I am a technician at Mini Cooper which uses the same engine. I went through BMW technical school and the amount of technology that these cars are equipped with is mind blowing. Not a day goes by that I don't learn something new.
RUclips doesnt get enough credit, they enabled the world to get 10x more educated with visual aid.. Like this video, I just learned what we would spend 1 hour in school on in 4 minutes
Also without the leftist conformist propaganda that turns students docile and obedient almost slave like subjects. The Swedish Education System is opposite, it believes in equality with individualism while you are more responsible for your work and independent, plus, less false information.
Since this car has a standard butterfly valve as a failsafe, I'd be really interested to see tests where you disable Volvetronic. Understandably, I don't think BMW would like you meddling with things like that, but it sure would be interesting to see stuff like: * Throttle response time * Fuel efficiency * Engine noise level * Acceleration speeds I'm not expecting all of those to change significantly, but it would still be interesting to measure them.
when the valvetronic system is disabled, the car lacks power. It will idle normally, no extra noise..by simply listening to it, there is no difference. However when driving the car, it struggles in climbing hills, overtaking and acceleration. the intake valves will be opening very little, allowing less air inside the cylinder..which equal less power. kinda like choking the engine
The engine will cut power by limiting fuel though funnily enough if you bypassed that the Valvetronic failsafes into maximum lift so I would assume you could still hit peak power though you'd lose the nice flat torque curve
Know that, haha ... they say, driving a constant speed will improve fuel economy ... they say, dethrottling the engine will improve fuel economy. I tried this out, traveling from Berlin to Hannover - fuel economy was very poor then, but I was kind of satisfied with my average speed (170 kph door to door), getting this done in exakt 100 minutes (with Grandpa's C240 that I had inherited back then - no longer have it). ... but it took like 16 liter on 100 km, which translates to 14.7 mpg - that, however, did not impress me regarding the engine, but it was prove that this car's body is aerodynamically well designed (MB W 203, threevalve V6, automatic transmission). Anyway, I must have mistaken something here ... fully dethrottled most of the time, constant speed most of the time, and still it was a heavy drinker. What did I do wrong, here? ... hehe...
I've owned several BMW's with Valvtronic and Vanos and have never had any issues with it. Amazing reliability from such a complex systems My daily driver is a 05 325i wagon with 261,000 miles. Great video of explaining how it works!
@@cartere9981yeah, the reason why BMWs have a reputation for being unreliable is because those people don't take the cost of maintenance into account and think that they can treat these cars like Toyotas
I love this channel. Anytime I need something explained from the Automotive world I come here. Its very hard for me to learn without being hands on, yet these videos are easy to learn from. THANK YOU!
Great video. From an efficiency standpoint how different is this from running independent throttle bodies? ITBs seem like a simpler system with less to go wrong. (Have you done a video on ITBs?)
Haven't done a video on ITBs. This is similar, but still slightly superior from an efficiency standpoint, as there is absolutely no gap between the valves and open atmosphere.
Please do more videos like this, more of some unique or obscure technology, explain what it is and how it works, why its better, why it isn't, etc. These are, in my opinion anyway, what you're good at, and why I joined your channel. Great video.
Individual Throttle Bodies can be a good compromise between one throttle body on the intake manifold and this very complex system. It can reduce the huge vacuum inside the intake manifold.
What matters most is the pressure outside the intake valve itself, which is very similar for conventional and ITBs, and much lower than atmospheric pressure at low engine loads. Valvetronic has atmospheric pressure immediately outside the intake valve at all engine loads.
Jason, great video that helps me understand BMW's valve designs. Thank you for all your great videos. After watching this video, I wanted to recommend one thing. While you explain your whiteboard drawings your body tends to cover portions of your drawings on the left side when you begin to describe the drawings on the right side. Recommend that you switch your body's position to the other side of the board and adjust camera angle (with your flawless editing, of course) to prevent this from happening. It's minor, but it caught my attention in a negative way and I had to rewind the video to catch what you were saying. This happens with my teachers/instructors and I always put this in the critiques. Keep those awesome videos coming!
Interesting video, it's cool to see we're still trying to squeeze more power/efficiency out of an engine fundamentally designed in the 1850s. Hey what about a video on Otto vs Atkinson cycle engines ! The pros/cons of each and different implementations would make for a good video.
Its funny cause they dont crush every car on the road the moment one comes off the factory line. Just because the New Beamers use it, doesnt mean there arent plenty of old cars, like my E34 that still roll old school. You didnt waste any money lmao. Especially since BMW isnt the only car company on the Earth. No money wasted.
+ELIJAH HEADRICK he did waste money by going to a tech school, you don't learn anything at them and pay 40K. Im one of the highest paid techs at my dealership, at 20 years old, without going to school
Steven Schechterly Heres the question though "20 year old" little buddy. Do you work for BMW? A licensed BMW dealership? Where they would oeprate on new, $60k X1s? I doubt you. And no, he didnt waste any money. Youre not the majority because youre "the highest paid tech" at a local shop. Every tech I work with at my dealer, is BMW certifed, for specific work on new model BMWs. they HAVE to go to school to work here. You NEED Certs from SCHOOLS to do anything but oil changes. The salaries range from $30k/yr doing oil changes and tire rotations, to $150k/yr being the Certified BMWi and M tech.
+ELIJAH HEADRICK +ELIJAH HEADRICK no i dont work at a bmw dealership, although i have a do own a few bmw's and know my way around them. I am a certified dodge technician and am currently working on becoming a certified srt technician and I acquired that through dealer certified training that I got paid to do.
A new video idea may be educating us on how the on-board MPG computer works? I've read articles on how it's not very accurate, could be fun. Keep the videos coming! Love 'em!
I suppose theoretically this system also improves efficiency/economy since there should be less resistance due to the camshaft not having to force the valves/springs to their full travel unless under full throttle.
Very clear presentation. I'm soooo glad your video have been improving and improving. I watch your videos since you begin this RUclips career. You're getting better!!!!
A few people have locked their valvetronic at full tilt (9.9mm) so they're always at max valve lift. You could also probably take off the throttle plates to maximize air flow.
As I know, ecu uses throttle body all the time. It was so in early versions - valvetronics was not enough for all throttling range. And, if something reduces airflow at some rpm, it doesn't matter - braking force will be applied.
Every car should be serviced at the dealer, even used ones (because the owner's manual usually have a form to be filled by the new owner in order to keep the official assistance and warranty).
Very nice explanation! I've definitely been looking forward to this topic. Having the butterfly valve as a backup and the ancillary vacuum pump were nice adds.
I might have missed it, but the other advantage to this system is being able to control the valve lift like that of Honda's VTEC, but it's continuous so there's near infinite control over how much lift.
+sasja de vries uhm have you ever heard about a landcruiser or a hilux? of course if you're gonna try and beat on your camry it'll break like any other car cause it wasn't designed to be used that way. it will however last longer than a bmw
Viren S Toyota has been having some hiccups, like almost all the 2AZ-FE engines (the super common one 2.4L) had piston seal issues where it seemed fine, no smoke, but would be consuming oil and be really low by the time you needed to get service. They issued a recall, but many people didn't find out till they were out of the recall range. Or like the 4GR-FSE (only found in the IS250) had issues with carbon deposits and would require a full rebuild. Luckily they no longer make the IS250. Other manufacturers have had similar issues since it's a problem with using just direct injection. Toyota is super reliable, but not like it used to be.
Sigma Projects Wow, you just confirmed what I was talking about. I have seen that most manufacturers (including toyota) are drilling less holes in the piston underneath the 3rd piston ring, the 3rd ring scrapes off the excess oil and pushes them through these holes; when these holes have a smaller diameter, they get stuck easily (because of deposits), which means the 3rd piston ring can't scrape much oil off the cylinder walls, meaning oil will get in the combustion chamber. So way more oil will burn up. When I talked about 'drilling less holes in the piston' I meant this. Toyota (amongst others) is saving money on things like this, and they are making even more money by selling new cars.
cos they would already be using a vaccum pump for thier diesel models. Most if not all diesels use a vacuum pump in this way and thus instead of redesigning a new system they could just use the exact same one from thier existing diesel models, saving costs.
We also need to understand that all newer BMWs utilize Electric Assisted Rack and Pinion Steering using an electric motor. So there's no hydraulic pump present.
From my understanding only the ones with smaller engines not all. F10's with 6 and 8 cylinder engines had hydraulic while 4 cylinder had electric for example. There isn't enough space in the engine bay to handle the additional hardware for the electronic power steering.
actually, isn't this just like a mechanical version of the freevalve though? you already could adjust both the timing and lift with VANOS and valvetronics. or rather what's the difference? and the limitation?
thank god I finally learnt something more before my exam on wednesday :3 besides knowing K jetronic, L jetronic, motronic and finally valvetronic~~~ engine management is almost difficult to understand how they work... thx jason, this video came out just in time!
Yeah, the system definitely adds some extra complication. I was thinking about how, to the user, this system may save on fuel economy, but in the longer run if it fails it'll cost to repair possibly negating any fuel economy savings. Since OP said his info was from 2001 I'd be curious to know how the system is holding up on a 15 year old car. Of course, user savings doesn't matter if the local gov has regulations on fuel economy.
it was introduced in the 2001 bmw e46 316ti compact. i havn't heard of any problems with the valvetronic system yet. the vanos from e36 model cars was quite fail prone but apart from some electronic, powersteering and rust problems the e46 4zylinder cars are very reliable.
+TheWolvesCurse The 2001 N42 engine with valvetronic isn't the best engine BMW produced, but it's not bad either. I drive one of these and never had problems with vanos or valvetronic itself. More crutial is the weak timing chain assembly and the tendency of these engines to leak oil very badly. Valvetronic problems that can occur are the electric motors failing over time and that the excentric shaft tends to go flat as a consequence of bad maintenance.
Great system! I wonder how much fuel economy does this technique improve... One other thing (and please reply) Have you ever thought of doing the drawing as they do in "minutephysics" or "asapSCIENCE"? It would improve a lot the understanding of car parts, been seeing your videos for a while and I think it is a step forward (subs and views). Not sponsored, was just thinking...
Jason, It would be interesting to do another video on FCA's MultiAir system, which is electrohydraulic but very similar to BMW's Valvetronic. GM's Intake Valve Lift Control (IVLC), while not continuously variable like Valvetronic and MultiAir, is another interesting variable valve lift system.
Similar ideas related to variable valve lift and timing are implemented by many other brands. Surprisingly, I find FCA's Multiair the most interesting approach (besides freevalve )
I fix these all the time, the eccentric shaft and valvetronic motor fail a lot on the earlier n20 models, it pays like 6 hours of labor and is Farley simple, I like doing them
I would be really interested in your explaination of MultiAir technology from Fiat, as you do such a good job of breaking down complex mechanics to simpler terms
The gas reaction is slower than normal throttle and burn more fuel whit compersion to power it give :-/ Sorry for my english but it's my second languge
I don't want to advertise anything but atomiumus.com/ (or atomium.eu) might have the solution. Atomium restores the surface of metal parts in your engine by filling up scratches with new material. XADO and Resurs do the same thing but they are not VANOS proof. Atomium works with anything from carbureted engines to the newest Porche BMW, audi, lexus, etc. One important note however: atomium can help when it's starting to wear out and the vanos and valvetronic are still working; If you hear rattling noises from the engine you're already too late. --- Hey man, that's capitalism, make a car that -is great- -seems great- performs well at the test, and then brakes down. Because the faster it brakes down, the more cars you can sell. Did you think they invented all this for you? NO, it's just a trick to make more money.
This is genius! Super simple design to do a complicated task of infinitely variable valve lift. Sure it cannot affect valve lift in real-time, but it is like having infinitely variable VTEC :)
Do you guys realize that this system has been used in BMWs for the past 15 years and it's one of the least problematic things in a BMW? Most problems in modern BMWs are caused by weak chain drives and VANOS sensors/acturators
Even back in 2016, all then-modern turbocharged gasoline cars opened the throttle at as low a speed and load as possible then controlled the airflow with the wastegate. This is for the same reasons as valvetronic is used - to reduce the pumping losses of throttling the engine. VVL (variable valve lift) takes this a step further by eliminating the need the throttle at low speed and load, further improving the overall efficiency.
As of right now, they have a transverse engine but are only offering it in an AWD layout in the US. They're talking about making a FWD version, but I haven't heard about any dates yet.
Probably one of the reasons no one will buy a x1 for serious off road capabilities. It's more of a soccer mum car and not meant for offroad and hill climbs. But if anyone disagrees please correct me, further information and understandings are always appreciated.
j0n0j0n0j You are 100% correct, BMW and off road is a pour combination. people who buy a SUV from BMW only want the space you have inside the vehicle and the looks.
I understood your whiteboard explanation in the end, but it was too fast for me to follow as you were talking through it. Love your explanation videos though, keep up the good work!
so they took their already unreliable cars and decided to add individual electric motors that control the intake valves along with more moving valve train parts that will without any doubt be prone to failing and being very costly to fix. all for a 10%~ fuel economy gain. sounds about right.
As someone that is trying to make their N55 faster, I am now only going to maintain my car and trade it as soon as I can bc of this. Even if you wanted to rebuild your engine you can’t bc it needs a special tool in order for that Valvetronic motor to work.
+Jody Sanders transmission? Don't buy a car with an automatic transmission made by GM in France if you don't want it to fail. The manual transmissions are made in Germany and I bet they don't have that issue.
I now a guy , he has been working on a free valve technique for a while now :) Uses compressed air to controle the valves . His engine runs good without camshafts . And the pumping loss beeing decreased .. Whooaaaa
lol, all that work to 're-invent the wheel' only to strive for 10% fuel mileage increase goal (under casual driving), but they are still not great on gas. Leave it to the germans to complicate things.
I have an N52 engine with valvetronic with almost 300,000 miles, 0 failures, and the valvetronic motor is actually really easy to get to and replace, you just need a $20 program and some computer knowledge to calibrate it once replaced.
This system is a neat and relatively simple way to do infinitely variable lift that both improves power and efficiency, but I don't think most of the gains over competitors are from the increased MAP. Most, if not all modern engines with variable valve timing utilize valve timing strategies under part load that already near eliminate pumping losses, such as late intake valve opening and exhaust valve closing. In this system, the valves essentially are throttling the engine, so many pumping losses remain. Now the combination of this technology along with cam phasing, like I'm sure this has, would drive the greatest gains, but you're also adding a lot of mechanical work and friction with all those moving parts. In traditional cam phased systems, MAP is within a couple of kPa of BARO, with the delta being driven by induction restrictions, but in most cases not from the throttling of airflow under road-load conditions. I do like the implications of this for power and emissions improvements
Man it is good to see another classic Engineering Explained video! You should try and team up with Mighty Car Mods 2 on their new series [GO FAST BRETT].
Make a video on Ceramic coat headers, rear housing, dump pipes etc? Or a video on Turbo blankets and how heat effects engine bays. Or how containing heat with heat shielding etc helps with flow of exhaust gases etc
Engineering Explained. could you do a video on camless valves/free valves? (like the ones Koenigsegg use on their newest engine) i think this might be the future.
Does this mean you can emulate a more aggressive camshaft by tuning the eccentric shaft to relatively "engage" or "disengage" as a function of cam angle?
No, that won't work. Maximum duration and lift are still determined by the camshaft. The Valvetronic only changes the rocker ratio so to speak. If you want to increase performance, you'd have to mechanically change the cam profile or the contour of the intermediate lever.
I once saw a video, a while back (I don't remember where to find it now), where hydraulic pressure was used to regulate the vales as opposed to a camshaft; so in this case it needed to timing chain or belt. The system could be used, as you described, to regulate the airflow through the valves. Have you heard of anything like this or does it work?
Interesting system. It is very complex though, I wonder how it will pan out reliability-wise in the long run. It does seem however, that you can achieve most of these benefits by just using individual throttle bodies, which now seems like it would be a much simpler system than valvetronic.
Very interesting to see this response 5 years later! From my understanding it's proven to be very reliable, and the newer B48 / B58's still feature this plus VVT. The most common failure is on the actuator itself, the additional moving parts inside rarely fail because everything is so well lubricated.
Great explanation - that's a very interesting system. Are there any conditions under which the intake valves are fully closed? Is that how they choke out the engine for start/stop motors?
With the EP6/Prince engines (the 1.6l unit in MINIs, Peugeots, Citroens), you can disconnect the cable for the intake VVT solenoid which disables VVT and the valvetronic system. I think peak horsepower stays the same and the engine runs much but smoother but the low end torque is pathetic and the throttle response is terrible (but very smooth). Eventually the check engine light comes on too. :-)
Surely pumping losses are similar a throttled intake.. I can understand the improved response part as the vacuum is now behind the valves and not the TB. Greater velocity with a smaller valve opening but there would still be vacuum present behind the valve otherwise AFR would be out of whack.
I would LOVE to see two testbench engines run side by side, one WITH the valvetronic system still in place and operational, and one with it completely bypassed, relying on a regular throttle and regular vvt/vvl valvetrain with as identical as possible ecu maps. "at least 10%" sounds a little astronomical.
Engineering Explained This system would not reduce the pumping action of the pistons since the piston is still pulling down against a strong vacuum created by the intake valve being only partially opened. Instead the 10% increase in efficiency is due to less drag in the camshaft/valvetrain. The valvetrain system has substantial drag at RPM and since less work is being done to open the valve the engines overall efficiency is increased.
I'm curious, how would this compare in terms of tuneability/driveability to Koenigsegg's free valve technology that Christian mentioned in one of the Inside Koenigsegg videos? I imagine the complexity here is much higher since it isn't just solenoids, but it seems as if the theories are the same behind both.
I am a technician at Mini Cooper which uses the same engine. I went through BMW technical school and the amount of technology that these cars are equipped with is mind blowing. Not a day goes by that I don't learn something new.
RUclips doesnt get enough credit, they enabled the world to get 10x more educated with visual aid..
Like this video, I just learned what we would spend 1 hour in school on in 4 minutes
RUclips is the best! I'm slightly biased. :)
+Engineering Explained engineers are never biased *insert scarcastic comment here*
Also without the leftist conformist propaganda that turns students docile and obedient almost slave like subjects. The Swedish Education System is opposite, it believes in equality with individualism while you are more responsible for your work and independent, plus, less false information.
@@pootisspangle6636 The rightist propaganda is in the churches that get tax free public services.
Since this car has a standard butterfly valve as a failsafe, I'd be really interested to see tests where you disable Volvetronic. Understandably, I don't think BMW would like you meddling with things like that, but it sure would be interesting to see stuff like:
* Throttle response time
* Fuel efficiency
* Engine noise level
* Acceleration speeds
I'm not expecting all of those to change significantly, but it would still be interesting to measure them.
when the valvetronic system is disabled, the car lacks power. It will idle normally, no extra noise..by simply listening to it, there is no difference. However when driving the car, it struggles in climbing hills, overtaking and acceleration. the intake valves will be opening very little, allowing less air inside the cylinder..which equal less power. kinda like choking the engine
+chax man Assuming the point was to see the difference given the same engine with a standard cam setup using a throttle body.
It just goes into limp mode. Also disable VANOS at the same time. There's a distinct lack of power
This test has been demonstrated many times... Google it.
The engine will cut power by limiting fuel though funnily enough if you bypassed that the Valvetronic failsafes into maximum lift so I would assume you could still hit peak power though you'd lose the nice flat torque curve
The throttle valve in my car is always wide open too, however I don't have valvetronic :D
no way! our foot must have the same problem
You drive diesel?
That means your engine is pumping in the most efficient way. Good job!
I have two throttle "valves" to open all the way, though the one only opens once the other one is open.
Know that, haha ... they say, driving a constant speed will improve fuel economy ... they say, dethrottling the engine will improve fuel economy. I tried this out, traveling from Berlin to Hannover - fuel economy was very poor then, but I was kind of satisfied with my average speed (170 kph door to door), getting this done in exakt 100 minutes (with Grandpa's C240 that I had inherited back then - no longer have it).
... but it took like 16 liter on 100 km, which translates to 14.7 mpg - that, however, did not impress me regarding the engine, but it was prove that this car's body is aerodynamically well designed (MB W 203, threevalve V6, automatic transmission).
Anyway, I must have mistaken something here ... fully dethrottled most of the time, constant speed most of the time, and still it was a heavy drinker. What did I do wrong, here?
... hehe...
I've owned several BMW's with Valvtronic and Vanos and have never had any issues with it. Amazing reliability from such a complex systems My daily driver is a 05 325i wagon with 261,000 miles. Great video of explaining how it works!
I feel like most issues are related to people waiting long times to change their oil, how often do you do it?
@@cartere9981 I have 2006 325i with 210,000 miles its be really reliable just oil changes which I do at every 3-5000 miles
@@cartere9981I bet he does oil change in around 5k miles or 8k kms. I've done this with all my cars as well and didn't have any issues
@@cartere9981yeah, the reason why BMWs have a reputation for being unreliable is because those people don't take the cost of maintenance into account and think that they can treat these cars like Toyotas
Mine has had the eccentric shaft sensor go out but motor and eccentric shaft are pretty reliable.
I have a question: How do you manage to explain technical stuff in such an easy to understand and entertaining manner? I love your videos!
He should make a video explaining it
Regardless of the tech, this is a quality channel. Super concise video and I got all the information I needed to get. Thanks, EE!
Happy to hear it, thanks for watching!
Valvetronic just kicked in yo
You could say the same thing about Dual VANOS. lol
+SkyScourgeGod vanos ain't like vtec, rewatch the video.
Kj16V I don't think you get the joke...
+Damian Reyes no, I get the joke, you either don't understand vtec, or vanos, one or the other. luckily, you can rewatch the video for a refresher.
Kj16V I didn't know, my bad.
His comment is also a follow up joke from the first one
finally a "real" engineering explained video again! thanks :D
Haha true. The some of the other videos were more of a mechanic explanation video.
Yea engineering explained has helped me to understand so much.
I love this channel. Anytime I need something explained from the Automotive world I come here. Its very hard for me to learn without being hands on, yet these videos are easy to learn from. THANK YOU!
the dealer could never explain it
the dealer can sell it
Great video. I went from clueless to fully educated on this new to me technology in 4 minutes. Your content is excellent - Thank you
Great video. From an efficiency standpoint how different is this from running independent throttle bodies? ITBs seem like a simpler system with less to go wrong. (Have you done a video on ITBs?)
Haven't done a video on ITBs. This is similar, but still slightly superior from an efficiency standpoint, as there is absolutely no gap between the valves and open atmosphere.
Please do more videos like this, more of some unique or obscure technology, explain what it is and how it works, why its better, why it isn't, etc. These are, in my opinion anyway, what you're good at, and why I joined your channel.
Great video.
Individual Throttle Bodies can be a good compromise between one throttle body on the intake manifold and this very complex system. It can reduce the huge vacuum inside the intake manifold.
What matters most is the pressure outside the intake valve itself, which is very similar for conventional and ITBs, and much lower than atmospheric pressure at low engine loads. Valvetronic has atmospheric pressure immediately outside the intake valve at all engine loads.
Jason, great video that helps me understand BMW's valve designs. Thank you for all your great videos.
After watching this video, I wanted to recommend one thing. While you explain your whiteboard drawings your body tends to cover portions of your drawings on the left side when you begin to describe the drawings on the right side. Recommend that you switch your body's position to the other side of the board and adjust camera angle (with your flawless editing, of course) to prevent this from happening. It's minor, but it caught my attention in a negative way and I had to rewind the video to catch what you were saying.
This happens with my teachers/instructors and I always put this in the critiques. Keep those awesome videos coming!
Interesting video, it's cool to see we're still trying to squeeze more power/efficiency out of an engine fundamentally designed in the 1850s. Hey what about a video on Otto vs Atkinson cycle engines ! The pros/cons of each and different implementations would make for a good video.
+stefan radovich I have a video on the atkinson cycle if interested. :)
Thanks Jason, for the simple and clear explanation of how Valvetronic works.
Wow cool. Look all the parts that can break!
I feel you there.
That's what we can get out of complex improvement most of the time.
made to be leased
Kcus Kcidu Canadians only lease according to Scotty Kilmer.
What are you, 80 years old? Did you say the same thing when mechanical fuel injection came out, then when electric fuel injection came out?
One of the best edu videos I've ever seen. Absolutely brilliant. Thank you.
Good to know that the stuff I'm learning now will be obsolete by the time I start working. Thanks BMW.
Thats with any manufacturer lol. Good luck, you wasted your money
Its funny cause they dont crush every car on the road the moment one comes off the factory line. Just because the New Beamers use it, doesnt mean there arent plenty of old cars, like my E34 that still roll old school. You didnt waste any money lmao. Especially since BMW isnt the only car company on the Earth. No money wasted.
+ELIJAH HEADRICK he did waste money by going to a tech school, you don't learn anything at them and pay 40K. Im one of the highest paid techs at my dealership, at 20 years old, without going to school
Steven Schechterly Heres the question though "20 year old" little buddy. Do you work for BMW? A licensed BMW dealership? Where they would oeprate on new, $60k X1s? I doubt you. And no, he didnt waste any money. Youre not the majority because youre "the highest paid tech" at a local shop. Every tech I work with at my dealer, is BMW certifed, for specific work on new model BMWs. they HAVE to go to school to work here. You NEED Certs from SCHOOLS to do anything but oil changes. The salaries range from $30k/yr doing oil changes and tire rotations, to $150k/yr being the Certified BMWi and M tech.
+ELIJAH HEADRICK +ELIJAH HEADRICK no i dont work at a bmw dealership, although i have a do own a few bmw's and know my way around them. I am a certified dodge technician and am currently working on becoming a certified srt technician and I acquired that through dealer certified training that I got paid to do.
A new video idea may be educating us on how the on-board MPG computer works? I've read articles on how it's not very accurate, could be fun. Keep the videos coming! Love 'em!
I suppose theoretically this system also improves efficiency/economy since there should be less resistance due to the camshaft not having to force the valves/springs to their full travel unless under full throttle.
He affirmed that on the video
Very clear presentation.
I'm soooo glad your video have been improving and improving. I watch your videos since you begin this RUclips career. You're getting better!!!!
A few people have locked their valvetronic at full tilt (9.9mm) so they're always at max valve lift. You could also probably take off the throttle plates to maximize air flow.
why bro
As I know, ecu uses throttle body all the time. It was so in early versions - valvetronics was not enough for all throttling range. And, if something reduces airflow at some rpm, it doesn't matter - braking force will be applied.
no wonder BMW always prefer you take the car to them for service
You are right
valvetronic rarely breaks. What does break are the rubber gaskets that bmw puts in their cars.
Every car should be serviced at the dealer, even used ones (because the owner's manual usually have a form to be filled by the new owner in order to keep the official assistance and warranty).
+Júlio César Braga this is how you loose all your money
That is correct.
The message should be - "Every car should be serviced."
Great video, I always like how you can impart so much information in just a few minutes.
dank engineering right there
dark damp engineering?
+Ryan Rohauer no it's Cali hipster speak
+Kcus Kcidu im aware what it means haha just most dont know the actual meaning
Ryan Rohauer oh the meaning is crotch-smelling engineering then
***** possibly
Very nice explanation! I've definitely been looking forward to this topic. Having the butterfly valve as a backup and the ancillary vacuum pump were nice adds.
More complicated designs tend to be less relibale due to more points of potential failure. It's neat, but not personally interested.
Agreed - sometimes they make things just because they can - no because they are better in the long run
I might have missed it, but the other advantage to this system is being able to control the valve lift like that of Honda's VTEC, but it's continuous so there's near infinite control over how much lift.
+sasja de vries uhm have you ever heard about a landcruiser or a hilux? of course if you're gonna try and beat on your camry it'll break like any other car cause it wasn't designed to be used that way. it will however last longer than a bmw
Viren S Toyota has been having some hiccups, like almost all the 2AZ-FE engines (the super common one 2.4L) had piston seal issues where it seemed fine, no smoke, but would be consuming oil and be really low by the time you needed to get service. They issued a recall, but many people didn't find out till they were out of the recall range. Or like the 4GR-FSE (only found in the IS250) had issues with carbon deposits and would require a full rebuild. Luckily they no longer make the IS250. Other manufacturers have had similar issues since it's a problem with using just direct injection. Toyota is super reliable, but not like it used to be.
Sigma Projects
Wow, you just confirmed what I was talking about.
I have seen that most manufacturers (including toyota) are drilling less holes in the piston underneath the 3rd piston ring, the 3rd ring scrapes off the excess oil and pushes them through these holes; when these holes have a smaller diameter, they get stuck easily (because of deposits), which means the 3rd piston ring can't scrape much oil off the cylinder walls, meaning oil will get in the combustion chamber. So way more oil will burn up.
When I talked about 'drilling less holes in the piston' I meant this. Toyota (amongst others) is saving money on things like this, and they are making even more money by selling new cars.
Would be nice to have a video explaining how this works in tandem with VANOS. Some serious complexity from BMW.
this valve train design was inspired by Rube Goldberg
damn germans lol
So what because it need to re-learn
That looks like a very complex valve train. Thanks for taking the time to explain it's operation.
I wonder why they went with a pump instead of a hydraulic system for the brake assist; they could just use a power steering pump hydroboost.
cos they would already be using a vaccum pump for thier diesel models. Most if not all diesels use a vacuum pump in this way and thus instead of redesigning a new system they could just use the exact same one from thier existing diesel models, saving costs.
We also need to understand that all newer BMWs utilize Electric Assisted Rack and Pinion Steering using an electric motor. So there's no hydraulic pump present.
From my understanding only the ones with smaller engines not all. F10's with 6 and 8 cylinder engines had hydraulic while 4 cylinder had electric for example. There isn't enough space in the engine bay to handle the additional hardware for the electronic power steering.
Power steering pump??? This uses electric assist where do you get your sources from?
What sources? I didn't look up the specs before posting the comment, my mistake.
It looks like VTEC with infinite variations possible, awesome !
This system really need to be combined with the Koenigsegg free valve, electronic valve systems.
Yep, in that case you wouldn't need to complicated valvetrain and it would (appear to) be much simpler. Could certainly use the same logic though.
actually, isn't this just like a mechanical version of the freevalve though? you already could adjust both the timing and lift with VANOS and valvetronics. or rather what's the difference? and the limitation?
you can not adjust lift with vanos
*****
it is still mechanical, so it still does have some limitations, but i'd say it's pretty close?
also, is VANOS their VVL or VVT system?
VANOS is VVT.
thank god I finally learnt something more before my exam on wednesday :3 besides knowing K jetronic, L jetronic, motronic and finally valvetronic~~~ engine management is almost difficult to understand how they work... thx jason, this video came out just in time!
Dude Ill bet you get some clatter noise from one of those systems once you start getting the miles up there.
Yeah, the system definitely adds some extra complication. I was thinking about how, to the user, this system may save on fuel economy, but in the longer run if it fails it'll cost to repair possibly negating any fuel economy savings. Since OP said his info was from 2001 I'd be curious to know how the system is holding up on a 15 year old car. Of course, user savings doesn't matter if the local gov has regulations on fuel economy.
or paying up the wazoo for maintenance
it was introduced in the 2001 bmw e46 316ti compact. i havn't heard of any problems with the valvetronic system yet. the vanos from e36 model cars was quite fail prone but apart from some electronic, powersteering and rust problems the e46 4zylinder cars are very reliable.
+TheWolvesCurse The 2001 N42 engine with valvetronic isn't the best engine BMW produced, but it's not bad either. I drive one of these and never had problems with vanos or valvetronic itself. More crutial is the weak timing chain assembly and the tendency of these engines to leak oil very badly. Valvetronic problems that can occur are the electric motors failing over time and that the excentric shaft tends to go flat as a consequence of bad maintenance.
The eccentric shaft can wear because it's not lubricated very well and it causes problems but it's not that difficult to replace.
Great system! I wonder how much fuel economy does this technique improve...
One other thing (and please reply) Have you ever thought of doing the drawing as they do in "minutephysics" or "asapSCIENCE"? It would improve a lot the understanding of car parts, been seeing your videos for a while and I think it is a step forward (subs and views). Not sponsored, was just thinking...
I would hate to work on those car
Not if you are intrigued by the engineering that it contains :)
+Mad4Tracks they are nice , and luxurious,but I will stick to american and japanese car, it will cost you arm and leg to fix those
Yep, indeed they are :P
I work on them everyday lol
STEEVE DAVID Nicolas unnessesary complexity. Plain and simple
Jason, It would be interesting to do another video on FCA's MultiAir system, which is electrohydraulic but very similar to BMW's Valvetronic. GM's Intake Valve Lift Control (IVLC), while not continuously variable like Valvetronic and MultiAir, is another interesting variable valve lift system.
Seems overly complicated. The Koenigsegg Free Valve system is WAY simpler.
But it works so good and rarely breaks
Similar ideas related to variable valve lift and timing are implemented by many other brands. Surprisingly, I find FCA's Multiair the most interesting approach (besides freevalve )
BMW. Making vehicles complicated since 1943
God bless the person who has to fix that when it breaks
Well its most likely your local BMW dealer and theyre happy when it brakes because when it does, its their payday
And with them being on 2016 models, they make warranty pay. Less in their pockets, none out of yours.
I fix these all the time, the eccentric shaft and valvetronic motor fail a lot on the earlier n20 models, it pays like 6 hours of labor and is Farley simple, I like doing them
One does not simply fix an eccentric shaft
They don't need God's blessing, you just bless them with your money. Or at least the dealership lol
BMW just wants to be different, not matter the (maintenance) cost.
fine german engineering lol
I would be really interested in your explaination of MultiAir technology from Fiat, as you do such a good job of breaking down complex mechanics to simpler terms
I have 2002 bmw with valvetronic and I don't recomend this even for worst enemy.
how cancerous is the system?
The gas reaction is slower than normal
throttle and burn more fuel whit compersion to power it give :-/
Sorry for my english but it's my second languge
I don't want to advertise anything but atomiumus.com/ (or atomium.eu) might have the solution.
Atomium restores the surface of metal parts in your engine by filling up scratches with new material. XADO and Resurs do the same thing but they are not VANOS proof. Atomium works with anything from carbureted engines to the newest Porche BMW, audi, lexus, etc.
One important note however: atomium can help when it's starting to wear out and the vanos and valvetronic are still working; If you hear rattling noises from the engine you're already too late.
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Hey man, that's capitalism, make a car that -is great- -seems great- performs well at the test, and then brakes down. Because the faster it brakes down, the more cars you can sell. Did you think they invented all this for you? NO, it's just a trick to make more money.
valvetronic rarely breaks. youre confusing it for vanos.
Yeah, because your 14-year-old early Valvetronic engine is worn out. When it's in good shape, the Valvetronic-powered E46 is actually a decent car.
This is genius! Super simple design to do a complicated task of infinitely variable valve lift. Sure it cannot affect valve lift in real-time, but it is like having infinitely variable VTEC :)
Do you guys realize that this system has been used in BMWs for the past 15 years and it's one of the least problematic things in a BMW? Most problems in modern BMWs are caused by weak chain drives and VANOS sensors/acturators
Broken Valvetronic is an issue! BMW uses this since the E46
Even back in 2016, all then-modern turbocharged gasoline cars opened the throttle at as low a speed and load as possible then controlled the airflow with the wastegate. This is for the same reasons as valvetronic is used - to reduce the pumping losses of throttling the engine. VVL (variable valve lift) takes this a step further by eliminating the need the throttle at low speed and load, further improving the overall efficiency.
noooooo they went front wheel drive ..moment of silence for rear wheel drive x1 lol
According to the press kit, the X1 can divert 100% of power to rear wheels (assuming ground conditions allow/require it).
As of right now, they have a transverse engine but are only offering it in an AWD layout in the US. They're talking about making a FWD version, but I haven't heard about any dates yet.
Probably one of the reasons no one will buy a x1 for serious off road capabilities. It's more of a soccer mum car and not meant for offroad and hill climbs. But if anyone disagrees please correct me, further information and understandings are always appreciated.
j0n0j0n0j
You are 100% correct, BMW and off road is a pour combination.
people who buy a SUV from BMW only want the space you have inside the vehicle and the looks.
+Engineering Explained oh ok the Traverse engine has me worried, love the channel either way
Always been pleased with your intonation on these explanations. Makes you very clear!
I could never be a BMW tech.....Jesus Christ.
BMW are some of the easiest cars to work with but you have to know how the electronics work.
BMW's arent much. Try being an Audi tech
Bought an Audi after owning a BMW, loving the power but hate that I have to remove the front end to do anything.
+Roger Smith true that ,bmw are semi cake for me but audi!......they are bitches not impossible but are complicated indeed
I understood your whiteboard explanation in the end, but it was too fast for me to follow as you were talking through it. Love your explanation videos though, keep up the good work!
this is way over engineered.
Germans
+ChinnuWoW R A C I S M
Just like the Königstiger
H I S T O R Y
+SzwarcuKX5 true
Hey I actually understood that one! Now could you please try and explain how automatic transitions work?
so they took their already unreliable cars and decided to add individual electric motors that control the intake valves along with more moving valve train parts that will without any doubt be prone to failing and being very costly to fix. all for a 10%~ fuel economy gain. sounds about right.
Brutality110 we had a valvetronic failure obd code on a bmw 120i 2005..cost a fortune to repair. bmw over engineering prone to constant costly repairs
As someone that is trying to make their N55 faster, I am now only going to maintain my car and trade it as soon as I can bc of this. Even if you wanted to rebuild your engine you can’t bc it needs a special tool in order for that Valvetronic motor to work.
after 10 months doing internship at MINI as a mechanic, today i just learn about Valvetronic.
dont buy one of these outside of warranty lol
Agreed lol learn from me folks!
lol lol
more like dont buy BMW off some random people that didnt take care of the car
More like ask every E39 owner about the $4000 P0741 code, that comes up after a lifetime of dealer service
+Jody Sanders transmission? Don't buy a car with an automatic transmission made by GM in France if you don't want it to fail. The manual transmissions are made in Germany and I bet they don't have that issue.
I like this channel, anytime I open it up...I learn. Good stuff.
Nissan has the same technology, they call it VVEL
I now a guy , he has been working on a free valve technique for a while now :)
Uses compressed air to controle the valves .
His engine runs good without camshafts .
And the pumping loss beeing decreased ..
Whooaaaa
lol, all that work to 're-invent the wheel' only to strive for 10% fuel mileage increase goal (under casual driving), but they are still not great on gas. Leave it to the germans to complicate things.
Great explanation on the benefits, thanks!
I hate BMW even more now :D
I own three and love them.
Good explanation on how it works. My question is more or less why does it work...and does it work?
I have an N52 engine with valvetronic with almost 300,000 miles, 0 failures, and the valvetronic motor is actually really easy to get to and replace, you just need a $20 program and some computer knowledge to calibrate it once replaced.
Very well explained. Best regards from Germany.
Fiat's 1.4L Multiair engine does the exact same thing in a much simpler way. I would love to see a video on their design.
Question: what about positive crankcase ventilation? How does this work in this vehicle if there is no vacuum before the cylinders?
This system is a neat and relatively simple way to do infinitely variable lift that both improves power and efficiency, but I don't think most of the gains over competitors are from the increased MAP. Most, if not all modern engines with variable valve timing utilize valve timing strategies under part load that already near eliminate pumping losses, such as late intake valve opening and exhaust valve closing. In this system, the valves essentially are throttling the engine, so many pumping losses remain. Now the combination of this technology along with cam phasing, like I'm sure this has, would drive the greatest gains, but you're also adding a lot of mechanical work and friction with all those moving parts. In traditional cam phased systems, MAP is within a couple of kPa of BARO, with the delta being driven by induction restrictions, but in most cases not from the throttling of airflow under road-load conditions. I do like the implications of this for power and emissions improvements
Man it is good to see another classic Engineering Explained video! You should try and team up with Mighty Car Mods 2 on their new series [GO FAST BRETT].
Make a video on Ceramic coat headers, rear housing, dump pipes etc?
Or a video on Turbo blankets and how heat effects engine bays.
Or how containing heat with heat shielding etc helps with flow of exhaust gases etc
Nice explanation. This system looks extremely complex. I wonder how good it is reliability-wise in the long term.
Very bad reliability and check engine light
Engineering Explained.
could you do a video on camless valves/free valves? (like the ones Koenigsegg use on their newest engine) i think this might be the future.
Nothing like BMW. Absolutely superb!
Everytime I explain how something works to someone, I think of these videos and say "damn...I need a frigin white board
This is something I always had an idea for. I'm happy someone did it though
Great explanation!! Kudos💪🏿💪🏿💪🏿
Does this mean you can emulate a more aggressive camshaft by tuning the eccentric shaft to relatively "engage" or "disengage" as a function of cam angle?
No, that won't work. Maximum duration and lift are still determined by the camshaft. The Valvetronic only changes the rocker ratio so to speak. If you want to increase performance, you'd have to mechanically change the cam profile or the contour of the intermediate lever.
I once saw a video, a while back (I don't remember where to find it now), where hydraulic pressure was used to regulate the vales as opposed to a camshaft; so in this case it needed to timing chain or belt. The system could be used, as you described, to regulate the airflow through the valves. Have you heard of anything like this or does it work?
Interesting system. It is very complex though, I wonder how it will pan out reliability-wise in the long run. It does seem however, that you can achieve most of these benefits by just using individual throttle bodies, which now seems like it would be a much simpler system than valvetronic.
Very interesting to see this response 5 years later! From my understanding it's proven to be very reliable, and the newer B48 / B58's still feature this plus VVT. The most common failure is on the actuator itself, the additional moving parts inside rarely fail because everything is so well lubricated.
the throttle valve / body is used on cold starts before the valvetronic system takes over. It is not simply a failsafe.
Great explanation - that's a very interesting system. Are there any conditions under which the intake valves are fully closed? Is that how they choke out the engine for start/stop motors?
Typically start stop is done by killing the spark (or fuel, for a diesel), but I suppose you could stop it by shutting the valves as well.
Great video,very easy to understand. Much appreciated.
With the EP6/Prince engines (the 1.6l unit in MINIs, Peugeots, Citroens), you can disconnect the cable for the intake VVT solenoid which disables VVT and the valvetronic system. I think peak horsepower stays the same and the engine runs much but smoother but the low end torque is pathetic and the throttle response is terrible (but very smooth). Eventually the check engine light comes on too. :-)
You should make a video on how to operate the turn signals on a BMW
Thanks for explaining that Jason.
Thank your for this video! Great explanation!
Surely pumping losses are similar a throttled intake..
I can understand the improved response part as the vacuum is now behind the valves and not the TB.
Greater velocity with a smaller valve opening but there would still be vacuum present behind the valve otherwise AFR would be out of whack.
Now that is an engineering explained video! thx
Wow why did i see this video just now?? Thanks for the video!
I would LOVE to see two testbench engines run side by side, one WITH the valvetronic system still in place and operational, and one with it completely bypassed, relying on a regular throttle and regular vvt/vvl valvetrain with as identical as possible ecu maps.
"at least 10%" sounds a little astronomical.
Engineering Explained This system would not reduce the pumping action of the pistons since the piston is still pulling down against a strong vacuum created by the intake valve being only partially opened. Instead the 10% increase in efficiency is due to less drag in the camshaft/valvetrain. The valvetrain system has substantial drag at RPM and since less work is being done to open the valve the engines overall efficiency is increased.
Could you please make a video on how the braking system works? Vacuum, Servo etc?
As always a good Explained video. great tecnology by the way. good video
This video makes a lot of sense to me now that i own a BMW. Expensive engine repair bill anytiime a fault occurs
I'm curious, how would this compare in terms of tuneability/driveability to Koenigsegg's free valve technology that Christian mentioned in one of the Inside Koenigsegg videos? I imagine the complexity here is much higher since it isn't just solenoids, but it seems as if the theories are the same behind both.