BMW Valvetronic Eccentric Shaft Failure Symptoms
BMW Valvetronic eccentric shaft failure can happen out of the blue. You go out to your vehicle unlock the doors, and before you even start the vehicle, you notice a terrible clicking/ binding noise coming from the engine bay. You start the car and there feels to be a slightly rough idle, but other than that, all is ok. Shortly after, you get a light on your dash. A service engine soon or check engine (CEL) appears on the dash or even a drivetrain malfunction warning . You go to have your codes read with a scanner and you could have any of the following codes: P1014 , P1017 , P1023 , P1030 , P10DF , P10E0 , P10E1 , P10E7 , P10E8. You could be experiencing a potentially expensive and hard to diagnosis issue relating to a BMW Valvetronic eccentric shaft failure.
What is BMW Valvetronic?
The Valvetronic system on your BMW is a variable valve lift setup which, in combination with variable valve timing, allows the intake valve timing to be infinitely adjustable. The electric valvetronic motor was first on normally-aspirated engines but is now common on the turbocharged vehicles as well. It is responsible for actuating an eccentric shaft that adjusts intake valve lift. The motor itself is pretty reliable and does not fail too often. It’s basically a camshaft on top of the intake camshaft that controls how far open the valves move during one rotation of the intake camshaft. This means a BMW with valvetronic effectively negates the need for a throttle body, increases efficiency by minimizing pumping losses and improves fuel economy and emissions.
Fixing a BMW Valvetronic eccentric shaft
Removing it requires the removal of the valve cover. Special BMW tooling is required to release tension from the shaft springs and levers. Even with the tool, it is very easy for a spring to jump off and be in a position that can potentially cause catastrophic engine failure. After the repairs are performed on the Valvetronic assembly, the limit stops have to be relearned using the BMW scan tool to do this procedure. The limit stops are the mechanical limit stop, end to end of rotation of the eccentric shaft. The DME (digital motor electronics) records these stops via the eccentric shaft sensor to determine mechanical adjustment limits of the eccentric shaft. This is why the faults occur, the end stops are not correctly sensed when doing the precheck, or in this case, extra resistance from the shaft made the time to reach the limits longer than spec. With the new shafts in place, the vehicle was back to smooth fault-free running.
Is your car have Valvetronic problems?
Do you suspect your BMW Valvetronic eccentric shaft failure issues? Don’t hesitate to get your car checked by the experts at AutoTechnic. We have the equipment, experience and the desire to fix your vehicle right the first time. Email patrick@autotechnic.us with any questions, or give us a call at our at (704)380-4901
