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Hopefully somewhere in here can help, I’ve done this process a few times now and have gotten everything to line up at 40 degrees including both back and front plates, turned the engine over a full revolution and it’s still in time, yet when I put it back together and start driving again after about 20 minutes it will throw codes for timing advancement on all 4 cams and idles slightly rough. It’s only out a little, but any idea why it would be going out still?
Had the same thing after Dealer changed out camshafts, and I refused the software calibration "teaching in" of camshaft position/adaptation because I had thought it may alter my Tune (i was informed that it should not). And I don't believe it has altered the Tune.
You will need to get your camshafts "teached in" as well at the MB Dealer - ask for their senior AMG programmer, although the process is relatively automated and takes ~2 minutes IIRC.
Had the same thing after Dealer changed out camshafts, and I refused the software calibration "teaching in" of camshaft position/adaptation because I had thought it may alter my Tune (i was informed that it should not). And I don't believe it has altered the Tune.
You will need to get your camshafts "teached in" as well at the MB Dealer - ask for their senior AMG programmer, although the process is relatively automated and takes ~2 minutes IIRC.
Unfortunately it looks like the adjusters cannot be taught, where the fault lies now is beyond me as I’ve checked timing and the plates all line up.
12 C63BS Magno Alanite Grey, 25 X5 Msport, 08 BMW E93, Ducati Hyper 698
Originally Posted by Rshann5355
Unfortunately it looks like the adjusters cannot be taught, where the fault lies now is beyond me as I’ve checked timing and the plates all line up.
Is it all 4 throwing the codes, I have one suggestion but would be odd if it happened to all 4. Once when I assembled the cam adjuster covers, I had one cam adjuster throw some codes first start for implausible position but everything timing wise was perfect. What happened was when you put the cam adjuster covers back on, the end of the cam adjusters have those snouts that slide into the cam adjuster covers. Those snouts have 2 rings on them, like piston rings and they seal the different passages for oil pressure to flow into the cam adjusters. A couple things can happen, the ring(s) can break allowing pressure to leak causing the cam adjuster to not work, in my case I had one where both rings came out of their groves and moved into a thicker groove so again making the cam adjuster basically not work and throw a code.
Just a thought to check but would be odd that if you are having issues with all 4. If it is all 4 my only other thought would be that on both banks the sensors or solenoid wiring is disconnected or switched.
Another question could be are the inlet and exhaust CA's on the right cams.
If I remember rightly someone on here not that long ago mixed up there replacement "63 motorsport CA back plates and was getting all sorts of codes, but car was running badly as well.
I bought my 2007 E63 in 2017. The day I drove it back after taking possession of it from a body shop (it had a smiley face gouge from mirror to mirror in front of the hood emblem!) the guys there warned me they used whatever tester they had that gave them codes pointing to the transmission? I didn’t have Star/DAS yet, so I drove it home and noticed that as it got up to normal operating temperature, it became harder to downshift that it had while cold when starting out, or normal throttle for that matter, as temps were getting higher made it difficult to downshift!
By the time I pulled into my garage 5 miles away, the idle was revving at 1200 rpm! So in addition to rough shifting, I knew I must have an Air Intake problem, so I started taking it apart starting with the intake and when I noticed the Carbon buildup on the intake runners, I mulled over the idea of media blasting but in the end I removed both Heads and had them rebuilt by Xtreme Heads in Palm City, Fl. They did an amazing job using only a couple of their killer high tech machines to set the Valves and do the rest. They measured the Springs and only a couple really needed to be replaced but they found that 8 of 16 Intake Valves were bent! I never would have “picked up” on that because even rolling them on a table, you can’t tell?
I had the Intake Rebuilt by RMT and they used their beefed up Throttle Body Plenum after informing me mine was riddled with holes which would explain the high idle! Those little nubs on the top side of the intake which serve to secure the Air Pipe with little lock washer type thingy’s were all disintegrated! So RMT hooked me up with a top half that was in much better shape than mine was!
I never got a breakdown as to which Head was effected as to the bent Valves but upon the rebuild, using new Headbolts, Gaskets etc., I noticed that the Cam Adjusters wouldn’t mount to the Camshaft as it properly should? It turns out whoever did work on it previously had removed the Cam Adjusters on the Passenger Side and taken them apart, and inserted the interior parts, which rotate or lock in place with that little barrel shaped pin, the wrong way! In other words, they flipped over the interior “gear” so that the locking pin was facing the smooth face rather than the side with the indent to receive the Pin! Idiots!
In effect when put back together what that did was make the side that faces the Camshaft face the bolt and thus not able to seat up against that Diamond washer because the circular recess on that side is too small to allow the cam shaft to fully seat! Without it being supported underneath by the Crank Gear and Bolted to the Camshaft, it clearly wobbles!! After viewing Tasos video, I took them all apart and confirmed this crazy mishap! Moreover, because it wouldn’t snug up to the Diamond Washer, that means the gears of the Cam Adjuster were barely engaging the Crank Gear much less the unseated Cams couldn't have kept proper timing! Not only that, after confirming serial numbers on each Cam Adjuster, I determined that the Intake CA was on the Exhaust Cam and visa-versa! Talk about a potentially catastrophic situation! Unbelievable!
Of course you can’t see any of this without removing both the Valve Cover and the Cam Adjuster Cover to notice if the teeth below the Cam Adjuster line up flush, as they should, with the Crank Gear below it. So before jumping to conclusions one way or another, make sure some bonehead didn’t do to your Ride what they inadvertently did to mine before my taking possession! Yikes! Of course I didn’t get Star/DAS until after initiating this engine rebuild and before doing “Any” work on my suspension, so I never got the proper “fault” codes before taking it all apart and rebuilding it, but all I can say is this engine for all its engineering faults and marvels otherwise is fairly straightforward to work on and brings a smile to your face as you gradually recognize the engineering that went into building this massive power plant.
When the Heads are off after you spend the time cleaning the tops of each piston, it dawns on you how big the engine really is! And when you get the Heads back rebuilt all shiny and new looking taking in the underside with its 32 valves on a newly planed decks, rebuilding each Head on the bench with SLS Black Tappets, you just can’t wait to get it back together to feel that power! Add to that the pride instilled into one doing their own work to realize the ultimate success having made numerous faults along the way is priceless! The newly rebuilt suspension and adding a 3.06 Ring and Pinion makes it an even more responsive Beast!
I did it in stages and took my time, probably 12-14 hours total. I took the intake off and both cam covers off and the serpentine belt and pulled the plugs so I could get it to 40 degrees, that probably took about 2 hours. Then each bank pulling the cams and lifters and replacing and setting the timing was 4-5 hours each then a few hours to button it back up. Its hard on the back being bent over for so long so did it over 2 days.
Things I learned when doing it.
Special tools:
You need the timing tool set - Mercedes one is $300, Amazons are under $100 but very hit and miss, I would order a few and check my other thread about them, others have reported ones that work, first one I got was the silver tool in the black box from EWK, flat bar was not flat and didn't work but bridge tool was good. Second one was red one in red box and bridge tool I had to machine to get it to fit. Someone in the other thread said the silver one in the red box was good for them.
You need a 27.5mm wrench to turn the cams, 28mm will work, I just got any old 28mm wrench, all will be too wide, so had to grind it down a bit narrower so it would fit on the cam to turn it into position after installed.
Otherwise, standard hand tools will do the job, it is helpful to have a long breaker bar or 18" socket wrench to turn the crank hub bolt to turn over the motor (uses a 27mm socket, so get one of those if you don't have one)
A good selection of universal socket joints an extensions help to get to the lower rear cam cover bolts and also the cam cap bolts on the drivers side as space is limited there, also a 1/4 torx that fits the cam cover bolts is helpful to get the hardest couple to pull out.
A good torque wrench, I like the etorx ones on Amazon for the price - 10NM is what you use for all the cam caps and cam cover bolts, so 1/4 drive one is what you need the most.
Small suction cup to pull the lifters, they recommend not using a magnet in WIS
It is all pretty straight forward, here is everything I used.
Parts, FCPeuro is always great, cheapest place I could find for OEM Benz parts was here https://www.mynewbenzparts.com/ (they are on long island NY, much cheaper than anywhere else I could find)
Gotchas, advice etc
Check the flat bar in the timing tool when you get it and make sure it is flat.
Once you have the cam covers off and it set to 40 degrees, check that the tools fit on both sides before you start and find out the timing tools sucks, I made that mistake and had to wait 5 days for a new tool (should have just straightened the first tool on my press in hindsight).
I did M159 lifters, don't think the BS ones are really worth the extra money unless you are going to raise the rev limit in the car and do a lot of high RPM, then they are worth it for the lightness, otherwise both have the tops coated with anti friction coating, BS has sides coated but the sides never seem to have any wear issues anyway.
Taso's has a video somewhere on the buckets, soaking them is pointless, but you can try to pump a little oil into them if you want, I just put them in and let the car fill them up.
I did one cam at a time as my Cam Adjusters did not have a threaded hole (they are new ones) so needed to use the little tool in the kit to lock the backlash gear and only had one of them.
Start on Passenger side, everything is a bit harder on the drivers side due to space issues, so do the passenger side to figure it all out as much easier to work there.
Check all the bearing oil holes in the cams with a matchstick or paperclip (be careful not to scratch the bearing surface) and make sure they go all the way through to the center hollow area as Taso's found there are some defective cams from the factory where the oil holes are not fully drilled.
Process I used.
1. Pull of airboxes, coils, cam covers and remove plugs (I left them in the holes loose to stop anything else falling in getting into combustion chamber)
2. Remove cam covers
3. Remove serpentine belt (17mm socket to take tension off tensioner)
4. Remove idler pulley directly above crank pulley so you can see the timing marks better
5. Set crank to 40 degrees and see if flat bar fits, if bar is way off fitting then you are out by one stroke, rotate the crank one more time (360 degrees as cams rotate only 180 degrees every 360 of crank rotation)
6. Pull of cam adjuster covers and just lay them on a towel or something out of the way, you don't need to unplug anything from them
7. lock the cams on one bank, put on the backlash gear tool on one cam adjuster and then loosen and remove the cam adjuster - watch for the diamond washer behind it that it doesn't fall in, I used the bolt to slide the cam adjuster off while still having a few threads threaded into the cam then could see if the washer stuck to the CA or the cam and could make sure it didn't fall into the engine.
8. Once the CA is off, pull the front bridge lock off, put the wrench on the cam to hold it and remove the rear locking bar and then let off tension on the cam letting it rotate to where it wants to go using the wrench to slow it down, it will turn about 45 degrees.
9. Label the bearing caps and then pull them off and pull out the cam (passenger exhaust and drivers intake will have no tension so you can just pull the caps off and pull out the cam. Passenger intake is the worst for tension, so you have to slowly work across the caps loosening slowly a little at a time or risk breaking a cam, Tasos says do 90 degrees loosening on each bolt then repeat until off, Drivers side exhaust has a little tension but not a lot, but did the slow loosening on it also). the front bearing cap bridges both cams but has no tension on it, just pull it off and leave it off while you do both cams and put it on last once all the other caps are tightened down and then torque as per WIS
10. Put in the new lifters put the cam back in and the caps back on, I took pics put the cam in at the same rough angle as it was and tightened and torqued the caps - used assembly lube on everything. Put on the diamond washer and cam adjuster and bolt (new bolt and washer, both are single use) tighten finger tight and remove backlash tool)
11. Now do the other cam in the bank same as first
12. Once you have both new cams in, then use the 28mm wrench to turn the cam so you can get the rear locking bar in place on one cam as much as possible, then do the second cam and get the rear bar locked in, then put in the front bridge locking tool. Double check cranks is still at 40 degrees!!
13. put on the cam timing tool on the front of the CA's and rotate until they are in the only position (tool flips over left to right, so make sure you have it on the right side and make sure you the alignment dowels are still in the block that it fits over (I had one come out in a cam cover and had to move it) once in the right position, put bolts in it to hold it (cam cover bolts).
14. All is locked with the 3 tools, then tighten the CA bolts, 45 NM then 90 degrees more.
15. That is about it do the other bank, just check the crank never moves from 40 (Which it should not if the cams are all locked when you loosen and tighten the CA's)
Parts:
1. Cams and lifters (cams part #'s are 156-050-42-01 (Passenger Exhaust),156-050-43-01 (Driver Intake),156-050-44-01(Passenger Intake),156-050-45-01 (Driver Exhaust), SLS M159 lifters $20 each 156-050-02-25, SLS Black Series Lifters $35 each 159-050-00-00) - I got all the parts here https://www.mboemparts.com/ as they were the cheapest, around $550 for each of the cams (one is cheaper for some reason $465)
2. Cam cover gaskets and spark plug hole gaskets (gasket 1590160221,1590160121 spark plug hole gasket x8 1560162121)
3. Cam cover bolts (never could figure out if single use, dealer reused when they had my covers off but I replaced them anyway. (0109906704)
4. Cam Phaser bolts and diamond washers (x4) (Washers 156-051-02-75, bolts 910105-012018)
5. Cam Adjuster cover gaskets x2 (1560162221)
When I finished I started it and let it run for 5 seconds then shut it off, did that twice then let it run for a few minutes, it was tapping a bit as buckets had not filled, shut it off. Next day I let it run up to temp, it tapped for maybe 3-5 minutes and then all the tapping went away as the buckets filled with oil and all was very quiet.
That is about it yell if you have any questions!
EDIT - 2 more things - one, I took the undertrays off this morning mostly to find the socket I dropped but also to clean them up, you will loose a few hundred ML of oil from the cam covers being removed and from the cam adjuster covers, not enough to drip off the covers but a bit.
Second thing - never knew an M156 could be so quiet, with new CA's cams and lifter it is dead silent - only thing I hear is the belt whirring, never knew they were so quiet from the factory!
@roadkillrob what were the reasons you had to do this much work in the first place? My W204 turns CEL with DTC 1208/1200 whenever engine rev above 3500 RPM and intake cam stops showing angle after 36.2 reached (frozen). What could be the issue, such as cam adjuster pulse wheel? How do I find out?
Generally I don't like taking my car to the dealer, generally have more bad experiences than good. About 4 months ago I fixed a leaky valve cover gasket and saw a little wear on my cams, so asked the dealer to have a look, they said it looked normal.
I decided to tackle doing the cams and updated lifters myself as I intend to keep the car for a while, so did it this week.
So first thing I found was the dealer stripped 2 of the coil hold down screws, same side I had off so they were not stripped when I put it back together but are now, so dealer managed to do that and only real fix is a new valve cover, so maybe will put some JBweld in and let it cure so I can get them a bit tight.
Got it all apart, put the crank at 40 degrees and checked the cams, rear locking tool slides right into place, try it on the drivers side and can't get it to fit no matter what I do, finally figure out the rear cam locking tool is a piece of crap and quite warped, so order another one from Amazon and it comes and is flat and usable, so try it again, fits great on passenger side, but is off on the drivers side, so I turn the crank until the tool slides into the cams on the drivers side and it is quite a bit past 40 degrees, 40 is the mark to the right of the alignment mark - great work mr Dealership, looks like they moved something doing the drivers side and messed it up. I ended up getting it perfectly to 40 degrees, locking the passenger side and doing it, then just pulled the drivers side apart and aligned properly while at 40 degrees, started right up and runs good, but glad I pulled it apart it seemed to run ok but certainly timing was out on one bank.
I changed the buckets, i did not find the 40 ° mark on the cranck so i turned the crank till i can fit the rear timing tool in the carvings on both sides, then removed the cams
and installed exactly in the same way, i know that the exhaust top cams have to point forward and that the top intake cam is pushing the bucket, i dont understand why the right bank is out of timing returning the code P0645, P00653, P0629 P0641, and 1200, 1204.
can anybody explain why?
thanks
Sorry to bump this thread, thought I had a good understanding of everything but step 8 has me buggin out.
8. Once the CA is off, pull the front bridge lock off, put the wrench on the cam to hold it and remove the rear locking bar and then let off tension on the cam letting it rotate to where it wants to go using the wrench to slow it down, it will turn about 45 degrees.
I thought you'd want to keep the bridge and rear lock bar in position the entire time while working on the CAs. I also thought rotation to 40 past TDC would have relieved any tension from the springs on the cams, so what tension exactly is causing this 45 degree rotation of the cams he mentioning once you remove the lock bridge?
12 C63BS Magno Alanite Grey, 25 X5 Msport, 08 BMW E93, Ducati Hyper 698
I was fully removing cams to do lifters, if you are just doing your cam adjusters then no need to remove cam locking tools just remove the ca’s rebuild and put them back on.
Engine at 40 degrees still has some tension on the cams as not all valves are fully closed at any position, assuming this is just the least tension position.
Just did this twice. I can try to offer some points too to help anyone:
1. Honestly you really need both banks open and you need 2 timing tool sets to time at the same time if you want to be accurate and make sure you get it in time
2. The 40 degree mark has to be EXACT
3. Even at 40 the cams will have some spring tension and they need to be gently wrenched into place to get them into the rear plate FIRST
4. For 2008-2011 you NEED to remove the radiator fan to see and access properly
5. If you have a rough idle and codes being thrown, you may have a bent valve
6. If you time correctly you dont have to hook up to software to relearn but it doesnt hurt
7. Make sure you didn't get grease into your cam cover selenoids as this is common when you open the cover oil spills out all over. Clean plug with MAF cleaner
8. Make sure your phaser rings are on the the right ring notch and not broken. Examine the inside if the walls of the cam phaser cover plates
9. While you are in there, make sure you pay close attention to the cam lobes and bucket surfaces, any small scratch or divit will cause issues
10. Make sure your timing belt is put back on right! You should remove it in order to properly see the 40 degree mark.
11. Make sure you turn the engine a few times when you put the cam phaser gears back on so that you know the teeth properly engaged
12. DO NOT switch bridge parts and make sure exhaust and intake are correct
Hope this check list helps a little. I did mine but the constant code I get is the P1040 Secondary air pump code. So annoying and I can't source the issue...
Thanks. I did plan to buy 2 timing kits and have both banks locked. I doubt I'll be able to magically find 40 past TDC and have an engine perfectly timed where the tools just slip right on both sides. Expecting this, are you safe to wrench the cams the last bit into place for the bar/bridge to lock the cams before you even loosen the 4 large cam adjuster bolts? My understanding is that although the cams float, they should be locked via the pin. And if you're trying to nudge the cam into position before disjoining the cam adjuster from the cam via those 4 bolts, but at the same time you need the lock tools to hold the cams in place to loosen those 4 bolts, what do?
I just did the full head bolts job + intake cam and lifters but I have a P0011 code saying position of Intake Cam Bank 1 deviates from the specified value. Engine is idling a bit rough but nothing crazy. Any thoughts on what it could be? I redid the timing on Bank 1 only but didn't improved or erased the code. I'm planning on redoing the whole timing Bank 1 and 2 over the weekend but want to see if it could be something else.
Also, after I redid the timing on Bank 1 there's a louder ticking sound coming from the intake manifold area. Any idea what it could be? ZephyrAMG kind of scared me when mentioning bent valve.
You don’t necessarily have a bent valve, so don’t worry. Most likely it’s just timing. The timing on this engine has to be very accurate. You need to be exactly at 40° mark as well as have both banks timed.
When there’s stuttering and shuttering and it’s struggling, that means you need to open up everything again and check the timing. There’s no other way around it. Keep us posted this to your findings.
I have that same ticking after having everything timed and no codes for months of smooth operation. Its so annoying. I have no idea what that is other that the surface of the lobe hitting the bucket and the lobe being in poor condition. I have racked my brain trying to figure it out. Is it a chain? The car runs smooth and great, just a ticking sound from the drivers side bank.
Last edited by ZephyrAMG; Jan 19, 2026 at 11:48 AM.
Retiming is planned over next weekend. Have 4 new bolts and washers ordered from FCP.
2 additional Qs:
Is the cam relearning procedure mandatory? I don't have Star to run the procedure...
I've read that many ppl went thru several set of bolts and washers while trying to time those engine. I was thinking, would it be fine to do the timing, tight the phaser bolts to 45nm, do a few spins of the engine, check if timing still accurate and if yes then strecth the bolts at 90 degrees? Only thing I could think of is that the phasers could "slip" on the cam but I was thinking of making marks on the phasers and the cams so I can track if slipping.
The cam relearning procedure is not mandatory because from what I have understood, the ECU will adapt ONLY if you don't mess up your initial timing out of wack.
Your phasers are not slipping. They have gear teeth that have engaged. For you to tighten back old cam bolts shouldnt be a problem in the short term fro what I am thinking...But strictly for a test operation then you have to re-open the valves all over again. I wouldn't think its practical plus if you time correctly and everything lines up and you turn the crank and its smooth, no need to get in the engine again. To test your old cam bolts just to open up again is a lot of work.
Sorry second question wasn't very clear. Let me explain my thinking process:
I will have the unbolt the cam-to-phasers bolts in order to re-time the engine. Since those bolts are tty I will have to replace them. To prevent going thru multiple washers and bolts if I can't time it properly I was thinking of changing the timing procedure a bit.
Normal timing procedure would be :
Put crank at 40 degrees mark
Put straight edge in place at the back of the cams
Install front timing device between cam adjusters and cam bridge
Install front timing plate to time and lock the phasers
Tighten bolts at 45nm
Stretch bolts at 90 degrees
Remove timing tools and spin the engine 2 times
Check timing again on both banks
If ok, button everything up
if not ok, unbolt and re-do timing sequence with fresh washers and bolts
Revised timing procedure :
1 to 4 remain the same
Tighten bolts at 45nm + mark cams and cam adjusters for alignment
Remove timing tools and spin the engine 2 times, make sure that the marks on cam and cam-adjusters remains aligned while spinning engine
Check timing again on both banks
If ok, stretch bolts at 90 degrees and button everything up
if not ok, unbolt and re-do timing sequence with same washer and bolt
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