BMW Engine Parts

If your M50, M52, or M54 engine takes a few seconds to build oil pressure after sitting, there's a good chance that your factory oil filter housing drain back valve has failed. Over time, the factory plastic check valve degrades, allowing oil to drain completely out of the housing and back into the oil pan while sitting. Every cold start essentially becomes a dry start, resulting in a loud ticking noise and causing unnecessary wear on your engine's internals.

Unfortunately, BMW does not offer this check valve as a standalone part, forcing you to purchase a costly, complete oil filter housing assembly just to fix one failed plastic component. Thankfully, our team of BMW enthusiasts took note of this common failure mode and designed a permanent, cost-effective fix.

Our Billet Oil Filter Housing Drain-Back Valve is designed as a direct-fit upgrade for your factory oil filter housing. CNC-machined from high-strength billet aluminum, this upgraded valve restores positive sealing to keep the oil filter housing fully primed. Maintaining this hydraulic prime ensures rapid oil pressure stabilization upon startup, directly mitigating dry-start bearing wear and top-end lifter starvation without requiring the purchase of a complete OEM housing assembly.

The factory VANOS exhaust hub on the S54 engine is known to develop excessive play where the drive tabs interface with the oil pump disk. Over time, this imprecise fitment causes a back-and-forth rattling motion that can result in the tabs shearing off inside the engine, risking catastrophic damage or complete engine failure. Unlike other aftermarket solutions that require full VANOS disassembly, retiming, or replacement of the oil pump disk, the Turner Motorsport S54 VANOS Hub Upgrade offers a smarter approach. Our bolt-on fix eliminates the common failure point without opening the VANOS unit or disturbing engine timing.

Our solution involves removing the worn tabs from your stock exhaust hub and installing our precision-fit replacement, which is precision-machined from 4340 steel and hardened to meet OEM specifications. Designed using 3D scanning and CAD modeling, the Turner Motorsport VANOS Exhaust Hub Upgrade provides a tight, interference-free fit into the oil pump disc, completely resolving the issue without unnecessary labor.

Features & Benefits:

Direct bolt-on solution for S54 VANOS oil pump drive tab failure, preventing potentially catastrophic damage to engine internals Precision-machined from high-strength 4340 steel and heat-treated to match OEM specifications Designed using 3D scanning and CAD modeling to ensure precise fitment within the OEM oil pump disc Engineered to eliminate the play that exists between the exhaust hub and oil pump disc from factory Backed by extensive real-world testing and our lifetime replacement program!

If you own an M57-equipped BMW, you already know this twin-turbo diesel powerplant is an absolute torque monster. What you might also know is that all that low-end grunt and high-compression diesel vibration wreaks absolute havoc on your accessory drive system.

From the factory, both the E90 335d and E70 X5 35d utilize a rigid alternator pulley. With each cylinder's fire, the crankshaft experiences a violent micro-acceleration. Because the alternator has a heavy internal rotor spinning at high speeds, it wants to keep spinning at a constant rate. When the engine suddenly slows down (even minutely between firing cycles), the alternator fights the belt. This constant tug-of-war results in extreme stress on your engine's belt-driven components. At best, it’s an annoying, unrefined chirp at idle; at worst, it’s a ticking time bomb for your expensive harmonic balancer.

To solve this issue, many enthusiasts choose to run a clutched alternator pulley (also called an overrunning alternator pulley). A clutched pulley allows the alternator to "freewheel" or coast when the engine slows down, completely isolating its rotational inertia from the belt drive to prevent component wear. While the N52's clutched pulley (12317560483) is a straight bolt-on, the offset is incorrect for the E90 335d's accessory drive. Thankfully, our engineers designed this zinc-coated spacer to provide the precise amount of spacing needed to perfectly align the new pulley with existing belt drive components.

The MINI N14 engine uses a traditional pencil coil design that operates using conservative dwell times and relatively low discharge energy. On stock vehicles, this system is sufficient. However, as cylinder pressures increase via higher boost, upgraded turbos, or ethanol-blended fuels, the strength required to bridge the spark gap increases substantially.

Under these conditions, standard N14 coils reach their electrical limits, resulting in high-RPM spark blowout, misfires, or reduced flame front propagation. To solve this issue, our team engineered the B-Series Coil Conversion Kit, which adapts modern BMW B48/B58 ignition technology to the N14 using proprietary brackets, standoffs, and wiring harness adapters. Our performance B48 ignition coils feature a significantly lower primary resistance and an optimized secondary winding structure, allowing them to store and release up to 2.3x more spark energy than the factory N14 ignition coil.

This clean, coil-on-plug upgrade drops directly into your valve cover without bulky external boxes or messy wiring. Whether you need an ignition service or are building a tuned N14, upgrade to B-Series ignition coils and experience improved spark energy and long-lasting performance.

Upgrade your stock oil cooler thermostat for improved performance. Swap your factory 110-degree Celsius thermostat for a new 70-degree Celsius version for faster oil flow and extended temperature control. With oil temperatures reaching 230 degrees Fahrenheit by the time your factory thermostat opens, initiating oil flow at lower temperatures proves more effective than attempting to cool down already elevated temperatures.

Utilizing a factory-style thermostat, this upgrade can be used in all weather conditions and allows your engine to warm up properly, unlike thermostat bypass kits.

Kit contents:​

Lower temperature thermostat - 70c (158F) vs Factory 110c (230F)
Low temp thermostat spring

Take the guesswork out of S54 ownership. This all-inclusive kit targets the two most notorious failure points on the BMW S54 engine: broken exhaust hub tabs and degraded internal seals.

Turner Motorsport S54 VANOS Exhaust Hub Upgrade

The factory S54 exhaust hub is a ticking time bomb. Excessive play between the drive tabs and the oil pump disk creates a rhythmic rattling that eventually shears the tabs off, risking catastrophic engine failure.

While other kits require deep-engine surgery, our Turner Motorsport Hub Upgrade offers a "work smarter" approach.

Precision Engineering: Developed using 3D scanning and CAD modeling for a perfect, interference-free fit.

Superior Materials: Machined from high-strength 4340 steel and hardened to OEM specifications.

No Re-Timing Required: This bolt-on fix eliminates the failure point without the need to disassemble the VANOS unit or disturb engine timing, saving hours of labor.

ECS Tuning VANOS Seal Kit

The original BMW seals are made of Buna-N rubber, which quickly hardens and loses its sealing properties when exposed to synthetic oil and high heat. Our ECS engineering team has corrected this flaw.

Viton™ Upgrade: We utilize high-performance Viton O-rings for the internal seals, seal plate, and solenoid.

Chemical Resistance: These seals are designed to remain pliable and effective for the life of the engine, restoring lost low-end torque and smoothness.

ECS Tuning Rattle Repair Kit

Eliminate the dreaded "marbles in a can" sound. This kit addresses the axial play in the VANOS helical gears.

Hardened Steel: Our rings and washers are precision-ground to resist the wear and deformation that lead to engine rattle.

Silent Operation: Restores the refined sound and feel of your S54 across the entire RPM range.