[jvulture]

watch and listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqB8lcLGDB4

recently heard this sound from under the hood. increases with rpms. its recently been cold here in new york the last week and car has been sitting. i do however go run the engine every other day because well I love the car and hate to have it sit in the cold for extended periods of time. I've done some research and similar posts lead me to believe its a valve lifter. I hope not. It seems to be coming from the (looking from in front of car) left portion of the bay, closer to the cabin of the car. Car onboard analysis shows no sign of anything, oil level is fine, etc. Any thoughts/suggestions/diagnoses? thanks

[GoRomeo]

Your lifters!

happy reading!


http://www.e90post.com/forums/showth...=valve+lifters

[jvulture]

blahhh

[Johnny D]

After you drive it around for a while and get it warmed up does the sound minimize or go away?

Ticking is generally accepted on these engines as stated the hydraulic lifters make noise. However, if it is more of a knocking noise you have bigger issues. From the video, it sounds like the lifters, but camera phones don't have the best mics to pick up things.

[jvulture]

i cant answer that because i just bought the car and is sitting in my driveway unregistered, waiting for title in the mail(from a bank don't worry) I bought it two weeks ago, checked it out, test drive and all. Didn't hear a thing. Also got prepurchase inspection, they said nothing about it, not that i think they would look into it. Drove it 300 miles home. While home I heard nothing for first few days. Started her up after sitting in a cold spell for 2 days and that's when I first heard it. I've had the car idling for 20 minutes and it continues to make the ticking with no sign of it fading. Perhaps because the car hasn't actually been put into gear for about a cold week could be the problem? First thing ill do is change the oil and see what happens.

[GoRomeo]

yeah I was going to suggest to change oil, it should help.

[jvulture]

car is from washington dc area, which is generally only 5-10 degrees warmer than new york, where I am. Maybe the cars just not used to this cold weather.

[SflBimmer8484]

Drive the car hard. When I worked at a dealer all the cars owned by older people or girls would tick all the kinds cars would sound perfect. Before we test drove any of them we would drive them hard and the sound would go away

[jvulture]

interesting. lady i bought it from was probably in her mid 30s. when i watched her drive the car she drove it like a goddamn Mary. however she did also commute highway to work 4-5 days a week. But the driving hard does make sense. From what ive read the valve lift problem could be caused by an air blockage of some sort. Maybe a hard drive will force any impurities out of the way. Im no mechanic, just saying.

[Phil325i]

OP for info, read this:

2.pdf

[DUI Elite]

Originally Posted by Andrew@ActiveAutowerke

Drive the car hard. When I worked at a dealer all the cars owned by older people or girls would tick all the kinds cars would sound perfect. Before we test drove any of them we would drive them hard and the sound would go away

....what?

Willing to bet getting the engine up to operating temperature is what got the sound to go away.

The oil drains from them in short trips or when the car has not been consistently getting to operating temps, hence them ticking.

[jvulture]

Originally Posted by Phil325i

OP for info, read this:

Attachment 825277

Thanks Phil. Ill try this tomorrow. If sound persists ill change oil and try again.

[Johnny D]

Originally Posted by DUI Elite

....what?

Willing to bet getting the engine up to operating temperature is what got the sound to go away.

The oil drains from them in short trips or when the car has not been consistently getting to operating temps, hence them ticking.

Actually Andrew had a very valid point. With how small the oil inlets are on the lifters, without really forcing the engine to react to higher revs than normal, they can be blocked and not allow oil in. This would explain why the lifters of cars not driven as hard as others tick more.

[jvulture]

i agree completely and hope this is the case. Also, the cars at 67k miles. If the head or lifter are defective wouldn't they have presented themselves earlier? Or can these types of problems appear at any time?

[Johnny D]

Originally Posted by jvulture

i agree completely and hope this is the case. Also, the cars at 67k miles. If the head or lifter are defective wouldn't they have presented themselves earlier? Or can these types of problems appear at any time?

It isn't life threatening. You're ok to drive it ticking. My car ticks occasionally when I take the e30 out for a few days and leave the e90 sitting.

[ibd2328]

Any loss in power?

[jvulture]

Originally Posted by ibd2328

Any loss in power?

..said it somewhere in my posts. I recently bought the car. Ive only driven it for test drive and the 300 mile trek home. Its sitting in my driveway unregistered so im unable to drive it.

[ibd2328]

Originally Posted by jvulture

..said it somewhere in my posts. I recently bought the car. Ive only driven it for test drive and the 300 mile trek home. Its sitting in my driveway unregistered so im unable to drive it.

Well if a coil was out or a rod was blown, you would definitely know it in a test drive just pulling out. And I concur with everyone above, from the vid, def. sounds like a lifter.

[jvulture]

The car drove great and the mech said it was pretty much in perfect working order. All i can do at this point is hope it goes away after an oil change and a hard drive. I just feel the noise is too loud to just disappear though. We'll see. I'll follow up on anything I find because this is apparently quite a common problem.

[DUI Elite]

Originally Posted by Johnny D

Actually Andrew had a very valid point. With how small the oil inlets are on the lifters, without really forcing the engine to react to higher revs than normal, they can be blocked and not allow oil in. This would explain why the lifters of cars not driven as hard as others tick more.

I would imagine any driving would force oil up to the lifters, not necessarily only hard driving. I've had the ticking problem since I got the car. However, I consistently let the engine get to operating temps (take the long way home if need be), so I haven't heard mine tick (the way they did when I first got the car) in nearly a year when I realized it was oil starvation that could be avoided by letting it get to operating temps.

Maybe hard driving will force more up so its harder to dry them out?

Originally Posted by jvulture

i agree completely and hope this is the case. Also, the cars at 67k miles. If the head or lifter are defective wouldn't they have presented themselves earlier? Or can these types of problems appear at any time?

Originally Posted by Johnny D

It isn't life threatening. You're ok to drive it ticking. My car ticks occasionally when I take the e30 out for a few days and leave the e90 sitting.

+1

They are likely going to happen to every single N52 (that's driven) at some point. In fact, its not entirely uncommon to hear this on other BMW motors as well. I've heard it on an M52 and S62 myself, both had been sitting for a long time. It won't affect the life of your motor.

[Delusive]

Your engine is knocking on the hood because it wants to get out