BMW N52 Engine Rattle 2A87 P0015 Vanos

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An e90 325i came in with a horrible rattle and an engine light on the dash. The rattle sounded like it was coming from inside the cylinder - perhaps the timing chain or a vanos problem. We scanned the codes amd 002A87 P0015 exhaust vanos mechanism fault code was logged in the DME engine ecu. The cam cover / rocker cover / valve cover required removal to inspect the valbe train for any obvious mechanical defects, and find this issue. With inside of the cylinder head exposed, our next test was to check if the vanos gears (cam variators or cam phasers depending on your terminology) were locking in their base timing position. The inlet checked put ok woth only minor freeplay. Next the exhaust pulley was checked, and all of a sudden our issue was clear! The bolts holding the vanos variator pulley together were sheared off the back of the unit, and allowing the cam to move excessively back and forth. The only thing holding the whole lot together was the central bolt for the camshaft! This vehicle would require a new cam variator and the sump pan removing to find the bolt heads, and finish up with a good oil flush - this engine looked like most bmw engines of this era with there extended service intervals causing carbon build up inside the cylinder head. The vehicle was still under used car warranty, and the selling dealer wanted to use their mechanics to fix the issue, so unfortunately I didn't get to film the repair process.