Aaaaah the lovely N46 engine. Between the endless valvetronic faults, valve stem seals made of cardboard, timing chain guides also made of cardboard and the endless oil and coolant leaks, there is never a dull moment with this one.

İ have never seen someone explained this much good information about valvetronic and why there is still throttle valve, thanks 👌

Outstanding video, it's easy for us "older mechanics" to get intimidated by "new stuff", but you explain it so well, thank you😎

YES! I did this job once and can’t wait to hear DD break it down. Already smashing the like button. Diagnose Dan never disappoints.

Dan - another great video. You take the complicated and make it seem like it's nothing so the rest of us can understand. You are truly an expert and superb instructor. Bedankt.

Thank you Dan, it's been waaayyyyy to long since your last video. Always looking forward to learning from you.

Dan you’re a genius, like most people I can’t work on or understand modern cars but not only do you describe it so well you go through all the problems that can cause the fault, you help me so much that whenever I do have a car problem I can explain it to the mechanic properly, ps he’s a bmw fanatic

I've been looking everywhere for a good video that properly explains valvetronic motor issues, and now I've found one. Cheers

Great to see another video, always a treat, showing what a real skilled tech is capable of where others have failed.

Wonderful job as always. Once I opened a motor for my curiosity and I've found a lot of brush dust inside. I disassembled and cleaned all inside, changed brushes with a new pair and assembled back. Resistance to ground disappeared! This experiment leads me to believe that the dust inside accumulated and started to conduct electricity and short to body (ground). Resistance should be infinite to body (OL) since brushed have no contact to body.

dude just literally took the cover off and showed a live demonstration of how the valvetronic system works. loved it breh keep up the gud work

Great video, I love how great you are at explaining how everything works. Makes it easier to understand.

You’ve just destroyed another myth calling these engines “ over-complicated “. In my eyes this engine is way less complicated than a V-tec engine for example… As always,you’ve done a great job breaking it down so that everyone understands! 👌

The case test is absolutly definitive to condemn the motor, for the windings i prefer the load test with a high amperage bulb Great video, Danny!

Brilliant video. You are without question the best diagnostician on KZfaq. Too many people over complicate things. Thanks.

Let me say, this was the best diagnostics video I've seen - Well done, Dan!

As always pin point diagnosis not changing all sorts of parts guessing, I worked as a auto technician for 40+ years and would have really enjoyed working with you, I hate guess it merchants, you always do it right in my opinion. 👍 I was one that commented on the capacitor on those fans, I just knew there was more to it than a fan issue, thanks for updating us it makes me happy to know my brain still works.

Another great video Dan. Just remember, before removing the Valvetronic motor, one must relieve the tension on the return spring by either putting the Valvetronic in the “service” mode, or by manually relieving the tension with an Allen wrench through the little pin hole on the back of the Valvetronic motor unit.

Thanks again for the obvious study, you are never in a hurry to replace the part and that is what is special about you

Thank you Dan, you are a great technician. Your explanations are very well illustrated and systematic. Blessing to you

Awsome video as always being a young tech everything you did helps me in learning how to diagnose and become a better tech thank you!!

Я очень плохо знаю английский язык, но в этих видео всё понятно! Многому учусь от тебя, Dan. Привет из России!

Another very interesting video, I've just been working on a 2008 M3 S65 V8 with a Vanos problem on the inlet cam of bank 1, turns out the Vanos unit had totally failed. Thanks Dan, your videos help us diagnose tricky problems.

Great video, it does amaze me how many mechanics are unwilling (or unable?) to diagnose faults, we see cars almost daily from other workshops and many of them are not difficult to diagnose

DAN you are the most amazing Mechanic in the world. The effort and dedication is on a different level. You even sent the fans to be diagnosed and tested so you can let us all know and obviously satisfy your curiosity too. I wish you had more time to create more content for us. You are my idol and I hope that some day I am half as good mechanic as you are🤝

Clever, clever, clever; very well explained! Thank you Dan! And yes low resistance to the body or case of any electric motor it is a bad sign that that motor is about to fail, if not already faulty. The isolation resistance between windings and the case should be at least 1 Mega Ohms, if not more; tens of Mega Ohms.

Respect from sweden. My buddies at the shop keep talking about you daily.

I live in the tropics and my air-con blend door actuator for a Suzuki Swift III was failing over a course of 60,000km, culminating in a total failure (and no air-con in tropical heat). Out of pure desperation, I read the service manual and there was a specific test to check for the resistance across the servo motor - above 4.8kOhm is gg. It was measuring 6kOhm. Voila. $150 fix saved me from tearing apart the whole dash or even scrapping the car. The local stockist didn't even carry the part, I could not even imagine how any technician could diagnose it. Your case resistance test looked awfully similar and I approve.

Always excited for Dan’s new video.

Dan, great learning experience as usual. now i understand the valvetronic technology & reason for its use. you are a real master at finding intermittent faults so quickly. the intermittent (temperature-related) failure of a dc (brush motor…my guess) showing as a finite resistance to gnd is interesting & something i would never have guessed as symptom (aren’t such components super reliable? seems not). love the way you whisk off all those plastic engine covers with the cordless & use those fast ratchet ring spinners. why not leave the plastic covers off permanently & save all that work! sure, engine wouldn’t look so good & more exposure to dust & grease. (but that’s a discussion for another day). regarding “valvetronic” technology & using inlet valve opening control instead of a butterfly to control an engine o/p, sounds like a great engineering project! but i worry about the extra mechanical/electrical complexity (& probable less reliability for a (small?) increase in efficiency). i’m curious if other manufacturers too use it. is the increased efficiency mainly at low airflow/output? guess that’s a different discussion for another day.

Dan, im addicted to your videos. Your sense for detail is fantastic! Please dont stop!! :)

Amazing stuff as as always Dan, clear, concise & easy to follow.

Great video Danny, as usual your videos are very informative, I’m a Beemer tech, situated in sa I always have spare valvetronic motors mixed up, now after watching this I realized that there’s actually a way of testing wether if the motor is functional or not. Gonna sort and label them as soon as I get to the shop. Thanks a lot buddy.

Nice one Dan. I see alot of desinigrated ground straps on old BMW's. When these straps lose their capacity to flow current, bad things happen. The current tries to find an alternate path with up to 220 amps of arcing power. Electric motors get hot, arcing thru the driveline bearings... These ground straps are usually barried deep in the engine bay out of sight.

Dan your videos are so well explained. Like I’ve said many times I’m just a retired. Diyer ( retired aircraft ) but enjoy all of your videos. I’ve also just signed up for classes. With one of your country men friends D. Quinn. Just like learning all I can. Thank you for sharing. Would join your tech support group but seems to be more oriented to shop owners. Anyway thank you for sharing and stay safe and well Artie 👍👍👍

Thank you Dan. Great videos. Learned a lot car fundamentals. I have a Volvo XC60 with intermittent charging failure message. It’s a pain to diagnose.

For those with other Valvetronic issues, wear in the eccentric shaft is common, but also the valvetronic position sensor can crack internally and leak oil into the connector. This would be the electrical plug you see by the oil filler cap.

As always another master class!!!! Thank You!!!!

Each and every of your videos forces the respect. Thank you for the clear explanations and the interesting content!

Great video as usual :) Absolutely yes, if the insulation failed the motor is gone. Just the other day I had a similar issue on a coolant temp sensor on my car. While it was out of the car, worked fine. When screwed in it did not! Turned out it had lost the isolation between its two terminals and chassis.

They should have BMW valvetronic motors in vending machines. Right next to the oil filter housing gaskets and cooling system parts. ;) Thanks for the video!

Hey Danno, Great to see you again,,, I am chopping on the bit in anticipation!!

Nice to see you back - seems some time since a new video appeared. (Subscriber). I like how you talk through the problem and spend less time of every individual nut and bolt. Or I've got a scan tool. You explain things logically. And DID IT AGAIN.

I've never worked on one of these. I like the theory of operation. When you said the throttle is usually open, that reminds me of the old non computerized diesel engines. The injector pump controlled the idle.

Great video and description of operation, Dan! How does this system make the engine more efficient? There is still pumping losses during the intake stroke because the intake valve is only slightly open 🤔 that was a lot of plastic too 😅

I'd be curious to know what the resistance to the motor housing is when it's warm. Being a pulse width modulation actuator, you wouldn't want any resistance to ground.

Dan, love your videos always learning from you. I am thinking that with time perhaps the insulation on the motor windings fail and create an electrical path to the armature, then to the motor bearing that sits on the motor casing. That can account for relatively low resistance between motor brush and the casing. Would be interesting to see how heat or lack of heat affect the 2800 ohms you were seeing on the multimeter. Thank you Dan, great job.

Every time DD upload a video it’s a informative and educational from master Dan , great explanation

Dan, you been knocking down a lot of bratwurst lately.

Actronics; www.actronics.co.uk/ Scantool used in the video; Launch X431 PAD V ECU online programming scanner Global link bit.ly/3v0VP9L Ask a question about scantool bit.ly/3gbJtaR DE www.amazon.de/dp/B092LYKYF5 ES www.amazon.es/dp/B092LYKYF5

It's no doubt that BMW messed up with the valtronic system especially on the 4 cylinder cars. Most common was the 320i, E90. But you're good at your job, Dan. 👍👍👍👍

Dan teaches that complex things arise from simple rules. Great methodology when explaining how cars work. I just replaced DME 1 & DME 2 on my 2006 BMW 760 I) The Oxygen Sensor Controller chip(s) had failed. No problems with the Valvetronic system yet. The V 12 Engines seem to be very reliable other than the Electronic issues that can occur.

Good stuff Dan. I reckon the motor showing a high resistance breakdown to earth / ground is not conclusive proof of the intermittent go / no go fault, but it needs replacing anyway. Looks like a nice clean and well maintained engine.

man really helping me out right now. my 320i goes into limp mode and now it wont turn iff. ill have to see if this works and if it does your a legend.

Always the best! And agreed makes sense that the copper wires insolation starts pealing off and therefore failing so the ohm test it's a good test

Dan, if the test is on a 2 wire motor it is a brushed motor and the high resistance reading to ground could be carbon deposits either on the brush gear or field windings insulation breaking down. It can be a very good test of an aged motor and yes, a faulty one. I'm a former Auto Electrician and now Electronics Engineer so I love your videos, brilliant information, well explained and fun. Keep them coming. Ray

The diagnose with the multimeter on the old motor could be considered, but it might not be accurate, unless it's a weak spot prone to fail, but it can be considered in following fixes based on the same system, great content! Also very educative and detailed on how these systems work!

Excellent explanation sir! As I watched this video questions would come up in my mind, and then you'd answer them right after! It was as though your scan tool was connected to my brain, showing you the data inside. Lol. Miss your videos when you don't upload for long periods of time!

Best explanation on the internet!

Thanks Dan. I'd love to see more videos from you. Terrific job!

It’s been a while Dan, but worth waiting for! 👍

Thank you Dan for removing fear of electrical fault from my mind😍

As usual DD never fails to educate us and fix the Beast. Also, it’s nice to c u pop up on some of the other channels in the comment section.

Nice to see something out of the usual.... Thanks Dan!

Dan I think you're making me a big mechanic, I hope after this video I will be able to fix myN46

🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷👏🏻, Dan you’re the best wow! I wish we had guys like you down here in Brazil…

Gelukkig weer een nieuwe video, dank je voor de heldere uitleg 👍

Thanks another great video. Many techs forget to do a wiggle test or to check if a wire can carry current.

Good to see a show again.

I got this system in the N52. Lots of low RPM torque compared to the M52 six. No problems after ten years and looks easy to repair.

Very professionally done this video. Congrats!

So happy you did this video!!! I just did this job on a N55, but in this design both the sensor and the motor are one. Thank you for this learning video!! Keep it up 👍

Just changed one on freinds 2006 Rag Top on Tuesday for S/H one. Going to do Ohm's test on old one Tomorrow. I would have liked to test S/H one before fitting had I known. Great Tip.Thankyou Kindly.

top video , ben echt erg blij met jou video's ,want ik doe heel veel zelf in mijn auto en jou video's help me met diagnose, dank je wel👍

Goed om weer een video te zien, u bent ongetwijfeld een van de beste monteurs van Nederland en dat zeg ik zonder ooit van uw diensten gebruik gemaakt te hebben. (ik woon helaas niet in de buurt)

Duidelijk verhaal weer, bedankt voor weer een les!

Great video! Straight forward diagnosis.

Your diagnosis are always fun and interesting

Man . I Didn't know that your shop do tire services too. Salute mechanic ! 🫡

Was waiting for a new one from the expert, thx

Yes as a Multi craft tech for a production plant here in USA any resistance from a motor lead to ground is a sign that the motor is about to go. Although I mostly deal with 3 phase AC motors, DC motors are much more prone to intermittent issues as it's only 2 poles, and stepper motors, such as that for Valvetronic, need a clean current path to work properly. We use a "Megaohm" to check motors for this on the industrial side of the industry

Hey Dan Great video for us bmw owners, i brought this scanner autophix 7910 it's a pretty inexpense scanner i would sure like your to do a review on this scanner, it has special function and valvetronic reset plus many other special function, thanks for the understanding of how to diagnose valvetronic motors again.

Glad to see that this car owner picked the best mechanic in firstplace, so they dident loose Money in a bad shop. :)

That low resistance between body and terminals is most likely caused by conducting dust from motor brushes. Its definetelly not OK. If there will be short circuit, then it blowns fuse, what i expect to be the root cause are already worn out brushes, causing open circuit on terminals after some circumstances. BTW, thanks again for the nice explanation of valvetronic system Dan !

Super!! Every time I watch your video, I learn something new. Keep it up 👍

I’d like to see that resistance reading when the motor was warm and also a insulation tester would show the potential short to chassis in the motor winding. Love this video

Love watching the master at work always great info thanks Dan 👍🦘🇦🇺

Well done Dan it’s a good manner to troubleshoot the problem

Good to see you back Dan Mate.

Nice work Dan, I will be sure to remember this video next the next time I encounter valvetronic complaint

Welcome back.. Don't stop the good content coming. Thanks

You are the real deal Dan, love you much!!!

Nice video and great explanation. It definitively has more moving parts in the whole setup than a swiss watch.😀

Thanks very much Dan for another interesting video, so well explained ☺

Great video Dan I believe random engine check light on BMW's is standard equipment

Dan is back!!!!! Thank God! I love Dan!!!

Dan's the man !

I have been getting into the valvetronic system on an S63TU from an M Sport X5 50i whilst replacing the valve stem seals because of a smoky engine, it is not a very complicated system as most people think it is.

Great video Dan. Regarding the bench test of the motor I don't believe the insulation resistance test was valid to condem that motor as faulty solely based on that reading, 2.8mohm on a 12v system is negligible. The DME can't pop a code based on that I very much doubt. However I expect if you did the same test and applied heat you would see that resistance decrease significantly. Also the fault code couldn't be generated by detecting that high resistance to earth/body. The fault must be a measurement of the motor internal resistance only. More likely a complete open circuit situation for the motor to run and not run at all when warm, if stripped a bad connection or soldered joint would be the culprit I reckon. Thanks again for these great videos, I aspire to be at your level.

We loved the video, thanks for the upload, I honestly can't wait for the next one.