[Dormermike]

Hi

First post here, relatively new owner of an n53 engine which is running great but has a weird metallic noise which I think is injectors. When driving past parked cars the sound bounces off and can sometimes sound like when a brake disc has a lip of rust which is rubbing.. high pitched.


Also at idle a whirring noise which goes when oil cap opened slightly.

Does this sound healthy? Mileage is sub 40k.

Warning big file:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/mqtro5hqr1...72224.mp4?dl=0

Thanks!!

[frenchi]

i got the same engine and it's definitely not so loud,piezo injectors are noisy but yours sound strange,did you scan for errors ? What about morning cold start idle ? Last oil change ?

[Dormermike]

Cold start fine! Does sound a bit odd I agree.

Cover is off so it is louder of course.

Does yours do that whirring noise which goes when oil filler lifted?

Edit... oil changed 2k ago, no codes. Runs well.

Thanks

[SDemetris]

Whats youre driving habbits? Mostly city or a decent amount of highway?... if yourr doing mostly city driving, i would say go for a long trip and let the engine get to temp for a while. That has helped people with a similar sound before... also, its totally normal for the car to make that sound when running and the oil cap off

[Dormermike]

Thanks for confirming the humming noise is normal.

Driving is mostly motorway, not afraid to rag it to 5-6k rpm either (it's an auto)

So to be clear, the "pitch" of the injectors is the noise we are all referring to?

From some positions around car it sounds like it could be combustion leak like a loose injector but there are no signs of this around injectors etc.

They are all consistent so can't be anything serious? Just annoying. ..

[Dormermike]

Heres a vid showing exactly how mine sounds at idle - a sort of metallic hissing noise.. seems normal by all accounts?

[Petermoeller]

Hello,

I have a 325i with the N53 engine (LCI from 2010) and two things happen:

1. There is a loud ticking noise from from the engine (like a pinging noise) and it comes and goes away randomly. See this video

2. The fuel consumption is suddenly much higher than usual. Normally with mixed city/highway about 8liter/100km but now 10 liter/100km. See this video how the fuel economy gauge acts weird - with very gentle acceleration the consumption gauge goes all the way to 20liter.... see this video

Any ideas guys? It would be great to have your comments.

I have had new injectors installed (all 6), new coils (all 6) and 6 new spark plugs only 6 months ago. I have just replaced the NOx sensor, but this did not improve anything.

Now all my spark plugs are totally black....like the picture attached.

There are no related fault codes.

[frenchi]

Black plugs means your car is running rich wich could be dirty/bad maf or air filter or oxygen lambda sensors. Also you can check and update your car to latest level,there is some important updates from 05/2012 !! Good luck

[Dormermike]

Black plugs mean rich not lean

[nerrazur]

Hi.

Did you find out what was the reason for this noise?

[Jaminlow]

I had a similar thing happening, a louder than usual metallic ticking, loud enough to notice it bouncing off parked cars and tunnels as i drive through.

What i've found is a couple of times i've had my car serviced the so called mechanics have thrown away the oil filter with the filter housing / cage still in side and replaced the new filer without it, this means the top of the block is not receiving the correct oil flow.

Since replacing the oil filter housing / cage thing the ticking seems to have stopped, so if anyone is experiencing this issue its worth checking your oil filter still has this part installed.