For those of you familiar with BMW's:
is this VANOS seal problem for real, or is it one of these 'forumitis' issues ??


THANKS

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2011 Prius

The only real issue is a 'rattle' that develops as things gunk up inside. Repair consists of replacement or breaking it down, cleaning it ultrasonicly, and replacing a seal inside.

Running heavier oil (or not changing it) is the usual cause....

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Lots of M3s and a '62 220 Heckflosse

Thanks, but it's not exactly what I mean.
Are you familiar with this matter ??
http://www.beisansystems.com/

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2011 Prius

Question is: does your motor sound like a diesel on first cold start up?


It's a real thing, the O-rings do need to be replaced, eventually. Since they don't simply sit still and seal in a fluid, they are actually moving parts and they'll wear out. If you use fully synthetic oil in the correct viscosity and change it on time you can extend that time. The 'con' of ignoring it is loss of torque and fuel economy. The notion that they somehow go bad in, say, less than 70K miles - I doubt that unless you use off brand non detergent oil and change it every 15K miles. The wife's car has 130K on it and it's just barely rattling, for less than a second on cold morning starts. I plan on doing it this summer just to see if it improves running and mileage. Plus, Beisan (the guy from there) is local to me and I plan to talk to him soon.

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1987 300D (230,000 mi on a #14 head-watching the temp gauge and keeping the ghost in the machine)
Raleigh NC - Home of deep fried sushi!