Hello and welcome Amrit, is the clicking, not the fuel pump priming?

 

Hi Simon, thanks!

I initially thought it was the fuel pump but am sure it's the valvetronic motor now after doing some research into it. I've got a clip of the sound here and also cases from others;

Valvetronic motor clicking

(my car) you can hear it coming right from where the harness for the motor is.

PUMA case: 64179484

 

My 2013-built M135i makes the same clicking as the M3 and M4 clips listed, but in the video cilp of yours yours (Amrit), it sounds different, more of a buzz than a click.

I wonder if your stepper motor is weak or if the shaft is binding up? I will admit - eccentric shaft failure is the only thing that really concerns me about the N55, but the parts are available to fix it and most specialists should be able to sort it if there's no goodwill from BMW.

There's also ways to make the job quicker as well, as in this video (admittedly an N20 but the N55 in this regard just has two more cylinders):

The guy in the video below uses the same technique on an N55, so hopefully there are time (and cash) savings to be made over the BMW rate.

 

I agree on the noise actually, it is a bit more of a buzz than a click, whether that's for the worse or better i'm not sure haha.

I think I've resigned myself to the fact that the shaft has binded but I guess there's always the hope that just the motor needs replacing. I have no idea how much main dealers charge for labour these days but know a specialist by me charges 80 p/h + vat which isn't too bad.

Yeah I definitely think there's ways to speed up the process, I think I would attempt the repair myself if I had a garage but don't fancy doing it on the driveway.

 

I had the same issue on my N55 engine, shortly after purchasing the car last year. same noise symptoms but i did not experience any lack of power.
In the end it was just the valvetronic motor that needed replacing, the shaft was fine. If you are going the diy route,i should suggest replacing the valvetronic seal as well, mine was not replaced and started leaking after a couple of days.

 

Good to know that just the motor needed replacing, I'm going to get it booked in now to see and hopefully the bill isn't too much. I don't have any fault codes at the moment so hope I don't get told to come back when I do so

 

I didn't had any fault codes either, though the car mechanic could't even read the valvetronic module anymore.

 

To update, the cars been to BMW, they've seen the videos and agree that the valvetronic motor is the problem. Quoting 2.5k for the motor and shaft and they apparently won't be able to get any goodwill as they can't replicate the noise for themselves after having it in for a few days :/ looks like a trip to a specialist it is, waiting to get a few quotes back at the moment!

 

That seems a bit excessive. I had the shaft, bearings and motor replaced in my old N55 135i at a local dealer and it was under 2k. It was less than 18 months ago.

 

Yeah it's a lot, they quoted 3 stages of repair,

1. replacing the valvetronic motor for 1.4k + vat
2. replacing the shaft for 1.7k + vat
3. replacing the whole cyclinder head for something like 8.5k + vat lol

They'd normally go through stages one by one. I'd personally do the shaft and motor together which would result in about 2.4k for the stage 2 after vat, as you need to add the cost of the motor onto their stage 2.

So yeah excessive in my opinion. Very annoying that they apparently need evidence of the noise themselves to be able to apply for goodwill, when it's a known problem and I've sent them about 6 videos of the clicking noise. They didn't even seem that interested as the SA said to have a think about it and even suggested to get it done somewhere else to his credit.

For reference, I've estimated their labour costs to be around £130 p/h + vat

 

I'm fairly sure, thinking back, that it was around £1850 including VAT for shaft, bearings, motor.

 

Amirt, did you get this sorted in the end?

 

Hey Liono, yes I did in the end though maybe not in the way I planned to. I ended up having to get the top end completely rebuilt towards at the beginning of May as the crankhub bolt had come loose (think work had been done prior to me purchasing the car) and the engine lost timing. Ending up having to replace all the exhaust valves and in the process got the valvetronic motor changed and it all appears to be okay now (no clicking or valvetronic codes)

 

Wowsers, sounds very expensive! Tried to get quotes today but a lot of garages busy. I presume I'm ok to drive the car with reduced power.

 

I've been quoted £829 estimate from my local indy for Replacement valvetronic motor. Dealer wouldn't quote until looked at the car for £144.

 

I'd replace the lot personally - if the shaft is binding up, then changing the motor alone has a chance of the new motor going bad. While the mechanic is in there, it's easier to replace the lot and have done with it, than do a partial repair on it.

The motor atm (according to Rybrook) is about £400, the eccentric shaft is £820, the needle bearings are £12 (ea, I think and you need 6 of them), and the oil feed is £25. This is on the link below, the motor is under cylinder head add on parts. Will also need a rocker cover gasket, possibly new eccentric shaft retaining bolts and so on.

You might be able to get away with replacing just the eccentric shaft needle bearings and the motor, but I guess it would depend on the wear on the parts.

Rybrook Online Catalogue

 

Yeah I got lucky in the end in the fact that I found someone who specialises in rebuilding N55's and B58's (worked on some crazy builds with Serks Motorworks before) - was potentially going to go down the forged route when thought it needed a complete rebuild, but luckily was just the top end and in the end didn't cost me too much more than just replacing the valvetronic motor at the dealer so pretty happy.

I took the risk of just getting the motor replaced as he said that the wear on the shaft was okay and costs were adding up but I'd also recommend getting it changed just for piece of mind, especially as I think the quote for just getting your motor done is pretty good.

Just had a look and you can pick it up for £670 here from Sytner Stevenage which is a steal

2014 BMW M135i Eccentric shaft - 11377589883 | Sytner Stevenage BMW, Stevenage Hertfordshire

Eccentric shaft. 2014 BMW M135i. Genuine BMW Part - 11377589883 (11-37-7-589-883). Ships from Sytner Stevenage BMW, Stevenage Hertfordshire

www.sytnerstevenagebmwparts.co.uk

 

Bit of a rant lol: I'm sure BMWs are made of chocolate, especially the Petrol engines! I owned a 335i with the N54 engine for 7 years with untold number of issues. I thought moving to the N55 would be much more reliable, how wrong was I. This issue can't be a lack of oil changes or servicing and I rarely give mine the beans. Mine has only done 40k miles and serviced regularly. Really put off BMW's right now.

Anyway some reading on this issue:

Everything You Need To Know About BMW N55 & S55 Valvetronic Eccentric Shaft Replacement

Engineers have been looking for ways to improve the internal combustion engine since its creation. Various reasons have spawned updates and evolutions, but these days, the general driver is efficiency. Greenhouse emissions are bad, and carbon-neutral modes of transportation don’t exist yet, so...

blog.fcpeuro.com

 

Yeah there are a few common issues and is very frustrating. I feel like it's a bit ridiculous that something like the valvetronic failing is so common, despite being serviced regularly and yet we're just expected to pay out of pocket when it costs upwards of £1k+. Mines only done 50k, been serviced regularly too and yet still happened and conveniently isn't just a simple replacement you can do on your driveway. BMW were pretty much useless when I went to them with the issue as expected, and I feel like I can't completely enjoy the car as always have something going wrong in the back of my mind (rod bearings is the next one I fear now).

 

Got my car back now, thanks for the link above as used it to buy the eccentric shaft and bearings. Price was about £780 inc vat and delivery. Total cost was almost £2k as Indy charged £1200 for labour, and motor and seals etc.

Garage tried fitting just the new motor but car wouldn't calibrate, so a new shaft was needed. You can see the old shaft below. Oil feed checked for blockages and was ok.

I've read there was a revised part for the shaft, but I can't see that on realoem.com so not sure if that's true. Hope it doesn't happen again.