Valvetronic - replace or bypass?

[m4mica]

Been having intermittent problems with Valvetronic and it finally died. Determined that it failed at the min lift position which prevented the car from starting. I did the quick fix where I drilled a hole near the connector, and used a 4mm allen wrench to manually rotate the eccentric shaft to max lift position, then left it disconnected. Car started right away and thankfully was able to drive it home. Dealer quoted me $5K for this repair. I can probably do it myself but won't have time to get to it for a while. Is there any significant downside to just running the car this way? Car has a 'safe mode' where it will just use the throttle body instead of the valvetronic and limits RPM to 6500 which is not a big deal. It seems to run fine with no appreciable loss of power. Given the cost of repair and age of the car, I'm inclined to run it like this but don't want to create downstream issues.

[jbash87]

No clue what the long-term effects would be running w/o it. It's a very easy part to change though.

[m4mica]

Originally Posted by jbash87

No clue what the long-term effects would be running w/o it. It's a very easy part to change though.

Unfortunately on my car 2013 X5 E70 it's a very big job because the actuator is internally, not externally mounted. Requires removal of the valve cover, injector wells, etc. Other models it is externally mounted which makes so much more sense.

From what I've read it recognizes valvetronic is not working and then reverts to throttle body like a 'normal' engine. throttle body was retained as a fail safe for situations like this. Sounds like valvetronic gives slightly better low RPM response and around 10% fuel efficiency gains.

[jbash87]

Originally Posted by m4mica

Unfortunately on my car 2013 X5 E70 it's a very big job because the actuator is internally, not externally mounted. Requires removal of the valve cover, injector wells, etc. Other models it is externally mounted which makes so much more sense.

Interesting. TIL. Which motor?

[Daytonawim]

Originally Posted by jbash87

Interesting. TIL. Which motor?

Yep, they think we look in a glass bowl and now what engine someone has!

My guess is that’s an 3.5i

There is an video of it on YouTube. But he needed to replace the shaft and fried DME. A day and a half work and 3000 dollars in Parts.

[m4mica]

Originally Posted by jbash87

Interesting. TIL. Which motor?

N55 3.5i