing belt on a audi a8 4.2
4.2 is a chain
@@NathansBMWWorkshop the older 2000 year model
I refuse to buy anotherone killed me 😂😂😂❤
Yeah I like videos like this.
2005 540????
hi, good job , is there any way to check vanos with inpa?
ua-cam.com/video/ZCLOMZ1Oc_Q/v-deo.html
You did this in an hour AND explain it? why do I pay for multiple hours for someone to do it lol.
11.20: fuel injectors have clips. 'Popping' with a breaker bar will be expensive.
It pops the metal retainer over the plastic nub, it wont break them
@@NathansBMWWorkshop if all goes as planned, yes. But the plastic is 20 years old at this point, I'm not that brave.
Great
I have a 2002 bmw 525i please I texted u on instagram i need help i have questions if u have the time!
Yeah do the 4.6is x5 and you should me something
Its the same engine and same procedure
@@NathansBMWWorkshop no it’s not
Can use a meter on the 4.6is so I guess you never did one
@@OzzyTheFerret129 I do know there is no pegs on the 4.6 , but it wasnt worth mentioning because the entire procedure other than that one thing is the same
33:15
47:00
BMW have never made a good V8... You either go inline 6 or V12!
Having owned 4, 6, 8 and 12s, all BMWs have their own issues.. Hmm I should get a V10.. ;)
#13👍🏻
Bass ackwards!
awful, please dont