Brought my 63k mile E46 M3 in yesterday to have one of my 3 BMW Master Level techs do a 'premium' Inspection II + VANOS bolts. The car has been running great in this cold weather - I was excited to get it back Monday in 'like new' condition.
I received a text at 3PM with these 2 pics. Mind you, I was in a meeting with my fiancee and the event rep for my upcoming wedding - we were sorting out the menu etc. Needless to say I got in trouble with the fiancee as I was paying more attn to my phone than the menu...
Anyways, yes - I was lucky to catch this before there was total VANOS failure which would lead to well...a full rebuild. We have not seen a ton of these fail, but we do know they are just another E46M3 weak point. On our FB post the owner of Performance Technic in CA said he has replaced 15 in just 2 years!
Looks like I will just replace with new OEM equipment. I might have a new hub cryo'd...we will see.
