09 BMW 335i Metallic Ticking Noise?

Hi guys,

first real post, been reading alot about this ticking noise not really sure

The car has 80,000 km on it i have had it since 50,000 km

the car had some bad valve / lifter ticking, they all have been replaced about 3000 km ago

now its getting cold out

the car only does this when its cold

here is a video of the tick

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/31068396/BM...G_11052012.MOV

any thoughts or ideas?

This is pretty common when N54/55 engines are cold. Mine ticks for a few minutes when cold, then it goes away. Always has. There's a long history of discussions on the subject at Bimmerfest. Here might be a good one to start with: http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=260555

Originally Posted by crazyeyeskilla

This is pretty common when N54/55 engines are cold. Mine ticks for a few minutes when cold, then it goes away. Always has. There's a long history of discussions on the subject at Bimmerfest. Here might be a good one to start with: http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=260555

Not a problem here. Not in Canada or Colorado either.

40°F is Winter in SF. Below that a week in December. Much colder where ya'll are?

snow here tomorrow! so yes gets cold 0C to - 25C for Nov to end of Feb, thats why we usually stick to awd / xDrive vehicles with snow tires.

no one else gets this ticking noise?

the dealership mechanic today said they are just noisey ticky engines.

Mine does this too and the dealer has listened to it on two occasions. They say it is perfectly normal. Doesn't sound normal to me but it runs fine and has for the last 40K miles that I have owned it.

How long does it take before it stops ticking from the time you start it? If it is very cold out (which living in Canada, I'm sure it is) it will take some time to get the oil up to the top and thinnned out enough to quiet the lifters. Although, I once had an engine (2002 Mercedes Benz) that did that and after I finally took the valve cover off to research, found (by accident) that there was a little loose screw that held down the oil rail. The oil would quiet this down once it got going and all the time I thought I had sticking or noisy lifters. On another car (2005 Nissan Altima SER), it ended up being my timing chain which was rattling due to the chain guide having slipped down (difficult repair) but it sounded like it was coming frm the valves. I finally nailed that one down using an auto stethascope ($13.00).

it only does it when its cold and it goes away once its warmed up, i am trying to keep the oil at max level to see if this mitigates the noise

i will try the stethescope idea too

Mine does it ... I'm thinking cold oil slowly filling the cam followers...normal.

Changed them on my old ford but was doing the same after 15,000m.

HTH

Only when the engine is cold, say for the first minute it's idling. I don't think it matters whether the ambient air temp is 50F or 0F, but when the engine oil is below operating temperature, it occurs. A couple of years ago I read it had something to do with the lifters.