thought i would tee this up for any advice...
i have a check engine light and brought my 2001 vin#61088 into bmw austin. the diagnostic report reads -
#7 signal, camshaft sensor, inlet, bank 1
#184 function, inlet VANOS, bank 1
my service rep at bmw austin added the following in an email to me yesterday:
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Chris,
I am getting ready to fax this to you but wanted to give you a little better explanation first.
You will see the first fault set as the camshaft sensor bank 1, but as discussed earlier, he strongly feels that the 2nd fault (vanos)is causing the camshaft sensor fault. He has seen this happen quite a few times, the camshaft sensor not being needed.
While connected to diagnostic equipment, it lays out a test plan. It calls for bringing your vehicle up to operating temperature while testing Vanos unit. At that time it was detected that the Vanos unit did not go to limits. The next step it calls for is replacing the Vanos unit. It has a hydraulic pressure leak internally, This would be a different malfunction that you have read about as far as hearing a mechanical rattling noise. I have seen that malfunction too but not on yours.
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anyone have any thoughts before i go ahead and pay for the very costly replacement?
thanks