This N63 came in with check engine light on,,,the fault was bank 2 intake vanos during cold start,,,,so the vanos unit wasn’t working properly during cold start operations,,,,performed the test play which operates the vanos units and checks there functioning properly.
So what I found during the test is that the vanos solenoid for bank 2 intake was jamming,,,,so to remove the solenoid you have to remove or just loosen and push aside the turbo intake cooler,,,it’s not to bad to remove,,,there are just three bolt holding it in place,,,,one of the bolts is hidden and kind of hard to get to. 
Once you move the intercooler,,,,both vanos solenoid are behind the intercooler,,,,the one on top is the intake solenoid,,,,,and it’s the same on bank 1,,,,, the intake solenoid on top and the exhaust one on the bottom,,,,removing it is easy just one bolt and pull it out,,,,slide new on in.
Here are the old and the new,,,new one on the right,,,,you can see the changed the design a little,,,they added a screen mesh over the holes,,,,so no dirt can clog or jam the solenoid valve,,,,because any little dirt that goes inside can cause problems.
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Recent Comments
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bmwtechnician 
Hi, I have question for you, but wasn’t sure how to reach you, where are you located and can you send me your email address? Thanks!
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I’m in California,,,,I don’t like to give out my personal email sorry,,,,you can ask me though my blog if you have a question ,,,hopefully I can help
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Hi, Thanks for the offer, it’s actually regarding the clicking noise from the wheel bearing and the SIB solution to add grease. Your comment there was that it works 50% of the time, otherwise you usually have to put new hubs. My F01 is having that exact same issue, and the dealership wants to apply that SIB-for $780!! For that kind of money, I’d rather just swap out the wheel bearings myself. If I swapped it out (seems like there is a current part that supersedes the original part, but I’d have to order new bolts since it’s threaded differently), would you still have to apply the special grease or in your experience, a new wheel bearing takes care of the issue entirely?
Finally, I’m in Long Beach, CA and I’m also a Board Moderator for Bimmerfest.com, in case you’d like some referrals, etc. I’ve found your posts to be very informative!
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I think your best thing is to put new wheel bearings in the car,,,,,the new updated wheel bearing and bolt seem to fix the problem,,,,no need to put any special grease with new bearings,,,,but you should clean the mating surface with some fine 200 to 300 grit sandpaper,,,,thanks for the info on bimmerfest,,,,I might take you up on that.,,,,I hope this helps
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Thank you so much, I will do that instead. You can find me in Bimmerfest as user AOM feel free to PM.
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im having same problem with my car I took it to a shop and they told me there glitter micro metal on it so they told me I need a nee engine but I can sent you a video of how the oil looks to me it looks normal yes there is a little but replacing the engine worth more then my car any suggestions on it
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Yes,,,if you could send a pic would be nice,,,,or get a second opinion on the glitter metal in the oil.
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I cant post a video on here if you have any other page or email i can sent it to you but my was was sitting for a couple day in really cold weather i went to worm it up and it did a rough star car turn of 3 time they 4 try turn on smooth you think is because of that solenoid issue
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The solenoid could be a issue,,,you might have to start with replacing the solenoids first and hopefully to fixes the problem
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So do you think it was dirt that caused the failure? i guess they can’t be cleaned…
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Yes I think it was dirt,,,but also this car had low miles 16k on a 2013,,,,sometime I think the car wasn’t driven hard,,,,and things start to gum up inside the engine when it sits.
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I was wondering if you can explain to me how to get some of the hose off they don’t have screws on them they have a different type Snap-on n63 vanos removal
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To take off coolant hoses there is a metal spring clip that wraps around the hose and you must lift the clip up to remove the hose,,,,it’s hard to explain,,,I don’t understand the snap-on vanos removal?
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Just wanted to say that I replaced the wheel bearings. Following the repair guide, I torqued the new bolts to 20nm, then 120nm. I also torqued the pivot arm bolt to 100nm. That was tricky since it wanted to keep spinning, so I gently jacked up the wheel assembly, which then allowed me to torque it to spec. I did not use any threadlocker since no one suggested it (and it wasn’t included in the repair guide).
So far, have placed 100 miles and it’s super quiet, no clicking sounds and cost me less than they wanted for just applying the grease. Thanks again for your input, I really appreciated it!
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Anytime,,,,I’m glad I could help
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So what size is that third hidden bolt. I think it is beyond a little tricky but maybe it is just not my day.
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All three of those bolts are 10mm head bolts,,,,this is hard to explain,,,the one hidden bolt is really hard to find,,,,it is almost tucked under the inner cooler and is set in deeply,,,look for a 10mm head bolt with a big washer on it,,,,if you have a mirror,,,,that might help to see it.
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I have a same issue but with exaust solenoid. 130308 Vanos, outlet control error, position not reached.
130408 Variable camshaft timing control (vanos) exhaust, cold start not controllable.
I need a pro here for this. I have a 2012 BMW 750i Xdrive. It has 29k miles on it. I recently started having an issue with 130308 code constant with checkengine light. The 130408 only poped up once. I have a snap on scanner that’s the codes that shows. The car would drive normal then it would save drive train malfunction and the car would be half power on the engine very poor acceleration. Sometimes couple days it’s all fine and one day it will do it all day. The cold is there all the time but drive train my function pops up sometimes and some days it drives fine. Change the oil in a seems to be a bit better but next day back to square one. So I have got 2 updated solenoids I have replaced 2 exhaust solenoids. Not the top ones the bottom ones i will Attach pictures. I thought it’s gonna go away but it’s the same crap. What can I do? If it would be mecanical it would be constant but some days it’s drives fine . I need to know are the bottom solenoids for exhaust.? Or do I have to change the upper ones also? Also what can I do to get rid of this problem it’s very annoying and I cant drive normal. Nice car but a biggest piece of **** i ever owned.
After updating the pcm software to the newest update i only get 1 code now with the cold start and it drops the car in to drivetrain mulfunction. 130408 Variable camshaft timing control (vanos) exhaust, cold start not controllable. What else should i do? I allready replaced the soleboids the bottom ones for exaust.
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Ok I probably would also replace the other vanos solenoid just to cover all the bases,,,,and also when you replace the other solenoid I would remove the new ones you put in and make sure they are clean,,,,you can clean them with brake or carb cleaner ok,,,,the new one could have gotten dirty when putting them in,,,,I have had that happen before,,,,,dirty oil can do it also,,,,,also what bank is this happening on,,,,bank 1 or bank 2,,,,, I hope this helps
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Bank 2
Thank You i will try that.
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Ok,,,,let me know what happens
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hi and thank you for your post with pictures it gave me the confidence to change my vanos solenoid on drivers side i was getting exhaust fault ” 130308 VANOS, exhaust: control fault, position not reached and 131408 Variable camshaft timing control (VANOS), exhaust, cold start not controllable” i change both solenoids on drivers side only. but before installing i dipped them in seafoam because before finding your blog i pour some seafoam into engine oil and it drove fine for a couple miles but check engine was still present. also this vanos error happened after driving the car with no to low oil to my indy mechanic shop after noticing the line from my oil cooler was leaking. basically im wondering did i clog the new solenoid with seafoam is that why its still a error, does the adaptions need to be reset “dme ram back up”, or is my vanos sprocket messed up.
i checked the timing on ista+ and it shows good.
please any help would be greatly appreciated its as if the f01 world is very tiny not that many people to get insight from, also thanks for the bearing recommendations above i also need to do that for my front driver side
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I don’t think the sea foam did any damage,,,I’m just worried about driving with low oil and if the vanos units are damaged ,,,the vanos units are oil pressure controlled.
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after replacing oil cooler hose i did a oil change than immediately got vanos fault on start up
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Ok,,,the easiest thing to replace is both vanos solenoids and see if the fault goes away,,,maybe to sea foam loosened some dirty and clogged the solenoids
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Hey so I installed 2 new solenoids Same issue still. Any idea
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Are the vanos faults you getting still for bank 2 drivers side,,,and does the engine idle normal and does it sound normal,,,or is there a rattle noise coming from the engine.,,,,and what faults do you have.
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Yes faults are on drivers side, it’s drives fine slight hesitation shakes a bit calms down when it gets warmed up. But imeaditely on start up it says drivetrain malfunction.
I’m getting 130308 VANOS,exhaust: control fault,position not reached.
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Ok,,,,,if you have put new vanos solenoid in on bank 2,,,,,and it say exhaust vanos limits not reached,,,,you might have a problem with the vanos unit itself
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130308 is right side, bank 1.
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Bank 1 is the passengers side
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Hello, I too sincerely appreciate your post. I have a 2012 X5 and recently experienced a misfire issue shortly after start up and a few days later while passing at highway speed. On both occasions the engine had a significant miss accompanied with a CEL and reduced power warning. After shutting down and restarting everything seems fine. I received the following faults on both occasions: Vanos Intake Cold Start, Misfiring Cylinder 4….also one that is most likely unrelated….tank level sensor. Considering the aforementioned, do you think the Vanos Solenoid replacement is the right direction to resolve the issues ? Your advice would greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance for any feedback.
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This is a N63 engine correct?,,,,one of the easiest things to element is the ignition coil,,,you should swap ignition coils and maybe spark plug and so maybe swap cylinder 2 and 4 and clear faults and drive it again and see if the fault follows the ignition coils,,,,you either have ignition coil and spark plug going bad,,,maybe fuel injector on cylinder 4,,,,but we need to element something,,,you may have 2 problem,,,the vanos solenoid might be going bad also,,,,,I want to start with one thing at a time and ignition coils and spark plugs are the cheapest and simple
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So very much appreciated. I’ll follow your recommendations and update you accordingly. Thank you !!!!!
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Thank you for your blog, I am having this issue with my 2011 BMW X5.0 with N63 motor, after driving the vehicle when i park it then when i return and start it the car throws a orange CEL i have the carly ODB11 wireless reader and its telling me code 002A7D Engine/motor Vanos, Inlet 2 cold start.
but this goes away if i turn the car off and then restart it and it drives fine.
Please corect me if i am wrong, this code means that the bank 2 ( driver side (left)) vanos inlet solenoid is acting up and i need to replace it right ?
the inlet solenoid is the top one (out of the 2 solenoids on the left side)?
I have ordered the solenoid but i figured i am going to add sea foam to the engine to clean the gunk inside and prevent this from messing up my new solenoid,would you recommend this procedure?
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You are correct drivers side upper vanos solenoid,,,,I would replace both vanos solenoids on the drivers side while I’m in that area,,,,I don’t know about the sea foam I have never used it,,,,but I would change the oil and filter
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Thank you so much for your reply. I could only find one part number for the solenoid on realoem.com does that mean the inlet and exhaust solenoids are the same? If so then I’m in luck cos I ordered 2
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Yes they are the same
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Don’t add Seafoam as it won’t do anything. These solenoid valves operate off oil pressure. The seals fail and/or the little filters in side them get clogged up. Just change your oil at 1/2 intervals (~7500 miles) if you don’t already do so after you’re replaced the solenoids.
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Hello. I have a 2010 750li xdrive. 145000 miles. It starts and idle fine. Full throttle acceleration is fine. No check engine light. I can feel a surge at cruise 60 -70 mph. I can downshift to 5th gear and dont notice it anymore. I can see the tach move a little as it surges. I assume just because of less engine load. It will also misfire on light to medium throttle acceleration. Really noticable in 3rd gear. Between 1500 – 2000 rpm. But I can’t get it to turn on cel. I have replaced the following in the last month. Turbo wastegate flapper/valve and bushing, Pressure transducers, bypass valves, vacuum lines, spark plugs, maf sensors, boost/map sensors on intercooler, Pcv lines, Coil packs replaced a year ago and I have swapped old with new and nothing changed. I smoke test intake from turbo down and had no leaks. Check catalytic converter back pressure and its fine. I have ista-d and have looked at everything I can think of and dont see anything out of line. There are no codes for the dme. I forced a misfire by pulling plug off of the coil pack so I could do a injector test. It said injectors are fine. Index 12 injectors. I also verified injector values in dme. I’m not sure where to go now. I dont mind buying injectors but I haven’t convinced myself that’s the issue. I wish it would throw a code so I would have a direction to go. Any suggestions?? Thanks shawn
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Wow sounds like you did a lot of work,,,first I would wait until the check engine light comes on because right now you are just going around in circles try to fix something,,,,but this is what you can do is when it starts to misfire I would check the spark plugs to see which one is fuel soaked and that might be your problem.
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hello i got a 2012 x5 xdrive 47k with n63 engine and this morning started to missfire all cylinders on bank 2 i change the spark plugs and coils and it does the same thing i can smell gas on the exhust pipe and blue smoke so it adles bad yesterday was running fine with no problems am i looking to replace the injectors too or my driver side turbo took a crap any ideas
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Ok on bank 2 the drivers side, did you notice any fuel soaked spark plugs when you changed them,,,,you might have to remove them again and see which one is fuel soaked and that will tell you which fuel injector is going bad,,,,if you don’t find any fuel soaked spark plugs which sounds hard to believe because you said you smell ful from the exhaust and smoke coming out of the exhaust tells me you have a fuel issue,,,,if no injectors are bad the next ting would be one of the high pressure fuel pumps or the low fuel pressure sensor went bad causing it dump more fuel into the engine.
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Has anyone tried the generic aftermarket solenoids? They are a lot cheaper but unsure of the results.
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The ones I have seen its 50% work or fail.
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Hello sir,im from South africa and mechanic.i was fixing the the 750,N63 engine coz it was chowing oil,i replaced all chain kits but ddnt replace the venos units,it started throwing the fault “drive train malfunction at high revs and it will cut the power to the point where you hve to stop and start then it will be gine unti you hummer it.so i got the fault now that says exh ven2 regulatory not reached then i replace the venos and now its worse coz its got rough iddling and it says”130D01 crankshaft-camshaft reff;angular difference outside the limit
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It sounds like the engine timing and vanos are not set right.
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I used the special tool to set the timing and when you says the venos are not corectly set what do you mean sir?
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I didn’t know you used the special tool to lock everything down,,,,after you timed the engine did you turn the motor over by hand and re-pin the engine and lock down the camshafts to make sure everything is at TDC.,,,,,I’m just wonder because the fault was vanos didn’t reach the limit
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Yes i did the 360 degrees turn nd re-checked everything.i hve one more concern abwt my special tool it doesnt have a preload for the tensioner i just loosened the tensioner before tightening the vanos;30NM and 90 degrees.have i done it the right way sir?
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No this is what you eyed to do,,,,pin the engine at TDC then you have the vanos units bolted on but not tight,,,,you have the vanos unit slightly loose so they should be able to move,,,you should have the camshaft locked down,,,,then you tighten the tensioner all the way in until it’s tightened down,,,,then you tighten the vanos unit to the tighten torque,,,the engine should be timed,,,turn it 360′ and re-pin and lock out the camshafts again to double check,,,,,once you get it running,,,,drive the car normal sometimes it takes sometime for the vanos units to get enough oil pressure and start to work properly,,,,remember everything has been dry of oil for sometime.
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Sorry sir by saying loosen the tensioner i meant realesing the locking pin(sory for the bad explanation).anyway i thank you let me get back to re-doing it again.so i hope this will eliminate also the multiple misfire in the cylinders of bank 1
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Let me know what happens
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Good day sir and compliments for the new year.the problem was vannos solenoids valves.thanx for your assistance
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Hi there… so after a spirited run, with my car 2014 550xi N63tu. I parked the car in my drive way and was just letting it idle, for it to cool down. It began to misfire and went into drive train malfunction. I towed it to my friends shop. Codes said misfire cylinder 5 &6, over the summer i changed my plugs and coils. So he swapped the plugs and coil packs to see if the misfire would move cylinders and they stayed at 5 &6. He ordered 2 new injectors and it will still misfire. When the codes are cleared , it idles fine. Then after 10 seconds it goes to drive train malfunction. He’s thinking it might be timing related ?? Any thoughts on what it could be since we ruled out plugs,coils and fuel injectors? Codes only say mosfore…
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Did you calibrate the new injector to the DME ,,,,also cylinder 5,6 are on bank 2 which is the drivers side we do have the correct cylinders I hope,,,,also you now have cylinder 5,6 injectors are different index levels since you put in new injectors and you are not suppose to mix different index level on a bank,,,,each bank should have all the same index level injectors,,,,ok that being said,,,,first make sure the new injectors are calibrated,,,,if that doesn’t do it and you swapped coils and spark plugs maybe do a compression test on that bank 2
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I’ll double check about the calibration. They did do a compression test and the numbers were good.
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My mechanic said, The Vanos degrees, both cams, driver bank do not move and they are mega high.
There no codes though for a faulty Vanos. Just the misfire codes.
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The misfires are just for Cylinders 5 and 6 correct?,,,,if the vanos unit don’t move how does the mechanic know that , the vanos units are mechanical,,,,also if the vanos units are faulty then you would have vanos unit faults,vanos solenoid faults,timing faults and the whole bank 5,6,7 and 8 misfires,,,,,you only have misfire cylinders 5,6 that doesn’t make sense.
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Yes just cylinder 5 & 6. Hes using Zeus from snap on tools, and
He said vanos does not move and they are high…
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I think it hard to believe only cylinders 5,6 are misfiring and the vanos are not moving for that whole bank,,,,question for you when they removed and replaced the fuel injectors on cylinder 5,6 on the old injectors there is a Teflon bushing on the tip of the injector were the Teflon bushing in good shape and not damaged or burnt off or missing,,,because I want to know if the injector bores on the cylinder head are ok,,,,if they are damaged and the new injectors are not secure into the cylinder head could have misfire,,,also can the mechanic check the valves on cylinder 5,6 with a bore-a-scope
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The bushing are in good shape, we checked the valves with a camera (from what we can see they are fine)..
It is very strange that the numbers are so high for that vanos unit, and it is very strange that it’s only 5,6…
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Yes it really doesn’t make any sense,,,,when the mechanic runs the test for the vanos does bank 2 vanos retard and advance?,,,,I just don’t like how cylinder 5 and 6 have misfires,,,,with the misfires could cause vanos problems.
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Hi there, I have a 2011 BMW 550i Xdrive I bought the car without knowing had problems. have a backfires , no power sound like misfire an 2 cyl. Idler is very rough, sound noise. is 7 malfuction codes 10C104 Intermittent
130708 Vanos Exhaust
131101 crankshaft-exhaust camshaft 2
131608
132808
132808
140002
140402
any idea what can be the problem, Thank you in advance for you help
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Sounds like you have a couple of problem,,,,misfires and vanos units,,,,you need someone who really knows that engine to see what’s going on with it.
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Please help. Recently bought a used car with 80K on it… few months of driving it, less than 10K, and I get Drivetrain Malfunction: Drive moderately. Maximum drivetrain output not available.
I have check the codes and I’m getting the following on a 2012 750i xDrive:
130708 VANOS (Variable Camshaft Timing) exhaust 2: control fault, position not reached
131608 VANOS (Variable Camshaft Timing) exhaust 2 cold start not controllable
140002 Several cylinders misfire: exhaust gas damaging after starting up
140502 Cylinder 5 misfire: exhaust gas damaging after starting up
140602 Cylinder 6 misfire: exhaust gas damaging after starting up
140702 Cylinder 7 misfire: exhaust gas damaging after starting up
140802 Cylinder 8 misfire: exhaust gas damaging after starting up
I’m clueless as what to do. Any help would be appreciated!
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It looks like you might have a couple problem,,,,the misfires on bank 2 drives side might be fuel injectors ,,,,you will have to remove the spark plugs and see if the spark plugs are fuel soaked,,,if they are then you need fuel injectors on bank 2,,,,,now the exhaust vanos bank 2 could be a couple of thing,,,,the easiest and cheapest would be to replace both vanos solenoids valves on bank 2 and change the oil and filter,,,,if that doesn’t do it then you might have a bad exhaust vanos unit which will be more expensive and a lot harder to repair
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Good afternoon,
I came across your article today. I have a 2011 BMW 550i that just started throwing these fault codes:
Engine / Motor
Fault Code: 132808
Fault Explanation: VANOS, outlet 2, cold start: not reached position
Fault Code: 131608
Fault Explanation: VANOS, outlet 2, cold start: not controlled
Fault Code: 130708
Fault Explanation: VANOS, outlet 2: not reached control error,
Position
It idles a little rough. Any thoughts?
In advance thank you,
Preben
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Yes the easiest and cheapest thing to start with would be bank which is the drivers side both vanos solenoids can be replaced and oil and filter service then rechecked,,,,if the faults come back then you might have a problem with the vanos unit which is a lot more money and time
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Okay, sounds good. I only got about a 1500 miles sines I did the oil change… Would you still do that?
Thank you again for your input
Preben
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No oil change
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Lastly, OEM vs aftermarket…. I found some aftermarket on Amazon for $30/piece…. vs OEM at $180 ish
Thank you again
Preben
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I like OEM,,,,,I have never used aftermarket
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Hello. Great insight here! Here’s my issue. 2012 X5, N63. 131k miles. Had a camshaft exhaust synchronization error. Oil was dirty and had gas in it due to misfires. Changed plugs and coils, changed oil. Now the car starts fine, but in about a minute or so, once it warms up and tries to go into closed loop (reading from all sensors), the engine idle jumps, and it starts making a ‘clacking’ noise. After about 30 seconds, the Drivetrain Malfunction comes up and it throws a 2A87 code (Vanos, exhaust, mechanical) along with a 3100 (boost Pressure Control, deactivation) and the car starts idling better and the ‘clacking’ noise goes away. With it being an e70, I’m not getting the details of which bank I should be looking at, however, when opening the hood and listening, it sounds as if the ‘clacking’ noise is coming from Bank 1 (passengers side). Do you feel this might be a solenoid issue or perhaps a Vanos unit? The odd thing is the fact that the car seems to start up easily and run fine while in open loop, but then stumbles when it goes into closed loop. Thanks
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Since it says Vanos,exhaust and it has no number 2 next to it tells me it’s bank 1 passengers side,,,,it’s hard to say if it is vanos units or solenoids at this point,,,the cheapest and easiest is the vanos solenoids to start with
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So I swapped the solenoids and it didn’t have an effect. I have ISTA and ran the VANOS solenoid check and when I did, the desired position of VANOS was constant at -100 degrees and the Actual position of camshaft was constant at -100 degrees, but the actual position of the VANOS was jumping all over the place between -70 and -120 degrees. Seems that maybe the actual adjustment unit is not able to properly manage the oil pressure? Also, when I unplugged the VANOS, the car started fine and idles ok. There is a VANOS code for electrical connection, but no rattling/clacking/diesel noise and the RPM isn’t jumping around. Do you feel this points to an issue with the actual adjustment unit and/or with the camshaft seals?
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It’s sound like a vanos unit might be bad
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Hi there,
I successfully replace both Vanos sensors on the driver side, cleared all the fault codes and the car seems happy for now.
My question to you is how to I correctly bleed/add coolant fluid to both systems?
In order to get to the 3rd bolt that was hard to get too I disconnected the radiator coolant hose so I could get to the bolt, I also disconnected the two hoses to the inter cooler when I pushed it out of the way. Having said this I obviously lost coolant fluid from both systems. I’m just looking for the correct way to fix this.
Thank you in advance,
Preben
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Ok to bleed the main coolant tank just start and run the engine with the cap off and watch the coolant piss back into the tank,,,you can run it for about 10 minutes,,,,now the small coolant tank suck to bleed,,,,one way is top it off and test drive the car around the block and recheck and add coolant if have too,,,,then test drive again and recheck,,,,you might have to do this a couple of times.
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Okay, will do. thank you!!
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So im getting a drivetrain malfuntion alarm that wont go away. I took it to the auto parts store to get a error code reading and it was a p0025 camshaft position retarded. Bank 2 Is that the vanos solenoid? How do you get that bottom hidden bolt out? I have a 2011 bmw 550i i would rather do it myself if thats the issue then take it to bmw. Please help
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The vanos solenoid could be your problem,,,,to get that bolt out you need a very small 10mm socket and extension and be very patient.
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I am having the same issue. Camshaft Position Timing Over-Retarded Bank 1 on my 2009 750i. I figured I need to clean or replace both Vanos Solenoids on the passenger side. Problem is I’m having a hard time getting to bolt #2 and the bottom bolt #3. What did you remove to gain access? Also where did you find the thinnest 10mm socket? Looks to need long and thin?
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We don’t remove that much stuff,,,we use 1/8 inch drive socket set,,,,yes the bottom bolts is a big pain in the ass,,,,we work blindly to release those bolts,,,,it’s all about feel.
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Thanks for the quick reply. I guess I should have said which bolts I’m referring to. I’m having issues getting to the bolts on the cooler. What did you remove to get to those bolts and release or swing the cooler?
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Lol,,, I knew exactly which bolts you were talking about,,,,the bottom bolt we get a mirror to find it and take a 1/8 inch ratchet and extension and 10mm socket and blindly feel for the bolt and then remove it,,,the first couple of ones are hard,,,but when you know where to look for the bolt it makes it easier.
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Hello. I came across your thread and see you’re a pretty knowledgeable person on these BMW n63. I have a 2013 750li and I got the following codes on my car.
140002: Combustion misfires, several cylinders. damaging exhaust gas after starting up
140010
140602
140610
140801
140802 Cylinder 8 combustion misfire, damaging exhaust gas after starting up
140810
This happened after I sped up to about 50 mph, and as the car in front of me was slowing down, I was coasting down (no brake no gas) to about 20 mph. As soon as I slightly came back on the gas to speed up a bit, I got drivetrain malfunction and the car started missing.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you
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Look like you either have ignition coils misfiring or you have fuel injectors going bad,,,,one of the easiest things to do is remove the spark plugs and see if anyone is fuel soaked,,,,if any are fuel soaked then that fuel injector might be bad.
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So we did replace all the spark plugs and coils 8 new. All the codes are on 1 bank ecu. The other ecu has 0 codes
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So we changed all 8 spark plugs and coils. Also old spark plugs were clean not fouled out.
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Ok,,,after you replaced the spark plugs and coils,,,,anymore faults
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Yes I still have the same faults as before
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Which cylinders have faults?
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So cylinders 2, 4, 6, and 8 all have faults.
2 and 4 have 2 faults each for misfire and damaging exhaust gas code.
6 and 8 have those 2 codes along with the fuel injection switched off code
Only cylinder 6 has a 144018 for “combustion period too short” code
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After you replaced the ignition coils and spark plugs did you recheck the spark plugs on the cylinders that misfired,,,,I’m still wondering if the fuel injectors are your problems,,,,Question do you know what the index level is on all of you injectors,,,,I’m wondering how old they are.
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So we replaced the spark plugs after the misfiring issue occurred as well as the coils. I’m not sure what they are but do you happen to know if you can check on a maxisys scanner vs. pulling them out
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The only way is by pulling out the spark plugs and see and smell them for fuel,,,,,were you able to see what index level the fuel injector are.
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I just checked out the spark plugs and they don’t smell at all. The ar is giving out a very loud gas smell from the driver side exhaust and I looked up some live data value on the car and found something that doesn’t seem right to me. Maybe you know more on it: The variable timing value showed
“Variable Camshaft Timing Exhaust 2: 27.11 degrees on idle”
“Variable Camshaft Timing Intake 2: -32.96 degrees on idle” I’m pretty sure that’s not supposed to be a negative leaving me to believe that the solenoids are bad. What do you think about this?
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I don’t know what the degrees should be at idle,,,,usually if the timing or solenoid is faulty it will show a fault for vanos unit or timing issue,,,,you said you smell gas out of drivers side exhaust that is not good,,,,do you know what the index level is on your injectors,,,,,does it say 09 or 10 or 11 or 12
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Hey sorry for the delay. So I actually ended up just sending the car to the dealer for a diagnostics and they just got back to me saying that the injectors are actually covered under an extended warranty because of issues on this car for investors. They will be replacing all 8 for free
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That’s good news
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Hi I have a error codes coming up on Ista. Car cranks wont start. Thought it was the battery. It’s not
213901 power management/ deactivation or reduction of individual electrical loads
130402 valve inlet 2 activation short to ground
130602 valve exhaust 2 activation short to ground
122102 bypass blow off valve short circuit
to ground
122102 bypass blow off valve short circuit
to ground.
If you can I’ll appreciate the help. Thank you!
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Question what type of car and what engine,,,,,with all those short to ground faults sounds like you might have a damaged wiring harness,,,,maybe a rat chewed the harness seen that 100 times,,,,,you have some kind of wiring issue
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2009 750li F02 Chassis
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Ok,,,,I’m still wondering that you have wiring harness cut or rat chewed somewhere
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Thank you for all your help !!!!
I checked the wires on top of the DME. Didn’t see and bad wires there. I’m gonna check the harnesses for the solenoids later.
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Did you check under the engine cover where the turbos are.
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So cylinders 2, 4, 6, and 8 all have faults.
2 and 4 have 2 faults each for misfire and damaging exhaust gas code.
6 and 8 have those 2 codes along with the fuel injection switched off code
Only cylinder 6 has a 144018 for “combustion period too short” code
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2009 750li F02 Chassis
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Hi there,
I have a bmw 750 li 2012 with the n63.
I got the following codes
P054B and P054D
P0015 and P0025
Are these my Vanos that have gone bad in Bank 1 and Bank 2.
Thank you for all the help
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Its misfiring like crazy by the way. I already changed all my coils and spark plugs. There was no fuel going to the old spark plugs so it wasnt the injectors.
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As per those fault codes it looks like you have vanos issue,,,,usually it’s only one bank not both which is very strange,,,,the cheapest and easiest thing to do would be replace the vanos solenoids first and a oil change,,,,if that doesn’t fix it then it could be vanos unit which will get real expensive
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Hi, I have a 2011 X5 50i with the N63 engine. I started getting codes that the Cam Position Sensor on bank 2 was throwing a fault/on cold start and the motor would go into malfunction/reduced power mode. I replaced the intake and exhaust cam position sensors and now throwing BMW codes 2A74 & 2A7B “Variable cam timing control exhaust 2”. I’m guessing that the VANOS for bank 2 needs replacing, is that correct? Many thanks for you help in advance.
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I would start with both vanos solenoids on bank 2 drivers side,,,,if that doesn’t fix it then I would go to the vanos units which are underneath the valve cover and could get expensive
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hi recently my 2012 bmw 650 got a131708-VANOS intake 2 cold start not controllable code and it is not the solenoid what is the least expensive way to repair it by the way the car drives fine.
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There is no least expensive way to fix,,,if you said the solenoid didn’t fix it then you have to replace the intake vanos unit on bank 2,,,,when you do the intake you should also do the exhaust vanos units on bank 2
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Good evening I need of your help, I just bought a 2009 750li with 122k miles. At start up I have codes 131101, crankshaft exhaust camshaft 2, reference angle difference outside limit value. 131001 crankshaft inlet camshaft 2, reference angle difference outside limit value. Then after a minute or 2 I get missfire codes 140502, 140802, 140602, 140302. I was also getting code 130508, vanos inlet 2 control error, position not reached, I took the vanos out and cleaned them both from the driver’s side and switched them that code went away and didn’t show up anymore. The car does rattle for a few seconds at cold start but after that it just missfires.
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Now did you remove and clean swap the vanos units which are under the valve cover,,,,or did you clean and swap the vanos solenoids which are behind the intake cooler?,,,,I assume you swapped the solenoids because the vanos unit you can not swap because there is a intake and exhaust vanos units..cleaning the solenoids doesn’t always fix the problem,,,,sometimes you have to buy new ones,,,you could have a problem with that vanos units because that is what is rattling is the vanos units
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CODE 131401 on a 13 650i n63. which bank is it?
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Sorry it took so long to answer this,,,,but I can’t find out which bank,,,,because that fault is usually on a 6 cylinder engine.,,,I can’t help you sorry
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Hi
I have a 2011 bmw 550i xDrive and I would like to know where is my vanos solenoids located for Bank 1 and is this the same as the camshaft positioning sensor?
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Your vanos units are located behind the intake cooler which is located in front of the cylinder head,,,the inter cooler has to be removed,,,,there are sensors for each camshafts which is located on top of the valve cover top rear
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Hi me again, I replace the one camshaft on the top rear valve cover. Do you have a picture or something you can show me where the second camshaft sensor is on bank 1. I only seen one sensor.
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Hi I seen the camshaft on the top rear, on bank 1 but there’s only one camshaft sensor there do you have a picture pointing to the second back there or a diagram please. Thanks again
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No I don’t have a pic,,,the second on is below the top one,,,all the way towards the intake manifold,,,it is covered by harness and junk,,,,lol
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Hello there, I found your site and I looked at every post up until this one. I wanted to take a chance to see if you could give me some tips on my issue.. Which is the entire bank 1 is misfiring and also oil is leaking from exhaust as if it was designed to do so. As in literally spewing out like pouring water out of a bottle.
My 2013 550i was idling rough. An independent mechanic told me it needed a turbo replacement because it was leaking oil, an oxygen sensor (upstream) for bank 1, and all sparks replaced.
I proceeded to have these items replaced, turbo was replaced, all sparks were replaced, and oxygen sensor was replaced.
After the issue persisted, I changed the coil packs for all the cylinders which were misfiring originally. Cyl 1-4, and cylinder 8. Cylinder 8 had already stopped misfiring after the spark plug change.
The misfiring still continued. Note that cylinder 3 never gave a misfire code itself. So from there I took it to bow for a diagnosis. They told me the car needed new spark plugs (lol) and injectors for bank 1.
I ordered 4 injectors, index 12 (079) and installed and coded them. misfire issue still was there. The next thing I did was a compression test on all cylinders. The engine had been replaced in august of 2019 via the Care Package according to the dealers (just to note that).
The compression on bank 2 was all consistent all being at 150. Cyl 1 compression was at 0 but this could have been because I didn’t tighten the valve all the way at first (not sure), although after retrying, the compression went to around 140, [cyl 2 read 120], [cyl 3 read 0], [cyl 4 read 150]
This is where I stopped diagnosing the car myself besides pulling up the codes.
The dealer and I Both pulled…
130c01 – Crankshaft – inlet cam reference angle difference outside limit value
140008 – misfire sev cylinders: sum check error
140101 – misfire cyl 1 : injection is cut out
140202 – misfire cyl 2 : damaging exhaust gas after starting
140401 – misfire cyl 4 : injection is cut out
142002 – misfire : tank fill level too low
152008 – ignition circuit, supply voltage: bank failure or engine failure
1c4102 – engine-oil level too low
cda52- message (status of electric fuel pump, 0x335) missing receiver DME/DDE transmitter EKPS
The dealer said my high pressure fuel pumps are fine as well. While I was doing my compression test and removing the sparks, I noticed that the entire bank 1 sparks where brand new looking as if they have not been fired once (no black on threads). The entire other bank was the complete opposite. My service advisor was saying it could be a possible timing issue.
I apologize for the heft of information but I’ve been having a headache trying to figure this out as the service men at bmw no longer want to touch the car. Ive read valve stem symptoms but they all speak about smoke coming from exhaust and I have no smoke at all, only “raw fuel and oil” (words from bmw Tech)
Would vans solenoids possibly cause all of this?
I also picked up the code P13B4 – Unknown issue,
P1561 – Idle speed control during cold start plausibility,
and P0237 – Turbo Pressure Sensor ( has been gone for a while)
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You said cylinder 3 has 0 compression,,,does it still have zero compression.And you have a new engine from 2019 ,,, how many miles on the new engine
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Hello, chasing this fault on a customers 2013 750Li, N63T. DME 2 indicates Intake vanos fault, cold start not controllable. Also have the camshaft stuck fault. This vehicle has had a new left side engine harness due to rodent damage, both vanos solenoids on bank 2 replaced along with cam sensor. Readings for cam position are fine. Runs in limp mode but soon after clearing the faults they return at idle. However if you clear them and gun it its fine until you come to a stop. Any ideas? I’m beginning to think the DME is faulty after having its wiring exposed and possibly shorted.
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You might have a vanos unit not adjusting
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Hi, so I recently replaced my vanos solenoids on my 2014, F32/N55. Everything was fine till this morning. I had a Drivetrain Malfunction come on with the codes 130108 VANOS intake: control error, position not reached and 120408 charge pressure control, shutdown: pressure build-locked.
Now, I have done some Stage 1 upgrades: upgraded intake, charge pipe, and intercooler. I had been running BM3 Stage 1 Tune but I turned it back off a few days ago and went back to the stock map. I am unsure if the 120408 code is not an “issue” and is related to the mod’s but the 130108 seems too coincidental to not be related to me changing the solenoids recently. Thoughts?
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Sometimes dirty oil can cause a problem,,,I would clear the fault in stock tune and see if the problem comes back,,,I’m not worried about the charge pressure fault that came on due to the Vanos fault,,,,if the Vanos fault comes back and you already replaced the solenoid then the next thing would be the Vanos unit
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