[Jaronbwall]

Hey guys,
My car is at 120K miles, 2nd owner, and I'm getting the dreaded exhaust vanos and reduced power codes. I've done a ton of maintenance over the years but didn't see this coming. New actuators didn't fix the issue. Check engine light is on at cold start, it sometimes goes away, but comes back again. Idle is smooth-ish but clearly the car isn't happy. The ignition items have been upgraded or replaced when going FBO about 2 years ago.
Last night I inspected the OFH and replaced the filter. I found tiny metal shavings in the used filter. Is this metal from the cam ledges? Everything is telling me cam ledges are grooved out. Only thing not replaced is the cam timing sensors but all the YouTube videos are saying that's a waste of time. I can't get to them anyways without removing the fan and bunch of other crap. Any advice or clues about the vanos issues on the N54 would be appreciated. I have owned the car for 8 years. I enjoy driving and working on it but a $2500+ repair is crazy. It would be the most I've ever spent fixing a vehicle. Thanks.

[E92Danny]

You prob should sell the car, wait till the injectors go bad then u gotta spend some real $$$

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

I went through cam bearing ledge issue and even DIY'ed it if you have questions, although mine was intake side. Disclaimer though, I am not a professional mechanic

[Jaronbwall]

Originally Posted by TheMidnightNarwhal

I went through cam bearing ledge issue and even DIY'ed it if you have questions, although mine was intake side. Disclaimer though, I am not a professional mechanic

0/10 how hard was it? In your opinion what is a realistic price for the repair? I've never worked inside an engine before.

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

Originally Posted by Jaronbwall

0/10 how hard was it? In your opinion what is a realistic price for the repair? I've never worked inside an engine before.

Difficulty wise I mean it's hard to say. I'm the type of guy where there is nothing difficult but rather just takes time when it comes to car work. It was my first time doing engine work as well and I can't believe I had the camshafts in my hands lol. Finding the locking pin hole for the crankshaft was a bit of a PITA but once you get it in you get the hang of it. I did this job over a week IIRC taking my time, my driver's license was suspended And working from up top is so much easier than laying on my back on the ground.

It costed me around 850$ USD converted. The part itself is around 500$ new. You can get lucky if you find a used one in good condition. I also had to buy a timing lock toolkit which I included in the price along with renting those C clamp type special tools that align the trays together from a member since I couldn't find them anywhere to buy. That said, some other people online did the job without the C clamp type special tools and I believe their engine is OK but I was to worried to try without using those, just in case.

[BRG_N54]

Originally Posted by Jaronbwall

0/10 how hard was it? In your opinion what is a realistic price for the repair? I've never worked inside an engine before.

Having had a recent dive into replacing my exhaust cam ledge, I thought I might have something to contribute here.

You can reference my thread here, complete with pictures of the job, to help you feel at ease about trying yourself. I would rate it 7/10 in terms of difficulty. You will need the cam timing jig and an angle torque wrench. All fasteners should be replaced, so prepare to spend $75 or so just on bolts. Sourcing the cam ledge was my biggest concern, as buying used is sort of a crap shoot. New are available for cheap in eBay, but are mostly counterfeits.

The irony of my repair was that it was not the root cause of my 2A87 & 3100 pair, but the vanos solenoids. It was not for nothing though, I was able to replace the cam seals and future proof the motor a bit. I plan to replace the seals on my other N54, so the investment in tools was worth it for me. I have no idea what might be a fair price, sorry. I spent two days on it, just to be thorough, but I would estimate a pro could do it in 3-4 hours. Probably looking at $800 or so just in parts, if buying new.

My old cam ledge looked pretty good, as you can see from the pictures, another confirmation that it was not the problem. TheMidnightNarwhal had the usual grooving on his. Motor has 175k miles on it, but if you can use it, I would rather it help another N54 than just sit around my garage.

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

Originally Posted by BRG_N54

Having had a recent dive into replacing my exhaust cam ledge, I thought I might have something to contribute here.

You can reference my thread here, complete with pictures of the job, to help you feel at ease about trying yourself. I would rate it 7/10 in terms of difficulty. You will need the cam timing jig and an angle torque wrench. All fasteners should be replaced, so prepare to spend $75 or so just on bolts. Sourcing the cam ledge was my biggest concern, as buying used is sort of a crap shoot. New are available for cheap in eBay, but are mostly counterfeits.

The irony of my repair was that it was not the root cause of my 2A87 & 3100 pair, but the vanos solenoids. It was not for nothing though, I was able to replace the cam seals and future proof the motor a bit. I plan to replace the seals on my other N54, so the investment in tools was worth it for me. I have no idea what might be a fair price, sorry. I spent two days on it, just to be thorough, but I would estimate a pro could do it in 3-4 hours. Probably looking at $800 or so just in parts, if buying new.

My old cam ledge looked pretty good, as you can see from the pictures, another confirmation that it was not the problem. TheMidnightNarwhal had the usual grooving on his. Motor has 175k miles on it, but if you can use it, I would rather it help another N54 than just sit around my garage.

I actually believe the bolts holding down the bearing ledge tray are not one time use, I did not replace them as per the information in ISTA. But maybe I missread...

[BRG_N54]

Originally Posted by TheMidnightNarwhal

I actually believe the bolts holding down the bearing ledge tray are not one time use, I did not replace them as per the information in ISTA. But maybe I missread...

There is surprisingly little information in the Bentley manual regarding this process. They just present the head with the cams already installed. There is plenty about the timing chain/gear removal, but almost nothing about removing/replacing just the cams while still attached to the motor. I have heard that any time you torque and then do angle you are stretching the fasteners and they should be replaced. As always, I erred on the side of caution, figured that the extra expense was well worth the peace of mind.

Some of the videos I watched said you should replace the bolts, others did not. At one point during the process I lost track of which bolts I had finished, so I backed them out and started again. They were not really that tight, and it did not seem to be stressing the fasteners at all, the cam bolts, anyway. The cam gear bolts were another story, those are for sure TTY.

They are, essentially the cam cap bolts, and I thought those get replaced, regardless?

[Jaronbwall]

Really appreciate the responses here. I'm a shade tree mechanic and have a good amount of tools other than the special ones needed for the job. Someone recommended an indy shop outside of Indianapolis so I decided to drop the car off for a quote. Literally parked beside a Lambo, Jag, and few other German cars. Not confident in the price but they know the issues and work on N54 BMWs. If the repair quote is insane I'll drive it home and fix it myself.
Thank you for providing those links! I'll dive into those and do my research ahead of time. I'll do the repair over a weekend like others did above.