N55 ticking

[olsson]

So, as a new bmw owner (roughly 10 months) I've been constantly reminded that bmw's are unreliable. So 4-5 days ago I noticed the engine "ticking" a little bit more than usual (see youtube link)

Current mods:

Chargepipe
Downpipe (catless)
Bigger intercooler
1 step colder spark plugs (NGK)
Motul 0w40
MHD Stage 1

Is the ticking normal or something I should get checked out? And if so should I go to bmw themselves or is it something I can check myself?


Link: https://youtube.com/shorts/KRvIys7CBF4

Thanks!

[RockCrusher]

Originally Posted by olsson

So, as a new bmw owner (roughly 10 months) I've been constantly reminded that bmw's are unreliable. So 4-5 days ago I noticed the engine "ticking" a little bit more than usual (see youtube link)

Current mods:

Chargepipe
Downpipe (catless)
Bigger intercooler
1 step colder spark plugs (NGK)
Motul 0w40
MHD Stage 1

Is the ticking normal or something I should get checked out? And if so should I go to bmw themselves or is it something I can check myself?


Link: https://youtube.com/shorts/KRvIys7CBF4

Thanks!

If the ticking appeared out of the blue that's a concern. If the ticking is coming from one small area -- like one cylinder's valve hardware -- that is also a concern.

Noises are hard to diagnose even at the car. Best advice I can offer is have the engine listened to by a tech who will have lots of experience hearing normal noises and abnormal noises.

Will add I have not heard any real ticking from my BMWs but with previous cars the engines would get ticky when the oil (factory recommended oil: Mobil 1 0w-40) accumulated around 5K miles. My SOP was to change the oil at 5K miles and after -- and with the engine and oil up to temperature -- the ticking was gone.

But even before the oil was changed the noise was not really worrisome.

[cfm56d7b]

Originally Posted by olsson

So, as a new bmw owner (roughly 10 months) I've been constantly reminded that bmw's are unreliable. So 4-5 days ago I noticed the engine "ticking" a little bit more than usual (see youtube link)

Current mods:

Chargepipe
Downpipe (catless)
Bigger intercooler
1 step colder spark plugs (NGK)
Motul 0w40
MHD Stage 1

Is the ticking normal or something I should get checked out? And if so should I go to bmw themselves or is it something I can check myself?


Link: https://youtube.com/shorts/KRvIys7CBF4

Thanks!

Will be helpful to learn ...

- Are you the original owner?
- How many KMs does the vehicle have?
- Did you install the mods or the vehicle came with these mods?
- If you installed the mods, did the ticking appear after a certain number months / KMs?
- Have you ever sent oil for analysis? This will test will reveal if there aren unusual metal shavings present.

BMWs are not inherently more unreliable than any other vehicle. The majority of vehicles are assembled from components made by a myriad of other companies.

My neighbor's Maserati Levante ... now that's a different story.

[eluded]

normal, the sweet sweet sounds of Direct Injection

[ctcarbonari]

Originally Posted by eluded

normal, the sweet sweet sounds of Direct Injection

+1 to ^this^

I had the same concern as the OP when I started to fixate on the DI clicking sound on my N55 engine.

[olsson]

Originally Posted by eluded

normal, the sweet sweet sounds of Direct Injection

Thing is… i can hear it from inside the cabin whilst driving on lower rpms…

[4JawChuck]

I had a similar issue that I found was located at the exhaust Vanos location after listening with a stethoscope, after cleaning the Vanos filters and Vanos solenoids (no change) I changed the oil from 0/40 weight oil to 5/20 and the noise completely disappeared in a couple of drive cycles.

I am replacing the solenoids as part of PM as they slowly wear out and become more sensitive to oil viscosity.

What initially sounded like a bad lifter eventually got to the point it sounded like marbles in a can, total relief whenI found it was Vanos solenoid related after the oil change.

Mine only had 110K kilometres on them, around 70K miles.

[olsson]

Originally Posted by 4JawChuck

I had a similar issue that I found was located at the exhaust Vanos location after listening with a stethoscope, after cleaning the Vanos filters and Vanos solenoids (no change) I changed the oil from 0/40 weight oil to 5/20 and the noise completely disappeared in a couple of drive cycles.

I am replacing the solenoids as part of PM as they slowly wear out and become more sensitive to oil viscosity.

What initially sounded like a bad lifter eventually got to the point it sounded like marbles in a can, total relief whenI found it was Vanos solenoid related after the oil change.

Mine only had 110K kilometres on them, around 70K miles.

Appriciate the answer man, but doesnt 5/20 seem a tad low?

[4JawChuck]

Viscosity of oil has little to do with protection and more to do with clearances inside the engine, liquids are incompressible so as long as the clearances are tight your fine.

There is a lot of BS on the internet regarding using thicker oils in engines, bobistheoilguy has to be the worst offender in giving bad advice.

The engine needs to be designed for a thicker oil or worn out enough to require it. Obviously the dual Vanos systems are sensitive to oil viscosity so if you have a tick or rattle coming from your Vanos actuators try switching to lighter oil and see if the problem goes away.

I am changing them but the order has not come in yet from Rock Auto, when they are changed I will try a 30wt oil and see if the problem reoccurs.

I was running 5/40 after the engine rebuild thinking it would be OK since I increased the mains clearances from 0.001” to 0.0025”. One thou clearance on a 2.5” journal is very tight from the factory hence the change.

Oil pressure according to my scanner did not change after the viscosity change even at idle.

Don’t get hung up on “performance” oil viscosities, it’s mostly BS derived from unrelated real performance engines like racing where everything is opened up for additional clearance to prevent seizure at higher temps.

Those aluminum main bearings are real sensitive to oil viscosity, mine have been replaced with aftermarket steel backed Babbitt race bearings so I am not worried about the additional clearance which improves bearing cooling due to added flow from additional clearance.

[olsson]

Originally Posted by 4JawChuck

Viscosity of oil has little to do with protection and more to do with clearances inside the engine, liquids are incompressible so as long as the clearances are tight your fine.

There is a lot of BS on the internet regarding using thicker oils in engines, bobistheoilguy has to be the worst offender in giving bad advice.

The engine needs to be designed for a thicker oil or worn out enough to require it. Obviously the dual Vanos systems are sensitive to oil viscosity so if you have a tick or rattle coming from your Vanos actuators try switching to lighter oil and see if the problem goes away.

I am changing them but the order has not come in yet from Rock Auto, when they are changed I will try a 30wt oil and see if the problem reoccurs.

I was running 5/40 after the engine rebuild thinking it would be OK since I increased the mains clearances from 0.001” to 0.0025”. One thou clearance on a 2.5” journal is very tight from the factory hence the change.

Oil pressure according to my scanner did not change after the viscosity change even at idle.

Don’t get hung up on “performance” oil viscosities, it’s mostly BS derived from unrelated real performance engines like racing where everything is opened up for additional clearance to prevent seizure at higher temps.

Those aluminum main bearings are real sensitive to oil viscosity, mine have been replaced with aftermarket steel backed Babbitt race bearings so I am not worried about the additional clearance which improves bearing cooling due to added flow from additional clearance.

Damn okay, im gonna def try changing to a lower vis oil.
Is castrol 5-30 good or should i stick to motul and same vis?

[4JawChuck]

As long as it’s certified for the BMW engine you have, I know BMW certified their 30W for the N52 so I would start with a BMW oil and see what happens.

I use Castrol Edge only because it’s BMW certified and I can get at Costco.

Earlier models of N52 specced an LL01 oil which I tried for awhile and are inexpensive.

The main thing is it needs to have trace amounts of Moly so that a protective film forms on the tin coated aluminum bearings which many/most BMW engines use.

There is a chemical reaction with the tin that forms when Moly is present, likely you could just add Moly to any oil to get that protection.

You can check out my N52 engine rebuild thread where I found out what happens when the oil does not have the correct additive package, unfortunately the issues I had were from the previous owner using the wrong oil which allowed that tin coating to wipe off the aluminum bearing exposing raw AL to the journal which eventually bit the crank, when I got the car it was slow cranking and eventually took the starter out, once I replaced it with a new starter that’s when I found out about the seizure as the engine promptly burnt out the new starter in less than a year.

BTW this engineering debacle is designed into the engine due to Germany outlawing lead, hence the design. Kind of a built in bomb waiting to happen if you continuously use the wrong oil.

Took me awhile to find the root cause of this issue, I build custom engines often ( I’ve got three engine stands in constant use) so not my first rodeo but the first horse that bit me like that.

[4JawChuck]

https://www.1addicts.com/forums/show....php?t=1998470

[olsson]

Originally Posted by 4JawChuck

As long as it’s certified for the BMW engine you have, I know BMW certified their 30W for the N52 so I would start with a BMW oil and see what happens.

I use Castrol Edge only because it’s BMW certified and I can get at Costco.

Earlier models of N52 specced an LL01 oil which I tried for awhile and are inexpensive.

The main thing is it needs to have trace amounts of Moly so that a protective film forms on the tin coated aluminum bearings which many/most BMW engines use.

There is a chemical reaction with the tin that forms when Moly is present, likely you could just add Moly to any oil to get that protection.

You can check out my N52 engine rebuild thread where I found out what happens when the oil does not have the correct additive package, unfortunately the issues I had were from the previous owner using the wrong oil which allowed that tin coating to wipe off the aluminum bearing exposing raw AL to the journal which eventually bit the crank, when I got the car it was slow cranking and eventually took the starter out, once I replaced it with a new starter that’s when I found out about the seizure as the engine promptly burnt out the new starter in less than a year.

BTW this engineering debacle is designed into the engine due to Germany outlawing lead, hence the design. Kind of a built in bomb waiting to happen if you continuously use the wrong oil.

Took me awhile to find the root cause of this issue, I build custom engines often ( I’ve got three engine stands in constant use) so not my first rodeo but the first horse that bit me like that.

Thing is, the sound isnt coming from the front of the engine, its more like around cyl6 ish, hence the noise into the cabin.

[4JawChuck]

There is a BMW troubleshooting document out there that details what a BMW tech should do when diagnosing Vanos issues, it starts with checking the oil filter cap insert to make sure the centre post is intact and not loose or missing, then to check the oil filter oring and finally to change the oil prior to performing other steps to isolate the source.

There are literally dozens of sources of noise under the hood, a worn AC pump bearing, noisy alternator bearing or idler can all be sources of knocking/ticking noises under the hood. I would suggest you get an inexpensive stethoscope and do some poking around to isolate the source.

[olsson]

Problem solved!!!

Changed injectors and turns out it was nr6

Cheers!