Another S65 engine ticking noise

smorton wrote

The tick is back, I also did try adding Liqui Moly lifter additive which didn't seem to do anything.

I think the biggest clue is that the ticking stops when the wheel is turned nearly all the way to one side or the other. I'd suggest we should focus our collective brainstorming on why that would be! Any ideas?

Well in your case then I think the noise is something else.
Are all the pulleys alright?

Sorry to bump an old thread - but wanted to share my experience here.

My E90 had rod bearings changed a couple years and about 5k miles ago. Filled up with Castrol. No noise at all. After 500 miles, changed oil and filter and used LM - immediately got the noise. It persisted after a couple days, and I changed back to Castrol, and noise was gone after a couple days and significantly reduced almost immediately.

Fast forward to today - changed oil on my E90 and my E92, both which were running Castrol. Went with Amsoil 10w-60. Ticking noise on both cars, but significantly louder on my E90. I rarely drive both of them these days, but I will probably plan an extended trip in each one or some canyon ripping and see if it goes away. Both engines are in perfect condition, so I think it’s got to be something with the oil change and the lifters.

My car seems to favor Motul above all others. Castrol and LiquiMoly are both noisier.

Redline 5w-50, no more ticking for me. Had actually forgotten about this issue

I also have it. I went from Liquimoly to Redline and still have it. Going to OEM oil next.

I have the tick... See below is this similar to what you are hearing?

Noticed it after an oil change. oem Castro
ceratec seems toe quiet it down

Oil analysis was clean 3k ago and checked the filter and no metal

nate122 wrote

I have the tick... See below is this similar to what you are hearing?

Noticed it after an oil change. oem Castro
ceratec seems toe quiet it down

Oil analysis was clean 3k ago and checked the filter and no metal

Does it quiet down when lightly revved?

jvictormp wrote

Does it quiet down when lightly revved?

Nope not really. But the ticking seems to be quieter

spammysammich wrote

My car seems to favor Motul above all others. Castrol and LiquiMoly are both noisier.

That's good to know. Which type of Motul do you recommend? There are two versions of the 10W60 Motul for automobiles. 300V Le Mans or 8100 X Power.
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https://www.motul.com/en-SE/products?viscosity=10W-60

nate122 wrote

I have the tick... See below is this similar to what you are hearing?

Noticed it after an oil change. oem Castro
ceratec seems toe quiet it down

Oil analysis was clean 3k ago and checked the filter and no metal

Exactly the same noise.

Mine makes no noise cold, and it starts making it around 170F and continues to get louder rising toward operating temp it seems.

Ripped it through canyons yesterday, still there. Drove the freeway back, still there.

Here’s a video (ignore the whine from the SC)
i’m going drive it another 100 miles now. Part of me wants to dump the oil out like I did last time and switch to Castrol and move on and the other part of me wants to just keep driving it to see if it winds up going away.

The car runs absolutely perfectly and pulls like a freight train.. There was zero metal in the filter.

DrFerry wrote

That's good to know. Which type of Motul do you recommend? There are two versions of the 10W60 Motul for automobiles. 300V Le Mans or 8100 X Power.
.
https://www.motul.com/en-SE/products?viscosity=10W-60

8100 xpower i get my kits from fcpeuro... when they're in stock. Anecdotally, I switched to Motul 8100 on my turbocharged subarus about 10 years ago and have had absolutely no complaints about it. When my valve covers finally started leaking at around 175k miles, the cams and everything looked fantastic. My OCI is EXCESSIVE with my turbocharged cars, 3750-4500 miles but my unreliable POS is over 207K miles right now consuming under 1L per OCI. So I'm not going to change a damn thing about my maintenance. I don't care what Reddit idiots who have never taken a valve cover off tell me.

I’m getting close to 300,000 and I have always used OEM 10-60 in 5k intervals and I have had this ticking noise on hot days sporadically. I picked up the car with roughly 25k. All winter , fall & spring she idles perfectly without any tick. I’ve changed my RB’s twice in my ownership and kept up on things like a boss but the tick is always there every summer. My personal opinion is the noise is either oil pressure fluctuation (low at times) or the viscosity of the oil based on engine temperature at the time or both. I don’t buy the header heat shield diagnosis of the past. My only other idea would be cam chain tension slop but I don’t think my car would have survived as long as it has at this point if that were the case. All I know is the sewing machine nature of the S65 is hilarious to me at this point. The S65 refuses to be silky like the BMW straight six lineage. In the end the noise it makes when you smash the pedal makes up for it. I’d love to know what it actually is though.

The other day when I started my engine after being laid up a week, as well as the 'normal' rattle on start up, it was then followed by a heavy clunk which I actually felt! (shock through the car & it felt like the car jolted slightly too!). Now this has happened once before, but it was so long ago I forgot about it.

Has anyone else had this clunk & got it fixed?
That clunk is very worrying!

Assimilator1 wrote

The other day when I started my engine after being laid up a week, as well as the 'normal' rattle on start up, it was then followed by a heavy clunk which I actually felt! (shock through the car & it felt like the car jolted slightly too!). Now this has happened once before, but it was so long ago I forgot about it. Has anyone else had this clunk & got it fixed? That clunk is very worrying!

Yes, the start up clunk have been reported on various dedicated threads over the years. Welcome to the clunk...
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https://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=996069
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https://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1292008
.
https://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=987126

Everything from the A/C compressor clutch, the alternator, the dual mass flywheel and the air pump have been researched IIRC. Let us know what you find out. PS: It's a shame England lost to Argentina in the World Cup. Obviously I'm no fan of Argentina. The investigations into numerous FIFA Referees are ongoing, but will probably go nowhere.

Assimilator1 wrote

The other day when I started my engine after being laid up a week, as well as the 'normal' rattle on start up, it was then followed by a heavy clunk which I actually felt! (shock through the car & it felt like the car jolted slightly too!). Now this has happened once before, but it was so long ago I forgot about it.

Has anyone else had this clunk & got it fixed?
That clunk is very worrying!

DrFerry wrote

Yes, the start up clunk have been reported on various dedicated threads over the years. Welcome to the clunk...
.
https://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=996069
.
https://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1292008
.
https://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=987126

Everything from the A/C compressor clutch, the alternator, the dual mass flywheel and the air pump have been researched IIRC. Let us know what you find out. PS: It's a shame England lost to Argentina in the World Cup. Obviously I'm no fan of Argentina. The investigations into numerous FIFA Referees is ongoing, but will probably go nowhere.

My S65 has the "COLD" start up clunk and rattle noises too (always had it) just like many S65 owners ..
As far as I know , DD drivers (daily driven cars) don't get the terrible clunk noise.
Sometimes it sounds bad , really bad . I mean like a "Kalashnikov" (no kidding)!
Back in time , a good friend of mine was in my garage and I started my car up (Cold)
He was frightened by the rattle and clunk noise and said : Man WTF was that ?!?!
In the beginning I was thinking , honestly this can't be healthy for my S65.
But so far so good...It didn't hurt my engine.

How to fix it ?
Just daily drive the car , and you won't get the S65 clunk and rattle noises anymore (!) My car is a garage queen , that's why I always got it .
If I drive my car 2-3 times/week , the clunk noise is completely gone ..
Just test it out , and you will see..


After all those years, I saw for once that the clunk noise is been fixed by replacing the S65 Vanos Gears .
It was a BMW PUMA case and it was posted on this forum , as you can see and read ...

///M Power-Belgium wrote

My S65 has the "COLD" start up clunk and rattle noises too (always had it). How to fix it? Just daily drive the car, and you won't get the S65 clunk and rattle noises anymore (!) My car is a garage queen, that's why I always got it. If I drive my car 2-3 times/week, the clunk noise is completely gone.. Just test it out , and you will see..

After all those years, I saw for once that the clunk noise is been fixed by replacing the S65 Vanos Gears. It was a BMW PUMA case and it was posted on this forum , as you can see and read...

Great post and thanks for reminding us.

DrFerry wrote

Great post and thanks for reminding us.

All my pleasure my friend . Thank you

Getting the car checked at a indie shop here in SoCal… will let you all know what they find. It’s just odd that Ceratec helped in my last oil change the tick was 100% gone from just 1 bottle. Might put some lifter additive this time around after the service if nothing is found. 🤷‍♂️. I’ve had this tick intermittently for 20k miles so there is no way it’s the rods at least.

I agree with M-Power about the random startup rattle/clunk when he says “drive the car more”. I drive mine a lot and seldomly does it sit more than 2 days of not driving, I get these noisy startups on long parks usually. To me it comes off as an oil supply issue like the tick issue or a failed check valve in the system. It was horrific the first time I heard it but now I am used to obnoxious unessesary noise of the S65.

Stainless 45 wrote

Redline 5w-50, no more ticking for me. Had actually forgotten about this issue

The S65 loves 5W50. In a desperate attempt to lower oil temps I swapped to a 5W50 and it's like a miracle drug for the engine. Temps are lower, it's quiet, smooth, etc...

I don't have any data on long term effects so proceed at your own risk but I've run Castrol 5W50 when I had cats, did oil analysis, everything came back perfect. Since ditching the kitties I've been running Motul 300V 5W50 and from everything I can tell the car absolutely loves it.

I have about 8k miles over three years on the engine since switching, of which probably 7k are hard track miles. Everything appears to be good, oil analysis (which I don't really trust) are good.

amg6975 wrote

The S65 loves 5W50. In a desperate attempt to lower oil temps I swapped to a 5W50 and it's like a miracle drug for the engine. Temps are lower, it's quiet, smooth, etc...

I don't have any data on long term effects so proceed at your own risk but I've run Castrol 5W50 when I had cats, did oil analysis, everything came back perfect. Since ditching the kitties I've been running Motul 300V 5W50 and from everything I can tell the car absolutely loves it.

I have about 8k miles over three years on the engine since switching, of which probably 7k are hard track miles. Everything appears to be good, oil analysis (which I don't really trust) are good.

Good info, but how about oil consumption? My own experience with Mobil 1 5W50 was that when hot the oil sheared down and got thin enough to increase oil consumption (creep past the rings) using up to about 1qt every 1500miles! But that's Mobil 1 5W50 FS. Castrol 5W50 maybe different. Please let us know your experience with oil consumption using the Castrol 5W50. BE Bearings recommends 10W60 after using their increased clearance bearing shells.

DrFerry wrote

Good info, but how about oil consumption? My own experience with Mobil 1 5W50 was that when hot the oil sheared down and got thin enough to increase oil consumption (creep past the rings) using up to about 1qt every 1500miles! But that's Mobil 1 5W50 FS. Castrol 5W50 maybe different. Please let us know your experience with oil consumption using the Castrol 5W50. BE Bearings recommends 10W60 after using their increased clearance bearing shells.

My first track day at Auto Club Speedway (RIP), I was running Liqui Moly 10W-60 and the car just didn't feel happy. It ran hotter, felt lazy, and was noticeably down on power.

At lunch, I drained it and filled it with Motul 300V 5W-50. It was a winter event, so ambient temps were still favorable. As soon as I got back out on track the car felt much more responsive, especially in the upper RPM range. Ever since that day, I've stuck with 5W-50 or 15W-50, regardless of brand, just not Liqui Moly.

These days I mainly run Red Line. Oil consumption has been pretty reasonable, around 1 quart every 3K - 4K miles, and that includes a little bit of oil weeping.

My oil change interval is only about 2.5K to 3K miles anyway, so consumption has never really been a concern.

FWIW, I also run E85, so I'm changing the oil more frequently regardless because of fuel dilution. I also prefer oils with a higher ZDDP content for the added wear protection due to running E85. I am also on BE Bearings.

Currently debating a RB refresh with ACL mix/match sets from Mporium.