[gary328xi]

Strike Two..... The gremlin has returned.... Started the car this morning and the ticking came back. I let the engine warm up for about 5 minutes and the ticking seemed to quiet down. I then drove to work which is about 20 miles . After i arrived at work sitting in the parking lot at idle i could still hear the ticking very faintly.

[msinfo_us]

Gary, this is exactly how my ticking noise progressed at the begenning too - don't wait and take it in.

[gary328xi]

Scheduled app for next Wed jan 10.

[BK]

Following this thread has made me paranoid listening for this noise whenever I drive now. I need to stop being such a car hypochondriac. But just so I know, is this something you can actually hear in the cabin when idling?

[gary328xi]

With the windows up ,radio off you could hear the sound faintly .I normally go outside in the morning start the car up and leave it for a few minutes to warm-up .Go back inside and have coffee.This is how i really heard it from the outside of the car.

[msinfo_us]

Originally Posted by BK

But just so I know, is this something you can actually hear in the cabin when idling?

If music is off I hear it loud and clear. Drivers next to me at traffic light for example hear the noise and look at my car funny (probably wondering if I am hiding a tractor under nice BMW badge). My wife heard it in her car driving by with windows closed. So, "yeah, unfortunetly I can actually hear it as well as anybody around my car"

[klinkerklu]

Originally Posted by BK

Following this thread has made me paranoid listening for this noise whenever I drive now. I need to stop being such a car hypochondriac. But just so I know, is this something you can actually hear in the cabin when idling?

I know what you mean, I briefly read this thread awhile ago and thought, wow that would be annoying. I feel sorry for those guys. Then my husband took the car for a few days and picked me up for lunch this past week. I was standing outside waiting for him, and could hear the car a block away, and thought WTF?!! What the hell is that?! :mad: Certainly not the pleasant hum of our beatiful bimmer.
If you are at an idle, you can definitely hear it in the cabin. Driving you can hear it, more when you are driving next to buildings. For us, it appears to have just started and is very sporadic.
For those of you that are feeling hypochondriac about it, get out of the car and listen to it, it is 100% distinct from the normal running sound. Esp if you press the accel. the ticking accelerates.

[BK]

Thanks for the input. Best of luck to you guys, and keep us posted on your progress in getting this fixed (and keeping it fixed!).

[timber71]

When it was at it's loudest, I could hear it faintly in the cabin, with the radio on. Roll down the windows, and you can't mistake it.

In the shop 25 days and counting. Backordered part supposed to arrive tomorrow. Fingers crossed.

Anyone who wants a video of the sound, e-mail me timber71 'at' gmail.com. (too large to post to forum)

[gary328xi]

Timber71, Check out your state lemon laws, i know in NJ the law is 3 tries for the same defect or 20 cumultative days for you to qualify for a refund or new car.

[ages944]

FYI, There's already a .wav file of the sound posted by msinfo_us on an earlier page of this thread.

[dth656]

just got an email from my SA. here is the text:

[
I have ordered lifters for the complete exhaust side of the engine (of which lifters for cylinders 1 and 2 were replaced last time and will be redone).

We are also replacing the exhaust camshaft and rockers.

There is no noise from the inlet side, and hence we will not be disturbing that side. ]


has anyone else had their camshaft replaced?

[msinfo_us]

Originally Posted by dth656

just got an email from my SA. here is the text:

[
I have ordered lifters for the complete exhaust side of the engine (of which lifters for cylinders 1 and 2 were replaced last time and will be redone).

We are also replacing the exhaust camshaft and rockers.

There is no noise from the inlet side, and hence we will not be disturbing that side. ]


has anyone else had their camshaft replaced?

Dth656, This cetainly looks much more promicing. I've got a great hope that this time your problem will be fixed for good.
I think i've seen few people here and on bimmerfest that had their cam, lifters and rockers replaced. I don't recall hearing either one of them reporting ticking noise again. Please keep us in a loop and GL.

[timber71]

I have now been told that my camshaft replacement will be completed, and the car ready to be picked up 'Tuesday at the latest'. Fingers crossed. That would make it 33 days in the shop for the repair.

Gary: No lemon laws here in Ontario. It was introduced a couple of years ago, but still has not been adapted as law. There are some other options, however. If the sound comes back after this repair, then I will be exercising them...

[timber71]

So after 30+ days in the shop, I pick up the car on Thursday. I have asked that the Service Manager be there so that I can sit down and talk to him about this.

What does everyone think I should specifically ask? I think they should be extending the warranty on the powertrain at the very least, plus give me a detailed description as to what happened to cause this. Up until now, they have been less than forthcoming on the information...

[gary328xi]

Hello everyone, I dropped my car off tonight and got a 330i as the loaner. I will update with the findings when they become available.

Timber71, Ask to see the old parts and if they flushed the engine to removed any metallic debris. Make sure they document all the defects that were found and corrected and that the intake side was checked and no defect noted. This info would be advantageous should the problem recur....Good Luck..

[dth656]

did anyone see this article:

[take a look at the feb 2007 issue of automobile magazine. read the bottom of page 108. their staff is running a bmw 330i as a long-term test car and they encountered some serious valve clatter at around 23,600 miles. here's what they wrote:

...what started as a faint valvetrain tick on cold start-up quickly grew into loud valve clatter throughout the rev range, and our up-until-now flawless bmw currently sits at the dealer awaiting the arrival of a new intake camshaft, rocker arms, and an intermediate shaft. we're not yet sure what caused the failure, but we look forward to getting the full story once the car is bolted back together... ]

[ck1129]

this obviously isnt an isolated problem, and alot of us are having it. i have a ticking noise too. ive had it for a while, but never thought anything of it. shouldnt someone report this to BMW NA, this could lead to a huge recall.

[BK]

Originally Posted by dth656

take a look at the feb 2007 issue of automobile magazine. read the bottom of page 108. their staff is running a bmw 330i as a long-term test car and they encountered some serious valve clatter at around 23,600 miles.

It looks like they haven't updated it on the website yet: http://www.automobilemag.com/feature...2006_bmw_330i/

But maybe with them having the problem, and all of you, this will finally get recognized with a service bulletin -- so if and when it happens to others of us, our dealer knows how to fix it.

[gary328xi]

Now i'm pissed got a call from the service adviser saying the car checks out good and the problem would go away after a few thousands miles and not to worry . They have left me no choice but use the lemon law. Tomorrow i will mail the ten day demand letter since this is the second repair attempt.

[timber71]

Guys,

I'm happy to report that I have my car back, and the clicking is gone. Here is the information on the service report...I hope it helps everyone out:

Job #1
Complaint: CUST NOTES CLICKING NOISE ON A COLD START. SEE JIM R FOR VIDEOS AND E-MAIL
Cause: NOISE FROM ENGINE, POSSIBLE LIFTERS
Correction: START VEHICLE NUMEROUS TIMES. ALL OK. ROAD TEST VEHICLE. NOISE WAS HEARD. PERFORM BRIEF TEST. NO FAULTS REGISTERED. PERFORM SMOOTH RUNNING TEST. ALL OK. CUT OUT INJECTORS ONE BY ONE. NOISE CHANGES WHEN INJECTOR ON CYLINDER THREE WAS SHUT DOWN. SUBMIT PUMA CASE. RESPONSE IS TO REMOVE VALVE COVER AND CHECK LIFTERS

Job #2 and #3 unrelated

Job #4
Complaint: VERIFY FOR NOISY LIFTERS
Cause: EX CAMSHAFT IS SCORED AND LIFTERS FOR CYL'S 1 AND 2 WERE COMPRESSIBLE ON THE EX CAM SIDE. BEARING HOUSING FOR CAM ALSO BADLY SCORED
Correction: R&R CYL HEAD COVER. CHK EXH CAM & BEARING HOUSING. 4 LIFTERS NOT HOLDING UP ON CYL 1&2. EXH CAM SCORED, HOUSING ALSO. REPLACE EX CAM AND HOUSING ALL EX CAM LIFTERS. REASSEMBLE ENGINE AND TEST DRIVE. ALL OK, LIFTER NOISE IS GONE.

Parts:
QTY 1 11-42-7-566-327 OIL FILTER ELEMENT
QTY 1 11-12-7-536-785 PROFILE-GASKET
QTY 1 11-12-0-409-288 SET OF ALUMINUM SCREWS
QTY 12 11-33-7-548-690 PUSH ROD
QTY 1 11-31-7-563-665 OUTLET CAMSHAFT
QTY 1 11-12-7-531-224 BEAR. LEDGE
QTY 15 11-12-7-535-024 BOLT

Alright, now for the meeting with the service manager. They did flush out the engine, but I will be hitting the oil with a Blackstone test in a few thousand clicks to see how things are. Given that there are so many of us with this problem, I wanted to make sure that this has made it into the BMW-NA database, and he assures me that it has. (I guess that's what Puma means)

His theory is that things happened in this order: cam and housing not in tolerance from factory causing oil starvation to cam and bearing, and the subsequent scoring...then the noise came as a result of that

He has also all but guaranteed that the problem will not come back. I'll let you know in about 13000 kms...

[klinkerklu]

That's great news Tim!
Let's keep our fingers crossed that everything stays working now, no re-occurrence!
Thanks for posting the service report, how many times did you have to take it in before they took care of the problem?