E46 330ci engine tap…
 

Last month, when I was driving back from Roebling Road, I thought I heard a tapping noise. The next day, I took a listen and when I gave it just a little bit of gas at about 2100 RPM, it made a tapping sound. It did this whether parked or driving.

The engine runs and drives great. I’m told the chains and ramps are bulletproof.

I could not isolate the noise to a specific area, so I removed the belts and the noise was still there. That eliminated all the tensioners, idlers and water pump.

With 178K on the clock, I replaced the side chain tensioner and that seem to help a little bit, by raising the rpm to 2600 rpm, before the noise started. A rebuilt vanos from Dr. Vanos didn’t help. The upper chain, tensioner and guide looked normal.

Thinking it might be a collapsed lifter, I did the old shadetree mechanics trick and ran some ATF in the engine oil, but no difference. After changing the oil and filter, I did not find any metallic parts in the pleats, but I did see small, dark debris. There was nothing in the oil filter housing.

From about 2600 RPM to 3300 RPM, as a feather the gas, I can hear the noise. As the RPMs go up and I feather the gas, I don’t hear it.

So, E46 fans, what do you think… timing chain lifters, or?
Has anyone done either to their E46?

I will take a stab at it, have you inspected the DISA valve?

I haven’t. This car is new to me and I’m learning as I go.

Note to self, Google DISA valve.

Rod bearing? Had this on a W8...thought it was !something else", it wasn't.

My daily is an E46 wagon. I was thinking lifters

My 325i sat for about 6 months once. When I started it there was all kinds of noise until the lifters primed.

I also reccomend checking the DISA after everything else.

Sometimes a leaking exhaust manifold gasket can sound very similar to a ticking valve, or slight rod knock.

What year e46? Does it have an N52? Check out SB 11 09 07. A family member had this issue. We switched the car from 0w40 oil to 5w30 (castrol edge) oil and it eventually went away (running it hard also helps).

https://techtips.alleuro.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/bmw-n52-Ticking-Noise-SBSI-B-11-09-07.pdf

Yep mine does it too. I forgot all about it as the car keeps me busy replacing window motor regulators, abs modules, ccc computers, shock mounts, and plastic cooling and plastic pvc piping ..

Actually mine is an e 90. Still uses the n 52 just everything else is even more failure prone

This. Look close to see if there is a tell tale black color around the exhaust ports on the manifold.

I'm thinking this is / was a known issue that lifters / followers were replaced under warranty

I just installed E36 headers a few weeks ago. They are tight with no leaks.

DISA rebuild parts with upgrades on the way. I’ll check it out and rebuild the old one next weekend.

In doing research, that’s what I’ve read. But first they do what’s called a bleed down procedure. This entails holding the RPMs from 2 to 3000 RPM for three minutes. Do this 5 times and if it doesn’t go away, do it 5 more times.

The next step was to replace the head. Then they found out the real issue was the lifters and started replacing those only.

I’ve read so many articles and watched so many YouTube how to use on replacing the lifters in a timing chain, I think I can do it on my sleep now. I’ve got new lifters and all new timing chain parts in my FCP basket.

I’ve been using Pentasosin (sp?) 5W 30, but just switched to 10W-30 with no change.

I have an 01 325 that was having a similar issue, except it was constant and not speed dependent. It took me about six months, but I finally tracked it down and fixed it.

Turns out there is a lever on the left of the steering wheel that was off center. Once I centered it, the ticking stopped. Must have gotten bumped when someone was borrowing it. I just taped it up, so it cant move anymore.

I can't say I have had any noise from the engine like that, but I am still running 0-20 or 5-20, whatever the manual recommends, but I am just creeping up on 90k.

As far as the disa valve, it might be better to check sooner rather than later. The end of the bell crank can fall off and enter the engine.