How To Set Timing on a Single VANOS Engine (M50TU/M52 & S50 S52)

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5 жыл бұрын

I am in the process of putting together a complete video for my M52 engine rebuild. It's a big one so what I have decided to do is take small clips out of it in advance for important parts of the rebuild to make it more digestible. The entire video will go live for sure, but I am also looking to answer some of the smaller but important parts in greater detail.
In this video I explain how to set timing from scratch on an M52 engine. However, this will be the same on any single VANOS engine and most the the same principles being the same on the M50 non VANOS engine as well. There are some tools needed to maike this work easier such as the cam locks, dummy tensioner, and the VANOS wrench. The tools I used in this video are linked below from their sources.
Timing tool set:
www.amazon.com/dp/B06XTQYNVN/...
VANOS Wrench:
www.fcpeuro.com/products?utf8...
Blog article:
blog.fcpeuro.com/how-to-set-ti...
To see additional updates follow me on Instagram:
/ garethfoley
#e36project #e36trackcar #bmwbuild #racecarbuild #bmwchannel #garethfoley

Пікірлер: 76

@dankerman321 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks Gareth... just finishing up a 2nd S52 engine head gasket replacement... great guide for getting the timing right.

@paulrodvik541 Жыл бұрын

Your narrative is among the best to follow that I've seen I would recommend one thing and you can take this to heart because I got stuck trying to figure out a couple things zooming in on your stuff please take the time to showcase the tricky parts in your hand like the guide in the middle there maybe hold it up with your hands explain the orientation and put the bright light on it then drop it in and pull your hands away so we can see other than that bro it's been a pleasure working with you.

@yasnickramputty4354 4 жыл бұрын

Thank you for sharing this video! Happy new year mate

@GarethFoley 4 жыл бұрын

No problem, glad it was useful to you.

@user-ue3wl2zq5h 3 жыл бұрын

Thank you! This video helped me!

@goorgert1364 3 ай бұрын

Very clear explaining. Thank you.

@IPaIKu 3 жыл бұрын

good video very thorough

@ScottyKushTV 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for this

@Lnmoto86 5 жыл бұрын

Good DIY. Right on point

@GarethFoley 5 жыл бұрын

Thank you. I appreciate that.

@KarenDallakyan1 Жыл бұрын

Hey, I hope everything good, your video was very helpful and educational, but one question, after head gasket replacement( I believe I did everything correct) I got camshaft position sensor code p0340, what would be the problem, I used the old sensor, M52b28 single vanos. Engine starts normal, but it runs rough, and no any other codes , just that. Thank you

@miatadrivers8991 3 жыл бұрын

Hi i have and european bmw e36 325i from 1994 i tink it will be and m50b25tu engine and im replacing my vanos unit but now im there i might aswell change the timing tensioner and be shore its and hydraulic one like you say but my tensioner dus not have and hole in the back to put and hex key in ? And is it possible to change the lower like you do to hydrolic when the engine still is in the car? Thanks real great video 👌👍

@abealpha4022 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you so much :)

@alexbabtan2395 Жыл бұрын

is it possible to change the upper tensioner without removing the vanos

@nelsonrosariorodriguez8104 2 жыл бұрын

tanks bro

@adrianflorin3879 2 ай бұрын

My cams havent moved since i took the head off. But the cam locks dont line up perfectly with the the edge if the head? Is that what determiens they are perfectly at top dead centre? The holes in the cam sqaures are up and the lobes on cylinder 1 are pinting towards each other although not perfectly but towards each other no less

@isaiahjackson4438 11 ай бұрын

you're a god

@cienkins 4 жыл бұрын

10;39 !! Thanks!! I used full power !! 10Nm, tomorrow repair this :]

@Tsdmn56 3 жыл бұрын

20nm is right

@Tsdmn56 3 жыл бұрын

and exhaust is 5 nm. then 20nm

@BehannaKC 4 жыл бұрын

Very well done and conclusive! Thank You!

@GarethFoley 4 жыл бұрын

Thank you!

@thabaninyoni4407 4 жыл бұрын

Fabulously

@hosiahseabe9178 3 ай бұрын

Thanks

@karstenball 3 жыл бұрын

Hey Gareth , great Video! But i have still a problem with setting time on my M52 B28. I only get the correct position with the mainchain , if the two arrows on the wheel are horizontal. Does it matter if these arrows on the wheel arent vertical like in your video? The Chain is new. Best regards from germamy

@stjepanzivkovic2310 2 жыл бұрын

Did you solve problem? I have same engine and same job whaiting for me

@Patty-qy8qh 2 жыл бұрын

@@stjepanzivkovic2310 Doing it with the alignment tool is pretty straight foward. Flat side of the square at the end of each camshaft has to be level with the edge of the seal. Turn the engine over by hand for two or three rotations and check alignment again. Did it wrong the first time on my M52B25 and it ran pretty bad. Checked again afterwards and realigned the exhaust cam.

@stjepanzivkovic2310 2 жыл бұрын

@@Patty-qy8qh thanks for the info! Appreciate mate!

@96Caleb96 4 жыл бұрын

Hey Gareth, just wondering what the symptoms would be if the vanos is pulled in on the wrong tooth. Currently have loud popping and fluctuating revs from engine bay when car turns over, thanks!

@GarethFoley 4 жыл бұрын

Generally speaking it just jams the VANOS mechanism which prevents full intake cam advancement. You will get a fault code for this (OBDII P1519, BMW fault 212) and most likely a notable loss of mid range power. I have heard of an out of time VANOS unit cause noise and it could technically cause though running engine conditions. I would check it again and if possible perform a VANOS travel test before putting the valve cover back on.

@user-mp7bb7sy4x 3 ай бұрын

What course petrol to enter the engine oil

@ristosorri301 Жыл бұрын

after s50 cams, will it work instantly or only after dyno tuning? and thank your for video, helpful with my chain renewal job! :)

@GarethFoley Жыл бұрын

The engine will run fine after the cam swap (assuming timing and VANOS installation is correct). Tuning only maximizes the power potential and should be done. But the car will be driveable before that is done.

@craigvalentine1547 4 жыл бұрын

Hi Gareth. Great video and explained it all in a much better way. I just rebuilt my M50 single vanos and with the crank and cams at the correct locked points it sounds like a bag of nails on start up. Almost a backfire through the inlet. I used new chains and set up to the left so I'll retime with your video. I'm assuming the vanos being slightly out will open or close an inlet cam early/late and possibly cause the backfire type noise. I turned the crank by hand twice to check for interference and didn't have any issues so hoping all is still well in the head!

@GarethFoley 4 жыл бұрын

Noise on a first start could be attributed to the hydraulic lifters being dry. Assuming the engine was down for an extended period of time the noise from the top end could be attributed to lifters. They will be noisy until they fill back up with oil but no damage can occur from the lifters being dry. A backfire through the intake manifold suggest a possible timing issue though. These engines are really finicky on the timing front and will run even if they are a tooth off (also there won't be interference). Have you driven the car? How does it feel on power?

@craigvalentine1547 4 жыл бұрын

@@GarethFoley engines been sat for 2 years. Not driven it. Only fired up to idle. Will compression test tomorrow. The backfire isn't at set times. Its once every second it two. Will redo the timing over the next few days and see where I'm at

@craigvalentine1547 4 жыл бұрын

@@GarethFoley your video is by far the best video for Information so thank you. I've managed to track down some old BMW workshop tools for fitting at testing vanos too so that should help

@GarethFoley 4 жыл бұрын

@@craigvalentine1547 Engine sitting for two years explains the noisy valve train. Over that time the lifters would have bled down and are dry. Check timing again on both cams but pay attention to the intake cam. Before popping the valve cover back on rotate the engine by hand and make sure that when the engine is TDC everything remains aligned correctly.

@GarethFoley 4 жыл бұрын

@@craigvalentine1547 The tools will help for sure. I'm glad the video was helpful.

@0b1wanJanobee 2 жыл бұрын

On my M50 engine, the spring tensioner on the side has a notched piece at the end of it where the S52 is flat where it rides on the chain. I was thinking of upgrading because it makes sense but that makes me hesitant with it being a different looking design. What’s your opinion?

@0b1wanJanobee 2 жыл бұрын

Okay that’s weird. I just realized that I can’t buy the same looking tensioner as what I have. I’m confused now

@yahwehE30 Жыл бұрын

@@0b1wanJanobee OBDI vs OBDII motors use different guides, and different tensioners. An S50 tensioner could be and upgrade to and M50 .

@badtoyz5458 3 жыл бұрын

on some e39's the center cones adjust the cam sprockets 9:15 but yours dont have or use them..mines does..good info thou..

@GarethFoley 3 жыл бұрын

Sounds like you're describing a dual VANOS engine (M52TU/M54). The way in which the VANOS is installed on those engines is entirely different. The tools needed for VANOS install on dual VANOS engines are different than earlier single VANOS engines. The only tools in common between a single VANOS and dual VANOS M5X engine is the cam locks, flywheel lock pin (if using it), chain tensioning tool, and the VANOS testing tools. TDC for the crank and cams remains the same but the installarion of the VANOS unit is different. The dual VANOS engines just a jig for setting the depth of the adjustment gears into the cam. You 100% need that for successfully installing a dual VANOS unit on a later M52TU/M54 engine.

@jonmendes1267 4 жыл бұрын

I did not see any torque done to the intake camshaft sending wheel studs, or is it just finger tight?

@GarethFoley 4 жыл бұрын

Missed it during editing. 10Nm is the torque spec to mount the VANOS to the cylinder head.

@all_balls_drift 2 жыл бұрын

There is a critical error on 6:08 - you haven't torqued those three screw-in pins with 20Nm.

@GarethFoley 2 жыл бұрын

I did torque them, missed in the editing process. I dropped a notecard in the video but it's not working so I'll make sure I fix that.

@Mikeykele36 Жыл бұрын

@@GarethFoleyHi you briefly mentioned there are engines lit there with a single 4mm. I have a m52b25 with a single 4mm and was wondering the correct install order on the intake side. Like where does the sprung washer crush between ?

@arafat5710 4 жыл бұрын

Hey. 14.00 is it necessary to bring The rotation all The way to The left even after The vanos has gripped on?

@GarethFoley 4 жыл бұрын

No, not necessary at all. I wanted to see where the stop limits were in the cam travel. I actually forgot to cut this part out as I was looking for something else when I was doing that. General rule of thumb is stop when the VANOS hub is fully engaged.

@arafat5710 4 жыл бұрын

@@GarethFoley thank you sir This video really helped me gain The motivation to do The job.

@GarethFoley 4 жыл бұрын

@@arafat5710 No problem. Glad the video is helpful to you. It's not a terrible job, just a little finicky.

@arafat5710 4 жыл бұрын

By The way. Do i need a special socket for The e12 head bolts?

@GarethFoley 4 жыл бұрын

@@arafat5710 I've removed the head bolts before with an E12 shallow socket + extension but the actual head bolt tool is more confidence inspiring as it is one solid piece and doesn't flex like the socket + extension combo does. The head bolt socket is also thicker on the drive end so it's better when torquing the head bolts. I recommend having the socket, they are relatively cheap like this one: www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw-head-bolt-socket-e12-torx-cta-9259

@hellabroketuning7330 2 жыл бұрын

Do you recommend changing the upper chain?

@AsstroCS69 2 жыл бұрын

If you have the engine this far taken apart and you have the ability to get an upper timing chain, yes you should replace it. Especially on higher mileage motors that haven't been serviced like this recently

@boosteez619 4 ай бұрын

I love you

@chideverett9580 Жыл бұрын

Why should i not use my real tensioner to apply dummy tension? Ive used my hydraulic tensioner to apply dummy tension twice now without any problems. Am i just getting lucky?

@ukkomies100 Жыл бұрын

My thoughts exactly

@Tsdmn56 3 жыл бұрын

can you give oem number of tensioner?

@davidsjaunakais 3 жыл бұрын

11311405081

@cornertaken6627 4 жыл бұрын

What year m52? 2.5? 2.8? I have a 99 m52b25

@GarethFoley 4 жыл бұрын

1998 M52B28.

@robertgillespie9648 2 жыл бұрын

you didn't torque the exhaust cam stud bolts..

@GarethFoley 2 жыл бұрын

I definitely did. Missed step in editing. Good observation that it's missed in the video though. I'll drop a card to make sure it's not missed.

@luckylegs8547 2 жыл бұрын

I have a m52B28 and the intake cam is not exactly the same so this will not work for a m52

@GarethFoley 2 жыл бұрын

This 100% works for an M52, which is the engine I am working on in this video. It will not work on an M52TU engine which has dual VANOS (intake and exhaust variable cam timing) which I have to assume you have. If you VANOS unit looks like the link provided below you have an M52TU: www.fcpeuro.com/public/assets/products/119054/large/open-uri20140226-13157-1m38x0k.?1496428235

@luckylegs8547 2 жыл бұрын

@@GarethFoley No it’s a m52b28 and it had different stud bolts and shims than the one shown in this video

@GarethFoley 2 жыл бұрын

@@luckylegs8547 Okay, that makes more sense. I brought up the possibility of the M52TU because that is often confused with the M52. The intake cams would not have changed on any variant of the M52B28. There was a change for the intake side of the engine which uses a plate spring with a two and four mm shim. There is an earlier version which uses a single thrust washer. The only thing that changes with the VANOS install is the use of the VANOS wrench. The version that uses the single thrust washer does not need the tool to rotate the chain to push/pull the VANOS helical (allegedly). I can't say I have ever seen the single thrust washer setup but BMW TIS days every other step in timing the engine is the same minus the need for the VANOS wrench.

@luckylegs8547 2 жыл бұрын

@@GarethFoley One of my cams in the m52b28 had been upgraded to a S52 cam and hence my confusion with the difference your tutorial is perfect I’m very sorry and thank you for your work