[alarroyo]

Like always happens noise did not duplicate at the dealer but I video. Next time car is going on a flatbed.

[der_kommissar]

Originally Posted by mhenry7

My CPO is over in June. My car doesn't tick at all, but I typically don't take a lot of short trips. If I did, would my car start ticking? Just curious if anyone went from a pattern of no short trips to a lot of short trips and then developed the problem. And how long did it take before the problem started?

I would hate for this problem to start up after my CPO is over, I really dislike that noise. Should I start taking a bunch of short trips to make sure it doesn't start ticking? Or does it just never happen on some cars and I just got lucky?

Yes- I typically drive 60 miles a weekday and do not drive much on the weekend. No noise on my long drives. On sundays I drive to get coffee. No noise when I start the car, but once I get to Starbucks, the clicking is loud and RPM sensitive. This has happened at least three times. First time I thought it was a rough looking car behind me and I forgot. Second time I thought the same thing, but noticed that it was rpm sensitive. I did not hear it when I got home, so I thought I was just paranoid. Third time I realized I had the valve click of death. My '07 328i is in the shop now to get diagnosed, and I hope they can reproduce it. They're keeping it overnight. Good news is that I've got a 328i 'vert as a loaner. I have 4500 miles and two months left on the original warranty before I go CPO, so I want them to find it now and save me $50.

Oh- I've had the car a bit under one year, so it's taken me that long to notice because of my pattern of driving.

[DUI Elite]

Has a single person in this thread proven that the ticking is dangerous for the life of the engine?

[cahoont]

If memory serves me correctly, one of the service bulletins concerning this issue requires an inspection of the camshaft for scoring; hence, there's is the potential for damage.

[alarroyo]

The problem of the 335i HPFP was a safety issue and no one died. If BMW went through the headache of doing SIB and then re-engineered the cylinder head then there is a problem and like I have indicated before "No customer should EVER pay for engineering faults from the manufacturer."

[der_kommissar]

Just got a voice mail from my dealer- they are replacing the lifters. Moral of the story is that if you drive mostly longer distances you may be unaware that your engine has this issue. Does it cause damage? I don't know, but I plan on keeping the car past 100k, so I want it taken care of. I'd be wary of buying a 2008 or earlier without warranty or CPO because of this issue unless you know it had been taken care of.

Originally Posted by der_kommissar

Yes- I typically drive 60 miles a weekday and do not drive much on the weekend. No noise on my long drives. On sundays I drive to get coffee. No noise when I start the car, but once I get to Starbucks, the clicking is loud and RPM sensitive. This has happened at least three times. First time I thought it was a rough looking car behind me and I forgot. Second time I thought the same thing, but noticed that it was rpm sensitive. I did not hear it when I got home, so I thought I was just paranoid. Third time I realized I had the valve click of death. My '07 328i is in the shop now to get diagnosed, and I hope they can reproduce it. They're keeping it overnight. Good news is that I've got a 328i 'vert as a loaner. I have 4500 miles and two months left on the original warranty before I go CPO, so I want them to find it now and save me $50.

Oh- I've had the car a bit under one year, so it's taken me that long to notice because of my pattern of driving.

[mhenry7]

Originally Posted by der_kommissar

Just got a voice mail from my dealer- they are replacing the lifters. Moral of the story is that if you drive mostly longer distances you may be unaware that your engine has this issue. Does it cause damage? I don't know, but I plan on keeping the car past 100k, so I want it taken care of. I'd be wary of buying a 2008 or earlier without warranty or CPO because of this issue unless you know it had been taken care of.

I guess I'm going to start taking more short trips. I certainly have gone on short trips on the weekend like yourself, but have never noticed anything at all. Three months of warrantee left, it will happen in four months no doubt.

[cahoont]

Today BMW NA agreed to cover the cost of the parts, but I'm on the hook for labor in order to replace the lifters given that my vehicle is out of warranty.

[sunny]

here's my engine ticking story.
last August at around 28000 I got the lifters replaced.(I had 2weeks of warranty left)
Just last week I heard my engine tick again. I had thought this was fixed because I had put on 10000 miles since last August and I have not noticed ticking noise at all.
I called Long Beach BMW and SA told me to bring the car in to get it looked at.
SA called me today and said BMW approved the new headers.
my warranty is 6 month expired mind you.
My SA told me on some cars replacing lifters fixes the problem but on some cars new header fixes the problem.
I hope I never have this problem again and I can't thank Long Beach BMW enough for taking care of my car.

[bumere90]

The lifters will only temporary fix the problem ticking. With older N52 ticking is inevitable. Eventually it will come back. Usually by the time your warranty expires lol

[tony176000]

Originally Posted by DUI Elite

Has a single person in this thread proven that the ticking is dangerous for the life of the engine?

Man, I am being so lazy, but I could have sworn there is a post on this thread where the camshafts were hella scratched and torn up. I think there is always danger of long term damage from oiling issues. Oil is probably the #1 most important non-mechanical component of an engine. BUt, alas, until our 06 07 08 MY cars get to be 100,000+ miles, we won't know. I hope its just cosmetic, as I recetly purchased a $3k third party warranty (which surely won't fix this) and plan on keeping my baby for a long time.

I have been re-obsessing about this lately. My HVLs were replaced about 2 months ago, and the ticking is still VERY slightly there. Its MUCH slower, like maybe only one of them is ticking, and only on every other revolution or something, and VERY quiet, but still I know its there. If I drive the shit out of it, or rev around for 30 secs in DM (like on my way down my .25 mi home street, I'll leave it in 1st, at about 5-6k rpm for 20 seconds) and its gone. It will come back once I do a commute drive--slow, short distance. I just don't know. I am sure there are plenty of N52s out there whos onwers aren't as weird and obsessive (uh, I mean complex and dedicated) as us on e90post and they probably don't even know about this.

BUMP! Let us know how things are going if you've had a repair, etc, etc.

[DUI Elite]

Originally Posted by tony176000

Man, I am being so lazy, but I could have sworn there is a post on this thread where the camshafts were hella scratched and torn up. I think there is always danger of long term damage from oiling issues. Oil is probably the #1 most important non-mechanical component of an engine. BUt, alas, until our 06 07 08 MY cars get to be 100,000+ miles, we won't know. I hope its just cosmetic, as I recetly purchased a $3k third party warranty (which surely won't fix this) and plan on keeping my baby for a long time.

I have been re-obsessing about this lately. My HVLs were replaced about 2 months ago, and the ticking is still VERY slightly there. Its MUCH slower, like maybe only one of them is ticking, and only on every other revolution or something, and VERY quiet, but still I know its there. If I drive the shit out of it, or rev around for 30 secs in DM (like on my way down my .25 mi home street, I'll leave it in 1st, at about 5-6k rpm for 20 seconds) and its gone. It will come back once I do a commute drive--slow, short distance. I just don't know. I am sure there are plenty of N52s out there whos onwers aren't as weird and obsessive (uh, I mean complex and dedicated) as us on e90post and they probably don't even know about this.

BUMP! Let us know how things are going if you've had a repair, etc, etc.

The reason I've asked is because I've heard other BMW engines have the same symptoms, and its making me rethink my paranoia. Test drove an E39 M5 having the same ticking issue that went away when it got warm.

I'll see if I can talk to my dealer about mine. I actually avoid short trips and haven't had the tick happen at all. I'll have to recreate it for the dealer. I don't have warranty though I'd like to see a 3rd party warranty company that can do the fix if it really proves to hurt the engine.

I have 44,XXX miles on my 06.

[usafjay1976]

Hey all!

Please don't crucify me as this is my first post and it's 6:09AM. I didn't sleep well and decided to poke around on the net a bit.

I have this same ticking problem. I own a 2006 325i and I just hit 30k miles on it the other day. I've had it for at least 3 or 4 years. I took it to the dealership at one point and time and they told me they could not duplicate the problem but they heard of it before and it was no big deal. Of course, my car was under warranty then. It is now expired and the problem is still there. Like most other people, it doesn't happen all the time and it goes away after maybe 15-20 minutes, give or take. It is rare that it happens.

I want this fixed! My car is still in great shape and I've done some really nice mods to it (Remus dual exhaust, Dinan cold air intake, short shift kit, aluminum racing pedals, and more) and I'd like to hold on to it. It sounds GREAT with the exhaust and it definitely has some punch to it. But it's embarrassing to drive when she decides to tick like crazy.

So what's the cost damage here? I am kind of annoyed due to the fact that when the car was under warranty, they would always tell me they could not duplicate the problem but this seems have been an issue a long time ago, at least according to these forums. In my opinion, it should be fixed at no charge to the customer considering they do indeed know the problem/fix. But hey, what can I do?

Anyway, any suggestions would be more than greatly appreciated. Thanks and look forward to resolving this and I'll put up some pics soon. I'm waiting for my AC Schnitzer front spoiler to be put on. Should be done Tuesday.

[sunny]

"Originally Posted by DUI Elite
Has a single person in this thread proven that the ticking is dangerous for the life of the engine?"

no, but it's a chance I'm not willing to take!
i plan on keeping my car for atleast 100K miles.
and when I do decide to sell it, if it ticks, no person is going to buy it.

[der_kommissar]

Replacing the lifters seems to have fixed the ticking, at least at the moment. I drive such long distances, it could be quite a while before it goes bad again, but I'll be into my CPO warranty by then.

Originally Posted by mhenry7

I guess I'm going to start taking more short trips. I certainly have gone on short trips on the weekend like yourself, but have never noticed anything at all. Three months of warrantee left, it will happen in four months no doubt.

[tony176000]

Originally Posted by usafjay1976

Hey all!

Please don't crucify me as this is my first post and it's 6:09AM. I didn't sleep well and decided to poke around on the net a bit.

I have this same ticking problem. I own a 2006 325i and I just hit 30k miles on it the other day. I've had it for at least 3 or 4 years. I took it to the dealership at one point and time and they told me they could not duplicate the problem but they heard of it before and it was no big deal. Of course, my car was under warranty then. It is now expired and the problem is still there. Like most other people, it doesn't happen all the time and it goes away after maybe 15-20 minutes, give or take. It is rare that it happens.

I want this fixed! My car is still in great shape and I've done some really nice mods to it (Remus dual exhaust, Dinan cold air intake, short shift kit, aluminum racing pedals, and more) and I'd like to hold on to it. It sounds GREAT with the exhaust and it definitely has some punch to it. But it's embarrassing to drive when she decides to tick like crazy.

So what's the cost damage here? I am kind of annoyed due to the fact that when the car was under warranty, they would always tell me they could not duplicate the problem but this seems have been an issue a long time ago, at least according to these forums. In my opinion, it should be fixed at no charge to the customer considering they do indeed know the problem/fix. But hey, what can I do?

Anyway, any suggestions would be more than greatly appreciated. Thanks and look forward to resolving this and I'll put up some pics soon. I'm waiting for my AC Schnitzer front spoiler to be put on. Should be done Tuesday.

Well, not a troll! god, people love to accuse trolling when you don't reply like a tootsie pop, BUT, please read the thread. Its really long, but will be worth it as it contains probably the best source of info and you will be able to come to a much more accurate conclusion.

FWIW: to replace the HVLs (which is not a complete fix, but many people seem ok with it) in the range of $2.5-4K. replace the head (probably a fix in 75%+ cases, but long term NO ONE KNOWS) $6-8k ouch. Or, drive the hell out of it and make sure it stays well oiled, PRICELESS!

It really well may be just idiosyncratic to BMW motors and this one in particular. But DL has said, it seems awefully suspicious of BMW when they are willing to spend untold sums to re-engineer the HVLs, then entire heads, and foot the bill for replacement. My big point: None of us will know until some 100,000+ mile 06 07 08 MY N52s are cracked open and investigated. In the meantime, it stinks. And also ticks. And is my fav car so far, too! Bitter with the sweet i guess.

[tony176000]

Originally Posted by DUI Elite

The reason I've asked is because I've heard other BMW engines have the same symptoms, and its making me rethink my paranoia. Test drove an E39 M5 having the same ticking issue that went away when it got warm.

I'll see if I can talk to my dealer about mine. I actually avoid short trips and haven't had the tick happen at all. I'll have to recreate it for the dealer. I don't have warranty though I'd like to see a 3rd party warranty company that can do the fix if it really proves to hurt the engine.

I have 44,XXX miles on my 06.

Another thought: I too have now been really listening to motors all around me, and I had a "visit" with my old Mazda protege the other day (still in the family) and, man, there are some rough sounding motors out there. The Mazdas and Toyotas in particular sound like diesels compared to my N52, even when ticking. So, I agree, maybe this is overblown. We e90post folks are pretty intense about our cars. BUT THEN AGAIN: As I just repeated in my post just above, as DL has stated, why would BMW go to all this trouble? Its just so suspicisous. Damnit, I just don't know what to think.

[DL]

Tony176000 from the other thread.

"DL, my SA told me when I had my lifter done about 6 weeks ago (and the ticking is back, surprise) that the next step would be head replacement. VERY GOOD SA and VERY GOOD DEALERSHIP. Shout to Sandia BMW in Albuquerque. But, with warranty out on April 11th, 2011 (just weeks away) is there anyway it will happen before that? My biggest concern."

Tony176000 this might be stretching it a bit but you may not have as much to worry about since your BMW was in for lifter noise under warranty in the first place (12k or 12months left on this warranty). So you still have a warranty on the work they did. If the noise is back, it is BMW’s obligation to fix it correctly based on the original work that they did. If it eventually comes down to where they have to replace the head that should fall under the warranty work they did replacing the lifters, which did not fix the lifter noise in the first place, which is the reason it was in the shop in the first place - lifter noise.

What I typed made sense to me at least…….

[DL]

Originally Posted by DL

Tony176000 from the other thread.

"DL, my SA told me when I had my lifter done about 6 weeks ago (and the ticking is back, surprise) that the next step would be head replacement. VERY GOOD SA and VERY GOOD DEALERSHIP. Shout to Sandia BMW in Albuquerque. But, with warranty out on April 11th, 2011 (just weeks away) is there anyway it will happen before that? My biggest concern."

Tony176000 this might be stretching it a bit but you may not have as much to worry about since your BMW was in for lifter noise under warranty in the first place (12k or 12months left on this warranty). So you still have a warranty on the work they did. If the noise is back, it is BMW’s obligation to fix it correctly based on the original work that they did. If it eventually comes down to where they have to replace the head that should fall under the warranty work they did replacing the lifters, which did not fix the lifter noise in the first place, which is the reason it was in the shop in the first place - lifter noise.

What I typed made sense to me at least…….

Better yet I would get the ball rolling now since it is ticking again. I would start taking videos with a current newspaper and take it to your SA, that way you could just get it started under warranty. BMW has to continue with the fix if it started under warranty no matter how long it takes.

[tony176000]

Originally Posted by DL

Better yet I would get the ball rolling now since it is ticking again. I would start taking videos with a current newspaper and take it to your SA, that way you could just get it started under warranty. BMW has to continue with the fix if it started under warranty no matter how long it takes.

Thanks for the input, DL.

[VIZSLA]

I've taken the attitude that now I've established a warranty claim I can live with the minor inconvenience rather than have major surgery (which can create more problems than it solves) safe in the knowledge that if failure occurs I'm covered.

[Neutrino45]

Originally Posted by DL

Better yet I would get the ball rolling now since it is ticking again. I would start taking videos with a current newspaper and take it to your SA, that way you could just get it started under warranty. BMW has to continue with the fix if it started under warranty no matter how long it takes.

DL, can you provide a link from BMW about your claim?