BMW 4 Series VANOS Issues, Power Loss and Check Engine

Hi there! I had pretty similar issues with my 2018 BMW 3 Series (coming from someone with moderate car experience). The symptoms you're describing are almost identical to what I faced. My check engine light came on, and the car felt really sluggish, especially when accelerating. After taking it to my workshop, they diagnosed a faulty camshaft solenoid valve. The whole repair, including parts and labor, cost me about 250 Euro. The mechanics explained that these solenoids can fail over time, affecting the VANOS system's operation. Before jumping to conclusions though, could you share some more details? What's your current mileage? Have you noticed any unusual sounds from the engine bay? Also, did you get any specific error codes when scanning? This info would help confirm if you're dealing with the same issue I had. The good news is, once fixed, my car went back to running perfectly. No more rough idle or power issues.

Thanks for sharing your experience! I'm at 24636 KM and just had my last service done recently. No unusual sounds from the engine bay, just the rough idle and power loss issues I mentioned. Haven't grabbed the error codes yet, but planning to get it scanned tomorrow. Your repair cost sounds way better than what I was worried about! Really hoping it's just the solenoid like in your case. Did you have to wait long for the parts to arrive when you got yours fixed?

Hey there again! Glad I could help earlier. For my repair, I actually didn't have to wait long at all for the parts, my shop got them in about two days. I remember being pretty relieved about that since I was worried about being without my car for too long. Since you mentioned you're at 24636 KM, that's actually really similar to when my issues started popping up (I was around 27000 KM). The fact that you're not hearing any weird noises is also a good sign, that was the same in my case. Usually, if there's mechanical damage to the VANOS unit itself, you'd hear some rattling or ticking sounds. Quick tip from my experience, when you get it scanned, if you see codes P0011 or P0012, those are typically related to the camshaft timing/solenoid issues I had. My mechanic also mentioned these are pretty common on our BMWs. Just keep us posted about those error codes when you get them. Would be interesting to see if they match up with what I had. The whole repair only took about 3 hours in my case, so hopefully you'll have similar luck!

Thanks so much for all these details! That's super reassuring to hear about the quick parts delivery and repair time. Really appreciate you mentioning those specific error codes too, I'll definitely keep an eye out for P0011 and P0012 during the scan tomorrow. It's actually quite comforting knowing that your issues started around the same mileage as mine. Makes me feel like I'm not just unlucky! I'll definitely update this thread once I get the diagnosis and repair sorted. Fingers crossed it's as straightforward as your case was. Three hours of work sounds way better than what I was imagining. Thanks again for sharing your experience, it's really helped calm my nerves about this whole situation!