[slovakE70]

Hello guys,

Last couple days i am getting Engine fault message on idrive. It happened 3 times already in last 5 days. No prior problems or faults with the engine nor with the car. First time it happend i was driving normaly pulling from stop sign and engine fault message pop up. But engine was running normally, no misfiring, knocking etc. So i pulled over, restart the car and no more idrive message. I was 20 miles from home, so drove home with no problems. 3 miles from home i stopped at gas station, filled her up and as soon as i drowe away from gas station Engine fault again but this time with check engine light. But again engine was running fine and smooth.
Next day i started the car and all was good exept check engine light still lit on the dashboard, but no idrive message and engine was running smooth. Went to my friend - mechanic who has OBD2 scanner and this codes it showed :

P0022 - "A" CAMSHAFT position- timing over-retarded (Bank 2)
2A7F – VANOS intake

So it looks to me like Vanos solenoid is becoming faulty – maybe dirty / clogged up ? We erased the codes and i was back on the road with no problems.
Yesterday same scenario, was driving through traffic and Engine fault on idrive poped-up (no CEL this time) but engine ran smooth. So pulled over, restarted it and message went away and all was back to normal. I didn't have time to scan it yet, but even this morning car started fine (cold start at -2 C / 28 F) and no Engine fault or rpm fluctuation.
So is this just random Vanos solenoid malfunction or maybe cam sprocket getting faulty ? Im changing oil every 5000 miles and last oil change was 2500 miles ago (fresh 5W-40 LL-01 oil with MANN filter) so i don't see how solenoids can get dirty/cloged but understand these things can wear out.
So can i just take out Vanos solenoids and clean them ? I was thinking maybe clean them and swap the intake and exhaust and see if code returns to exhaust cam - that should confirm faulty solenoid, isn't it ?