Repair-It

Age is a pretty big factor there.

Though engine design also plays a role. If I let my Roadmaster sit, about the worst thing I can expect is oil leaks and maybe the opti.

So it is nice out today and my old man shoulder is recovered enough, so I attempted to do the cam position sensors. Should be a quick and easy job...

Nope! In case you forgot, this is a German car and it doesn't know how to do that. Long story short, I'm going to have to do this job later. The bolt which holds it in place is an allen head bolt. Which would be fine except even if you get the allen wrench in place, you can't turn it because it binds with the VANOS solenoid on the intake site. If you were to use an allen socket, you need to remove the oil filter housing cover and probably also at lease loosen the VANOS oil feed line to be able to line up straight with the bolt. The problem with that is you need to drain much of the oil in order for the housing to drain enough to consider removing the cover (and the filter that is attached to it).

So, I'm going to have to coordinate this job with my next oil change. Sigh. I've put just under 2000 miles on it so far and it is showing down half a quart, so at this rate I'll be ready for an oil change around July. I guess I'll just have to deal with the intermittent light until then. Unless there is a special tool....

Turns out you can remove the intake VANOS solenoid w/o loosing too much oil. This will allow you to get at the cam sensor.

Straight down from the top, you can just make out the sensor underneath the VANOS solenoid. Peeking underneath gives you a slightly better look. VANOS solenoid removed. I couldn't get an adjustable wrench in there, so I used slip-joint pliers to do the job. Old sensor, not exciting. Also, you have to pull the airbox so you can get at the harness (which is part of the sensor). Not shown here.

I reset the P0344 code (only 1) and test drove it. There is notably more low end torque now that the VANOS system is working again. Fixed forever!

Adam wrote:Fixed forever!

Just kidding! When I pulled it into the driveway to do this job, the traction control light came on and the brake light is orange. This is different than when the brake light is red because the e-brake is on. Sigh. After the test drive, I was sitting in the car with the scan tool looking to see if it can do ABS codes on a BMW (spoiler alert, it can't), when I noticed there were now two pending codes: Also a P0171, which is the same thing except Bank #1.

While I was sitting there making loud sighing noises, I noticed the car started to run really rough and the CEL came on again. Now with 4 codes: Sigh. I turned the car off and back on again and the CEL stays off but all 3 codes are now listed as pending again. Does anyone know the best part about owning a German car?

Seriously, I'd like to know what it is because I haven't found it yet....

Stay tuned for more repairs.

The brake light problem was fixed by replacing the brake light switch on the pedal. Its magnetic for maximum adjustment convenience.

The misfire was fixed by replacing the #4 coil at 99,741 miles.

Parts and labor estimate for the free car so far?

kevm14 wrote: ↑Sun Jan 26, 2020 6:06 pm Parts and labor estimate for the free car so far?

Parts are nearly $4k. Labor is....priceless.

Care to estimate dealer repair cost? Might be amusing. And 5 figures.

kevm14 wrote: ↑Sun Jan 26, 2020 7:32 pm Care to estimate dealer repair cost? Might be amusing. And 5 figures.

The initial time investment to get the thing on the road was ~2 work weeks spread out over a month or so. Since then, maybe another week or so. You're average BMW dealer is ~$150/hr. So $150 x 120hrs = $18,000. Is that a reasonable investment?

Well, I probably oversold it. I made up some numbers for all the things I remember doing and came up with 39.1 hours. So at $150/hr that works out to $5865. Which brings the total 'investment' to just under $10k.