Thread: How VANOS works

Very interesting Ron. Are you familiar with the system ( enough to answer a question).

What triggers the intake and exhaust VANOS solenoids ? Higher engines revs ( therefore greater oil pressure), A "sport" button, ??

Rpm and throttle based. You want the different cam at higher rpm when you want more power.

So what actual event triggers the VANOS solenoids ? Throttle position ??

Originally Posted by pop058

Very interesting Ron. Are you familiar with the system ( enough to answer a question).

No, I'm not.

Our M62 engines work a little differently. Rather than a rotary vane like in the video our engines are running a piston and gear style. As far as I can work out with the issues I'm having with mine when the vanos isn't working you will be down on low rpm power and feel a surge in power around the 3000 rpm mark. This is what is happening with mine atm. I've disconnected the solenoids and felt no difference in power delivery.

So as far as the workings of the vanos units I'm pretty sure that oil pressure via the solenoid valves is supplied at low rpm and then cut off as the rpms come up. So vanos is active at low rpm and de-activated around the 3000 rpm mark.

I've just had 2 new solenoids delivered and I'll swap them out soon and see if anything changes. On the BMW sites they say change the seals on the vanos solenoids every 70k and change the solenoids at 140K

I have done a lot of messing about with my vanos on my M62.
I have a short vid of me testing my vanos, just to make sure it worked, cant get it to load.
My understanding is the vanos only advances when under acceleration.
If cruising at say 80km/h, the vanos is in its normal position, (not advanced).
It only advances when the engine is accelerating.
Nothing to do with speed.
The (control box, don’t know what its called) activates the solenoid, which then allows oil pressure to the vanos, which advances the cam.

at the end of the vid he says very costly mistake, expensive for the owner who paid for unnecessary parts fitted or expensive for the workshop as they removed unnecessary new parts and refunded the owner?

Originally Posted by knares

I have a short vid of me testing my vanos, just to make sure it worked, cant get it to load.

Your video needs to be on a video hosting site, e.g., YouTube, etc., or maybe your own website.