big thanks to Chris Gant, Bob, Kyle, and Ben (you too) for helping me install the stage2 kit from drvanos.com as well as set my timing to where it is supposed to be!!!

some of you knew that i had the stage 1 kit which only came with the vanos, but we went ahead and upgraded to the stage 2 to remove all possibilities of the intake cam timing chain from rattling. it was worth it and now the motor is quieter than ever. power is maybe a hair better than it was after the vanos was fixed the first time, but i think i attribute that to the timing.

my bad the job took the better half of a day Bob! was the misses pissed?

hows about a dyno day now? well when the motor is put back in Ben's car and if Thanh does his project too.

yea, those guys are great. they helped me put mine in too and i can't say thanks enough.

OK BMW guys are a pretty good group :)

hey joseph my exhaust cam was like yours. we had to move the sprocket back a link on the chain. they said yours was like that too. did you regain some power too?

was the misses pissed?

Nah, she is getting used to it... :)

haha same with christine. i just learned not to set time limits anymore.

I'm so glad I don't have to worry about this, I have so many other issues to contend with on the E30. :(

i want a dyno day. since the rebuild the butt dyno seems to think im making more power but who knows

No problem! Glad my motor could be of help! :D

haha well yours was the last candidate. we opened up the M50 that was there but it didnt have the right stuff.

i want a dyno day. since the rebuild the butt dyno seems to think im making more power but who knows

lets run again....we can see if it gained anything....:D

we should! when we get the chance! b/c i was seriously disappointed

brandon and i raced to see exactly how much power i lost back when the stage 1 kit was just installed in the car. i went from only beating bdan by maybe a fender to a car length to no contest in any gear... well except 1st b/c of zero traction.

ya...it was a big jump in power gain man. my car is runnin like total doo doo right now, but thats soon to change.....really soon.

do I smell swap 4 bdan???

big thanks to Chris Gant, Bob, Kyle, and Ben (you too) for helping me install the stage2 kit from drvanos.com as well as set my timing to where it is supposed to be!!!

some of you knew that i had the stage 1 kit which only came with the vanos, but we went ahead and upgraded to the stage 2 to remove all possibilities of the intake cam timing chain from rattling. it was worth it and now the motor is quieter than ever. power is maybe a hair better than it was after the vanos was fixed the first time, but i think i attribute that to the timing.

my bad the job took the better half of a day Bob! was the misses pissed?

hows about a dyno day now? well when the motor is put back in Ben's car and if Thanh does his project too.


How many miles do you have on the engine?

How much of a performance increase did you notice the first time you fixed the vanos problem, how many miles were on the car when you first fixed it?
How did you diagnose that your timing was off? What difference do you feel now that it's not?

Thanks, Matt

bdan, as hard as you drive it, im very impressed. and you have like a million miles on it.

How many miles do you have on the engine?

How much of a performance increase did you notice the first time you fixed the vanos problem, how many miles were on the car when you first fixed it?
How did you diagnose that your timing was off? What difference do you feel now that it's not?

Thanks, Matt

the actual engine ~24k since the swap. the motor was rebuilt BUT if the vanos has as many miles as the cluster says it has, then it would have had about 220k.

i dont want to really call this a performance increase but instead regaining power. the increase was very very similar to going from a 4 cylinder honda VTEC motor (no torque/power until about 4.5k rpm then when the variable valve kicks in an insane power increase) to having a supercharger where the power is available from 500rpm to redline.

i went through 2 vanos units before the stage one kit. at the time of the stage 1 install i had about ~22k on the car.

we new the timing was off by measuring the distance the vanos allows the intake cam to travel. stock specifications call for only 12mm of travel. my vanos was allowing the intake cam to advance ~21mm. that meant that the exhaust cam sprocket (which doest move) was off. bob had to take the vanos timing chain off with the cam and intake sprockets off and then realign the exhaust cam sprocket teeth one link back. jmitro's car was the same way. what this was doing was it was causing the exhaust valves to open and close to early (correct bob/kyle?).

now that the timing is off, i do not feel more power, but i do feel like the useable power band has increased. i also noticed that my gas mileage has increased and i dont think i am running rich anymore (i dont notice an abnormaly large amount of soot in my exhaust pipe.

Actually Jed, 8-8.5mm is the minimum of advance and you had about 20mm - way too much. Anything in the 8-12mm range is generally acceptable.

bob knows best. haha

A nice reminder before the weekend, this will be interesting to watch!

oh yea. i forgot about this thread.

yeah, i cant wait to get mine installed

stg 2 FTMFW!!! i got it too my car is quiet and got more power i could actually feel when the vanos engages now not like before

yea it brings back the power you never knew you had!