New member, Some Q about Vanos

Hey Guys,

I just joined this group today, it seems to contain alot of useful
information. My question is concerned with an 2000 E46 328ci. I would
like to ask if any member here has experienced a sudden, silent stall
while driving. It happened to me while I was driving on the interstate,
my car while driving (its a 5spd) suddenly stalled when I was in
neutral and about to switch to 5th gear. My steering got locked, and it
was extremely dangerous. Thank god I have a 5spd and my car did not
choke, It just silently shut down, the only way I could tell was when I
looked in the dash and my engine and oil lights came on in red, so I
pressed the clutch, turned on the car while rolling on the interstate
at 65 mph! I got control back, took it to a mechanic and he told me it
could be my Vanos Unit going out. Has anyones "Vanos" unit gone out
here or experienced the same issue, any information shared here will be
highly appreciated.. Thank you.


Regards,
Omair

Bimmer328 wrote:
> Hey Guys,
>
> I just joined this group today, it seems to contain alot of useful
> information. My question is concerned with an 2000 E46 328ci. I would
> like to ask if any member here has experienced a sudden, silent stall
> while driving. It happened to me while I was driving on the interstate,
> my car while driving (its a 5spd) suddenly stalled when I was in
> neutral and about to switch to 5th gear. My steering got locked, and it
> was extremely dangerous. Thank god I have a 5spd and my car did not
> choke, It just silently shut down, the only way I could tell was when I
> looked in the dash and my engine and oil lights came on in red, so I
> pressed the clutch, turned on the car while rolling on the interstate
> at 65 mph! I got control back, took it to a mechanic and he told me it
> could be my Vanos Unit going out. Has anyones "Vanos" unit gone out
> here or experienced the same issue, any information shared here will be
> highly appreciated.. Thank you.


I extremely doubt that a vanos failure would cause a stall like this.
If the steering really did lock then I guess the key fell out?!
If you'd simply put the car in gear it should have come back to life
and even if not you'd have got power steering and brakes back.

In article .com>,
Bimmer328 > wrote:
> I just joined this group today, it seems to contain alot of useful
> information. My question is concerned with an 2000 E46 328ci. I would
> like to ask if any member here has experienced a sudden, silent stall
> while driving. It happened to me while I was driving on the interstate,
> my car while driving (its a 5spd) suddenly stalled when I was in
> neutral and about to switch to 5th gear. My steering got locked, and it
> was extremely dangerous.

It certainly is if this happened. To lock the steering you have to remove
the key. Which would be stupid. If the engine stalls, you merely lose
power assistance to the steering which makes it heavy but still manageable
while moving.

> Thank god I have a 5spd and my car did not
> choke, It just silently shut down, the only way I could tell was when I
> looked in the dash and my engine and oil lights came on in red, so I
> pressed the clutch, turned on the car while rolling on the interstate
> at 65 mph!

Why did you turn it off in the first place? Most would simply engage the
clutch and hope it would re-start. But you must have been changing gear
very slowly if the engine had time to stall.

> I got control back, took it to a mechanic and he told me it
> could be my Vanos Unit going out. Has anyones "Vanos" unit gone out
> here or experienced the same issue, any information shared here will be
> highly appreciated.. Thank you.

Most likely thing is the crank position sensor. But it should have thrown
up a fault code, so get this checked first. It's unlikely to be a Vanos
fault IMHO.

--
*Why is it considered necessary to screw down the lid of a coffin?

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Bimmer328 wrote:
> Hey Guys,
>
> I just joined this group today, it seems to contain alot of useful
> information.

I hope you didn't pay too much in initiation fees!

> My question is concerned with an 2000 E46 328ci. I would
> like to ask if any member here has experienced a sudden, silent stall
> while driving. It happened to me while I was driving on the interstate,
> my car while driving (its a 5spd) suddenly stalled when I was in
> neutral and about to switch to 5th gear. My steering got locked, and it
> was extremely dangerous. Thank god I have a 5spd and my car did not
> choke, It just silently shut down, the only way I could tell was when I
> looked in the dash and my engine and oil lights came on in red, so I
> pressed the clutch, turned on the car while rolling on the interstate
> at 65 mph! I got control back, took it to a mechanic and he told me it
> could be my Vanos Unit going out. Has anyones "Vanos" unit gone out
> here or experienced the same issue, any information shared here will be
> highly appreciated.. Thank you.

Go look for another mechanic. This one doesn't even know what the VANOS
does. It is merely a means of mechanically advancing the valve timing.
It would *never* cause the engine to stall, and especially not while
the engine was still in gear.

It sounds like you had a temporary disconnection of an electrical
signal. May a faulty ground connection somewhere or something like
that. Not a valve timing issue.


--
-Fred W

"Bimmer328" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Hey Guys,
>
> I just joined this group today, it seems to contain alot of useful
> information. My question is concerned with an 2000 E46 328ci. I would
> like to ask if any member here has experienced a sudden, silent stall
> while driving. It happened to me while I was driving on the interstate,
> my car while driving (its a 5spd) suddenly stalled when I was in
> neutral and about to switch to 5th gear. My steering got locked, and it
> was extremely dangerous. Thank god I have a 5spd and my car did not
> choke, It just silently shut down, the only way I could tell was when I
> looked in the dash and my engine and oil lights came on in red, so I
> pressed the clutch, turned on the car while rolling on the interstate
> at 65 mph! I got control back, took it to a mechanic and he told me it
> could be my Vanos Unit going out. Has anyones "Vanos" unit gone out
> here or experienced the same issue, any information shared here will be
> highly appreciated.. Thank you.
>

First, your problem is not the VANOS, you can relax on that front.

The only way for the steering to lock is for the key to be off AND removed.
I can switch my motor off at any time and I can still steer my car. The
steerig does not lock until the key is removed. But, even if your steering
locked, this is not a VANOS issue.

"Jeff Strickland" > wrote in message
...
>
>
> The only way for the steering to lock is for the key to be off AND
> removed. I can switch my motor off at any time and I can still steer my
> car. The steerig does not lock until the key is removed. But, even if your
> steering locked, this is not a VANOS issue.
>
>
>

I doubt that's what the OP really meant. I suspect he was referring to
losing his power steering due to the stalled engine.

Eisboch