[agad]

Hi Guys, just moved to UK few month ago and bought an 2006 330i auto M-Sport. last week when i started the car it was struggling to crank and the engine starts to have a tapping noise with a very rough idle, i drove the car then and it was running fine except the engine was very noisy. i also noticed when i stop in a traffic light the car idle falls to 0.5 and the engine may turn off.
When i went back home i read that the rough idle could be a problem with the vanos solenoids but actually it should not cause the engine to get noisy and when i looked for the engine tapping noise i found alot of threads and videos disscusing the HVA being dry during cold starts however most of the people said that the noise disappears after a few minutes or a short trip.
I took the car on the motorway for a long trip but the sound was still present. i tried aswell the bleeding procedure which quiten the HVA lifters but it didn't help, the noise is presistant all the time.
I took the car to 4 Bmw specialists and every one gave a different diagnosis, some mechanics said its the hydrolic lifters and others said its the solenoid valves and another one said its the oil filter being blocked and there is no sufficent oil to the cylinder head, so i changed the oil with 5w 30 and put a new oil filter, the sounds became a bit lower but i think it was normal as new compared to old oil.

Anyway i managed to get the error codes on the DME which is:
2A87 Exhaust vanos mechanism
2A99 Crankshaft exhaust camshaft
29D0 Combustion misfiring cylinder 4
29D9 Msfire low tank fill level
2A82 Intake vanos

iam really very confused as i think the noise is not related to the misfiring and the vanos solenoids, the mechanics are confusing me more by there diagnosis, most of them wants to strip down the cylinder cover first and check for worn lifter or rocker arms. and in my opinion this will not cure the misfiring and vanos problems, also replacement of 24 rocker arms and 24 valve lifters will cost more than buying a decent cylinder head off a late e90 with the modified N52N cylinder head.

What do u guys think i should start to do? is the misfiring can be related to a mechanical problem? is there is something to do with spark plug and iginition coil in cylinder 4?

Really need your help. Cheers!

[nate5ks]

It looks like you have a few possibilities here. Vanos solenoids, camshaft sensors, or the crankshaft sensor. That's a lot to narrow down so start by removing and cleaning the vanos solenoids with compressed air because they can get dirty. Clear the codes and drive it. If the problem is not corrected swap the camshaft sensors and see if the "crankshaft exhaust camshaft" code moves to the intake camshaft. If so, replace the bad sensor. Make sure you clear codes between tests.

[agad]

Originally Posted by nate5ks

It looks like you have a few possibilities here. Vanos solenoids, camshaft sensors, or the crankshaft sensor. That's a lot to narrow down so start by removing and cleaning the vanos solenoids with compressed air because they can get dirty. Clear the codes and drive it. If the problem is not corrected swap the camshaft sensors and see if the "crankshaft exhaust camshaft" code moves to the intake camshaft. If so, replace the bad sensor. Make sure you clear codes between tests.

Can these cause engine noise?

[BradZditosky]

My buddy had what sounds like the exact problem you are having. We though it was the vanos solenoids too, so we took them out and cleaned them and they seemed fine. What we ended up finding out is, it was the ignition coil and if you search it is a common problem to have them go bad on the 06 330's for some reason. i notice you have an error of "Combustion misfiring cylinder 4" I think that may be your whole problem. That is why you are getting a very rough idle and having the car shut off on you. You can get the coil for around 30 or 40 bucks online. Hopefully this helps!

[nate5ks]

You could try swapping coil 4 and see if the misfire error follows the coil before buying a new one.

[agad]

Originally Posted by nate5ks

You could try swapping coil 4 and see if the misfire error follows the coil before buying a new one.

Thanks!

[Three_thirty_I]

Cleaning the Vanos solenoids is definitely worth doing and very easy - there are some DIY threads here for this. Just be careful when removing the solenoids not to let the plastic ring spacer which fits between the solenoid and the rubber O-ring fall. Happened to me and it ended up falling into the fan shroud (couldn't find at the time but suspected this, and then when doing another DIY with the airbox out, was able to spot it and recover), so had to replace...

Hope this helps, and very curious to see how you get along with this problem!

[agad]

Thanks guys, any ideas about the noise? Can it be related to the misfiring?

[nate5ks]

Originally Posted by abcarino

Thanks guys, any ideas about the noise? Can it be related to the misfiring?

Yes

[Kirkies328]

My car did this too a few months back. I took it in and bmw replace the spark plug coils and it was fixed. Try getting new coils on your spark plugs

[agad]

Originally Posted by Kirkies328

My car did this too a few months back. I took it in and bmw replace the spark plug coils and it was fixed. Try getting new coils on your spark plugs

were u suffering from rough idle and long crank only? or the engine was doing a knocking NOISE aswell??

[Kirkies328]

Originally Posted by abcarino

were u suffering from rough idle and long crank only? or the engine was doing a knocking NOISE aswell??

It was a really rough idle. The gauge for the rpms (forget wat its called hahahaha) was bouncing alot from about 650 rpm to below 500 about 3 times every second. And if i accelerated to anything above 3k rpm it felt like i was in a massage chair. It turned out that 2 of my coils went bad and i have an 09 328i with 25k miles on it. I would try getting those fixed before anything cuz there not as expensive as other problems can be

[agad]

Originally Posted by Kirkies328

It was a really rough idle. The gauge for the rpms (forget wat its called hahahaha) was bouncing alot from about 650 rpm to below 500 about 3 times every second. And if i accelerated to anything above 3k rpm it felt like i was in a massage chair. It turned out that 2 of my coils went bad and i have an 09 328i with 25k miles on it. I would try getting those fixed before anything cuz there not as expensive as other problems can be

i think i have a different problem mate, my car drives fine except the knocking engine noise and rough idle only when car stops..

[Kirkies328]

Originally Posted by abcarino

i think i have a different problem mate, my car drives fine except the knocking engine noise and rough idle only when car stops..

Yea maybe. Hope you find out whats wrong man

[Phil325i]

OP if you are in the UK there has been a BMW recall to replace all coil packs. Might be worth visiting a BMW dealer to see if this has been done on your car...

[agad]

Originally Posted by Phil325i

OP if you are in the UK there has been a BMW recall to replace all coil packs. Might be worth visiting a BMW dealer to see if this has been done on your car...

thanks mate , i just want to let the car be checked by an independent specialist then if it turn out to be the coils i will replace them in the dealer. As iam based in south east too , would u recommened a good & honest bmw garage?
Cheers!

[agad]

went today to a good bmw specialist who did full diagnostics and figured out that the vanos unit inside the cylinder head is jammed preventing the camshaft from proper functioning and causing this terrible knocking noise, so cylinder head needs to be removed in the first place and all parts should be inspected for any misfunction. the bad news is this garage is fully booked until next tuesday so its a pretty long wait. thanks guys for your help and will keep you updated!

[Three_thirty_I]

Any update?