BMW E46 VANOS at 200,00 miles - false P0339

My VANOS started going out at ~200,000 miles and then failed completely, throwing a P0339 code (Crank Position Sensor A Circuit intermittent). The car was intermittently bucking at almost the same point every day on my daily drive. It felt like someone pulled the plug and then plugged it right back in. There were no active codes and none in memory. I had already figured that I had a sticking VANOS valve and needed to address that. The car has a manual transmission and I had gotten into the habit of bump starting it in reverse all the time, even when cold. Then one day, it would not bump start and became hard starting and ran poorly. It threw the P0339 code for the first time too. I replaced the sensor and erased the code but the code and the drivability issues persisted. After replacing the VANOS seals, and clearing the codes, the issues and the codes still persisted. Attempting to reset the adaptives and reset the control unit by disconnecting the battery for a long time with an electrical load on (such as horn or lights) did not work. None of my existing OBD-II scanners/readers could reset the adaptives on a BMW. I have one for a Jeep, but not a bimmer. Had to buy the one on Amazon. The car drives great again at 200k miles.

[@scromtinker7421]

Just did my vanos yesterday. If anyone sees this you can put your ear up to the front of the valve cover while car is running. If you hear any clanking noises in there, if you can tell its not just your lifters or something you will benefit from redoing your vanos. When vanos is good you should just hear a smooth chain/gear noise. I did mine and did anti-rattle kit and it quieted right down and has much more noticable low end torque. It was not throwing codes or anything I just could tell from driving similar HP cars, and from the noise this was making. As long as some dummy hasn't gummed up any bolts (like my PO did), its an extremely easy job and not too much money.

[@jaymichaelodell]

That was fun to watch. Thanks Paul.

[@carlostower4807]

Hey did it fix the problem???

[@Roman-wv4rd]

I had same p0339 , I changed all the sensors , redid vanos, and it’s still throwing the code and also hard starting as well idk what can it be

[@granitewheeler]

Same thing happened to me. Go to 16:35 in the video. You need to reset the VANOS so it re-learns the correct cam and crank positions. Buy the tool on amazon prime. If that doeesnt work, just return the tool. It worked for me.

[@traviswilson8362]

I'm having a similar problem with my m54b22, did you end up fixing yours?

[@Roman-wv4rd]

@@traviswilson8362 I haven’t worked on the car since it’s been parked in the garage, I’m hoping to get to it this august and get it on the road

[@Roman-wv4rd]

Did it fix the problem or not ???