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Diesel strange noise when cold

14K views 42 replies 11 participants last post by  kanar200 
#1 ·
Hi Guys,

Second day in a row I noticed a strange noise from the engine. I think it is the easiest to hear between 6 and 14 second of this video. I know that diesel is clattering, but it is different noise than it used to be. I believe the noise is disappearing when the engine is warm.

https://youtu.be/jV_8zQhHmW4

Anybody experienced this?
 
#2 ·
I recorded another video on the way to the dealership today. This is some kind of knock noise from the engine. I believe it is easier to hear it on this video.

As usual, things could not be managed on the SA level. I needed to talk to service manager to get the paper work in the right order.... this BMW service quality is killing me.

https://youtu.be/f6ZAd08QJoU
 
#3 ·
yeah, it sounds a bit more diesely than mine. Did you pop the hood and try to give it a listen that way?

Hopefully it's nothing too serious and it's not a dreadful experience. interested in updates.
 
#4 ·
In idling you can't hear anything odd. But I did not try higher revs with the hood up. I just hope they will not come back with "can't replicate the problem" diagnosis... I showed the video and asked to mention this in the docs. Will provide an update when I hear from them.
 
#5 ·
A shop foreman could not replicate the noise... exactly this is the response I was expecting to receive :) Therefore, I recorded this second video and forced SA to watch it, hear the noise and to make a reference in the work order. Now sending the video to my favorite dealership, so they can check what they should listen to.
 
#7 ·
Out with it: Which dealer is which?

My favorite dealer for service in East Bay is East Bay BMW, everything being relative when using "favorite". Weatherford and BMW of SF not nearly as bueno. The one and only dealer in Reno is worse than these last two.
I get to try BMW of Santa Rosa this summer for oil change on the 4 series and hopefully recalls on the X5. Should be easy and pain free.

Good luck with getting action on the issue.


Sent from my iPad using Bimmerfest
 
#8 ·
BMW of Mountain View. I have experience also with Stevens Creek and Fremont. All are bad or very bad, Mountain View is the worst. However, they had the loaner the fastest and they are 4 minutes from my house.

After watching my video shop foreman still was not able to hear this noise from the engine. I am test driving tomorrow with him.
 
#9 ·
Definitely not a rod knock since you mention that it disappears when its warm, my guessing is maybe injector related, easy first would be checking to see if water has entered into the engine compartment due to the windshield cowl cover leak problem (common E70 issue), check the injectors electrical connectors and injector lines on #5 and#6 (especially the ones located in the towards the firewall) to see any corrosion/water stains.
 
#10 · (Edited)
I believe that the slightest injector problem will be detected and set a DTC. If there is no injector related DTC then the problem is elsewhere.

BMW diesel injector technology and operation is described on pages 57 - 62 of BMW Advanced Diesel Technology. I note that normal engine operating temperatures are required for proper adaptation of the injectors.

"... the next during the overrun phase at engine speeds from 1500 to 2500 rpm and with the engine at operating temperature."
 
#11 ·
Test drove the car with BMW guys. This time they noticed the problem after 30 seconds. I needed to take the car back for the weekend and I will drop it off next week. I will provide an update.
 
#13 ·
They did not really provide an update, but they asked when I changed the oil the last time. I quickly checked with the shop and it was Sep last year and the mileage was 73k miles. Now it is a little bit less than 80k miles. I asked for a sample of the oil...
 
#14 ·
Got a call - they found pretty big pieces of metal in the engine. SA said something about rod bearings, they are done and possibly the pieces of metal are just part of the rod bearings. They are writing to BMW NA to get further guidance.
 
#15 ·
Whoa....

Warranty as I recall??
 
#17 · (Edited)
Yeah, I remembered that one.
 
#18 ·
Update.

Got a call last Friday that "a new engine" will be installed. Today I went to the dealership to look at the car and asked about a few details:

- "the new engine" appears to be remanufactured short engine (part number 11000446765)
- apart from the block, the other parts they will be replacing include gaskets, bolts, o-rings, etc. - nothing major
- it will take approx. two weeks to have it fixed.

The engine arrived yesterday - the nice box on the photos below. They removed a lot of parts from under the car, including the hitch which had a reinforcement welded and bolted to the rear axle carrier.

Questions:

- should I have any concerns that this is engine short block not the long block?
- should I have any concerns about the metal shavings they found in the engine and the turbos they won't be replacing? As far I as understand it, the engine oil flows through the turbos - what about any potential damages related to the metal shavings in the oil?
- since the engine is out, should I ask them to replace any particular parts: belts, water pumps, etc.? I have 80k miles on the clock. I will keep the car for the next 20-40k miles.

A few photos





 
#19 ·
Any info on "what cause me to need a new engine?" What failed, whay was damaged, etc

Was it a rod bearing??

I'd like to think they have flushing procedures, plus I seem to recall that if your filter is intact, the oil feeding the turbos,nect should be 'protected'. Theoretically at least.
 
#20 ·
I asked the question what failed - SA said rod bearings. I asked what was the reason for this failure - he did not know. Maybe, if I talk to foreman I would get some more details, but they may not wish to share details around this.

I asked SA to follow up in relation to turbos, i.e. how they assess that they may be used again in the case as at hand.
 
#21 ·
The car is ready to be picked up. I will go there tomorrow. Hopefully, there are no surprises :)

Turned out that the water pump is part of the short block they replaced, so I ended up with changing the belts and tensioner. They also changed the turbos after my interesting conversation with shop foreman.

I am planning to tow my trailer next weekend. In the meantime, I will drive 100-200 miles. Are there any concerns about high load on the engine after the engine "refresh"?
 
#22 ·
The car is ready to be picked up. I will go there tomorrow. Hopefully, there are no surprises :)

Turned out that the water pump is part of the short block they replaced, so I ended up with changing the belts and tensioner. They also changed the turbos after my interesting conversation with shop foreman.

I am planning to tow my trailer next weekend. In the meantime, I will drive 100-200 miles. Are there any concerns about high load on the engine after the engine "refresh"?
Id want the motor broken in first, liked 2k-2500 miles. Just me.

(yes, I know this is a bit of a throwback- modern engines and all that...)
 
#23 ·
I picked up the car today. Engine sounds good. For those who are interested what was done





As part of the work, they did the alignment and I will need to redo this as the numbers are... within BMW specs.



The windows do not go auto up, but I will try fix it tomorrow.

Unfortunately, they also scratched passenger door - they were replacing the mirror motor. Really careless work. I believe that the door will need to be pained. I do not even manage to repair the rear bumper after the recent dealer damage...

 
#24 ·
Kanar
Sorry to see this that you encountered such a major problem.
You are fortunate that BMW covered it. What would you have done had they not?

Like you, I'm towing close to 6000lbs, and am concerened that thw extra load will cause faster bearing wear (much hotter oil, longer periods on high load on the bearings). It would be nice to have an oil temp gauge. On one of my old cars the oil temp under higher rpm & heavy load will go up 30-40F in one minute (I back off when it gets to 220f). If I stay on it I think it would go even higher. Yes I need to put in an oil cooler and much more oil capacity for the track

I suppose it's all the more reason to take it easy towing up long climbs.
John
 
#28 ·
I really do not think that my "towing activities" were the major cause of this failure. There are thousands of car with this engine in Europe driven very hard, every day, especially on German highways, were people are routinely driving around max speed. This is not my field of expertise, but I would say that those cars are under higher load than me towing 7k lbs, 60 mph with around 2k rpm. And they change the oil every 30k km.

I would expect that my tranny would give up faster, not the engine.

The shop foreman said that this was bizarre failure as the bearing that failed is not the one taking the highest loads. Anyway, the new engine was approved within less than one day, so I understand that they came to a conclusion that there was some kind of defect.
 
#27 ·
Just under 80k and yes warranty...posts ~23-26 ish
 
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