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BMW 3-Series (E90 E92) Forum > E90 / E92 / E93 3-series Powertrain and Drivetrain Discussions > N54 Turbo Engine / Drivetrain / Exhaust Modifications - 335i > Replaced 24 lifters, engine still has LOUD tap.



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      10-11-2018, 11:34 PM   #1
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Replaced 24 lifters, engine still has LOUD tap.

I have a E93 335i with about 75,000 miles that I bought from an auction so I have no history on the car. The engine taps and I assumed it was a lifter. I just finished replacing all 24 lifters, the spark plugs and checking/cleaning everything in the head area including making the VANOS gears and solenoids spotless. The engine seems to run OK and has decent power but I have nothing to compare it to. Could a bad timing chain tensioner make a constant loud tap? I am starting to think rod bearing since I am out of ideas. I found a stringy piece of old rubber at the top left side of the timing chain guide. It is likely an old serpentine belt that got sucked in at one time. I reused my belt tensioner when I did the lifters but maybe it is bad and is causing the noise? That seems to good to be true. If it is not that then I can only imagine lower engine like rod bearings? I am at the point where I am not sure if I should try a chain tensioner or just start parting this thing out before I waste more and more money. P.S. My tensioner has a metal gasket so maybe it was replaced already once?

I spent $2,650 on the car, then almost $5,000 more on a water pump, full body kit, M3 fenders, fiberglass hood, xenon headlights, etc. I just found some hidden frame damage in the rear so if the engine needs more work I am probably just parting this car out and losing a few 1,000 when all is said and done.

Sorry for the rant, this money pit has depressed me. If anyone can think of what would be causing a constant tap please let me know. It taps with the RPM's and at idle it is there but when you rev to 1,500 rpm or above it really sounds loud.
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      10-12-2018, 12:27 AM   #2
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It could be the fuel injectors. Our injectors are really loud and is usually heard when idling.
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      10-12-2018, 12:29 AM   #3
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It could be the fuel injectors. Our injectors are really loud and is usually heard when idling.
This is definitely not injectors. It is loud enough to make people look when you drive by them.
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      10-12-2018, 09:24 AM   #4
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This is definitely not injectors. It is loud enough to make people look when you drive by them.
Why don't you do oil analyses?
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      10-12-2018, 09:31 AM   #5
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This is definitely not injectors. It is loud enough to make people look when you drive by them.
Why don't you do oil analyses?
I have already replaced the oil four times doing flushes, etc. I just don't know how to diagnose this noise. It could even be a crack in a turbo or manifold for all I know., I need to determine if it's lower end mechanical. my plan right now is to dump a few cans of STP motor honey in it and see if it gets quiet. If it does then I know it's lower and mechanical and I'm probably going to junk the car since it has a myriad of other problems and a salvage title.
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      10-12-2018, 09:44 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JonEQuest View Post
I have already replaced the oil four times doing flushes, etc. I just don't know how to diagnose this noise. It could even be a crack in a turbo or manifold for all I know., I need to determine if it's lower end mechanical. my plan right now is to dump a few cans of STP motor honey in it and see if it gets quiet. If it does then I know it's lower and mechanical and I'm probably going to junk the car since it has a myriad of other problems and a salvage title.
An oil analysis would detect a rod bearing issue..
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      10-12-2018, 10:02 AM   #7
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by JonEQuest View Post
I have already replaced the oil four times doing flushes, etc. I just don't know how to diagnose this noise. It could even be a crack in a turbo or manifold for all I know., I need to determine if it's lower end mechanical. my plan right now is to dump a few cans of STP motor honey in it and see if it gets quiet. If it does then I know it's lower and mechanical and I'm probably going to junk the car since it has a myriad of other problems and a salvage title.
An oil analysis would detect a rod bearing issue..
I understand that but taking oil and mailing it somewhere and waiting for results to come back is one way. I just bought 3 bottles of STP oil treatment. I'm going to drain out enough oil to dump in all three bottles. If the noise gets significantly quieter it's definitely internal mechanical issues. If the noise stays exactly the same I might have a cracked manifold or other exhaust leak. I really would like to know today. If it's internal I may just part this thing out.
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      10-12-2018, 10:23 AM   #8
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Post a video
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      10-12-2018, 11:06 AM   #9
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FOUND IT!!

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Post a video
I found out what that loud tap sound was. It is a big exhaust leak are the front turbo bolts to the exhaust downpipe.[IMG]undefined[/IMG]
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      10-16-2018, 09:52 AM   #10
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Quote:
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeff@TopGearSolutions View Post
Post a video
I found out what that loud tap sound was. It is a big exhaust leak are the front turbo bolts to the exhaust downpipe.[IMG]undefined[/IMG]
I now realize that I replaced 24 good clean lifters from my 75,000 mile engine. I guess I could sell them to someone else who needs them. I can't return the new ones I bought and I wouldn't go to that much trouble to take everything apart again anyway.
Does anyone need some lifters?
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      10-16-2018, 01:28 PM   #11
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Interested in knowing more about the car you purchased at auction. You said it had a salvage title? From what? It's always been a dream of mine to buy a cheap ass car at auction and fix it up. Obviously it's a gamble as you're seeing, but if cheap enough I may want to give it a go.

I see some people who want $5000-7000 for busted up 335i's that need a lot of work...for $3000 I might be a buyer.

Public auction or do you have a dealers license? I hear they're significantly cheaper at the non-public auctions.
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      10-16-2018, 01:46 PM   #12
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Interested in knowing more about the car you purchased at auction. You said it had a salvage title? From what? It's always been a dream of mine to buy a cheap ass car at auction and fix it up. Obviously it's a gamble as you're seeing, but if cheap enough I may want to give it a go.

I see some people who want $5000-7000 for busted up 335i's that need a lot of work...for $3000 I might be a buyer.

Public auction or do you have a dealers license? I hear they're significantly cheaper at the non-public auctions.
Look for Copart Auto Auctions. I am in Louisiana. I think in most states you can buy at least some of the cars without a dealer's license. I won this car for $1,800 and then there's auction fees, gate fees, etc which brought it up to about $2,360. so yes it was a great deal but there were a lot of things that went wrong. the car came with headlights that weren't cracked just kind of yellow so I thought I could refinish them. It turns out they were four-door headlights, so I had to buy a pair of adaptive headlights. I found out that the water pump had a crack and is leaking so that was $350. There was some signs of crappy Bondo repair on the rear quarter so I figured I would redo that better when I replaced the bumper. It turns out there was frame damage that was never repaired correctly so now I'm dealing with that. That rear accident caused the origami top to not be able to open. I've owned the car for a couple of months and I still don't know when I'm ever going to see the top open. I also just found a cracked transmission mount ($25 fix). I honestly had the worst luck with hidden issues. But, when it's all said and done I'm going to have a 2007 335i convertible with 75,000 miles, custom body kit, brand new paint job, brand new wheels tires and all maintenance taken care of for about $8,500. The one disadvantage you have to remember is when I put the car back on the road it will have a reconstructed title. This means the car will always have about 30% less value to most buyers. I'm not too concerned because I'm not looking to sell it anytime soon. I just want this to be a weekend toy for me.
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      10-16-2018, 03:18 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JonEQuest View Post
Look for Copart Auto Auctions. I am in Louisiana. I think in most states you can buy at least some of the cars without a dealer's license. I won this car for $1,800 and then there's auction fees, gate fees, etc which brought it up to about $2,360. so yes it was a great deal but there were a lot of things that went wrong. the car came with headlights that weren't cracked just kind of yellow so I thought I could refinish them. It turns out they were four-door headlights, so I had to buy a pair of adaptive headlights. I found out that the water pump had a crack and is leaking so that was $350. There was some signs of crappy Bondo repair on the rear quarter so I figured I would redo that better when I replaced the bumper. It turns out there was frame damage that was never repaired correctly so now I'm dealing with that. That rear accident caused the origami top to not be able to open. I've owned the car for a couple of months and I still don't know when I'm ever going to see the top open. I also just found a cracked transmission mount ($25 fix). I honestly had the worst luck with hidden issues. But, when it's all said and done I'm going to have a 2007 335i convertible with 75,000 miles, custom body kit, brand new paint job, brand new wheels tires and all maintenance taken care of for about $8,500. The one disadvantage you have to remember is when I put the car back on the road it will have a reconstructed title. This means the car will always have about 30% less value to most buyers. I'm not too concerned because I'm not looking to sell it anytime soon. I just want this to be a weekend toy for me.
I checked out Copart auctions once but forgot about it. There's a place ~5 minutes down the road from me that does Public Auctions but I'm not really sure/taking it seriously enough to pay attention to the auction list.

Did you know you were looking for a 335i or how did you come across the car through the auction? For me to make this happen I feel I need to pick a car and just keep monitoring the auction lists for a 335i to pop up. Did you bid in the dark or did you get to check out the car first?

Thanks for the info, I know it seems sorta taboo to buy a salvage car or get one at an auction but if you know how to work on cars I don't see the problem. I'd rather fix up a car that cost me significantly less money overall than pay full price for something and end up fixing it anyway. Sounds like you had to put up with some crap in the beginning but in the end it will work out.
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      10-16-2018, 03:27 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nissubaru View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by JonEQuest View Post
Look for Copart Auto Auctions. I am in Louisiana. I think in most states you can buy at least some of the cars without a dealer's license. I won this car for $1,800 and then there's auction fees, gate fees, etc which brought it up to about $2,360. so yes it was a great deal but there were a lot of things that went wrong. the car came with headlights that weren't cracked just kind of yellow so I thought I could refinish them. It turns out they were four-door headlights, so I had to buy a pair of adaptive headlights. I found out that the water pump had a crack and is leaking so that was $350. There was some signs of crappy Bondo repair on the rear quarter so I figured I would redo that better when I replaced the bumper. It turns out there was frame damage that was never repaired correctly so now I'm dealing with that. That rear accident caused the origami top to not be able to open. I've owned the car for a couple of months and I still don't know when I'm ever going to see the top open. I also just found a cracked transmission mount ($25 fix). I honestly had the worst luck with hidden issues. But, when it's all said and done I'm going to have a 2007 335i convertible with 75,000 miles, custom body kit, brand new paint job, brand new wheels tires and all maintenance taken care of for about $8,500. The one disadvantage you have to remember is when I put the car back on the road it will have a reconstructed title. This means the car will always have about 30% less value to most buyers. I'm not too concerned because I'm not looking to sell it anytime soon. I just want this to be a weekend toy for me.
I checked out Copart auctions once but forgot about it. There's a place ~5 minutes down the road from me that does Public Auctions but I'm not really sure/taking it seriously enough to pay attention to the auction list.

Did you know you were looking for a 335i or how did you come across the car through the auction? For me to make this happen I feel I need to pick a car and just keep monitoring the auction lists for a 335i to pop up. Did you bid in the dark or did you get to check out the car first?

Thanks for the info, I know it seems sorta taboo to buy a salvage car or get one at an auction but if you know how to work on cars I don't see the problem. I'd rather fix up a car that cost me significantly less money overall than pay full price for something and end up fixing it anyway. Sounds like you had to put up with some crap in the beginning but in the end it will work out.
My story is one of the main reasons I bought a car with so many issues I didn't know about. I looked at Copart for a month or two looking for something sporty I would be interested in. I went and looked at a red 2009 328i convertible for about 30 minutes. The car was in immaculate shape except for the fact it was a flood car, probably from Texas. the car started right up everything worked. Original paint in perfect shape, etc.
On the way out I also took a 60 second glance at the car I actually bought; a 2007 335i convertible. If I had taken more time to look I probably would have noticed some of the problems like the rear frame damage. I was bidding on the red one but got out bid. After losing it I went for the black 335i because it was cheap and hey, it was a 335i. when I went to pick the car up it didn't even have a battery in it. I didn't even know if it ran until I got it home and put a battery in it. All in all it has worked out but this not for faint of heart. Plus buy a carfax and look at the history as best you can. One other hassle, one key and one key fob.
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      10-17-2018, 06:37 AM   #15
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Thanks for the info, I know it seems sorta taboo to buy a salvage car or get one at an auction but if you know how to work on cars I don't see the problem.
If you have the time, patience, and realistically understand what you're getting yourself into, then it's just like any other project.

Here's a perfect example:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwO...SxFO5mA/videos
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