Engine Ticking / Bearings / Oil (Must Read)

[ChrisK]

Originally Posted by gatorfast

Unfortunately, things like throttle actuator, hvac evap, and in a few cases rod bearings fail regardless of how well a car is maintained. Its up to you of course but it is worth considering an extended warranty.

I'm only worried about bearings.

[C-M2]

Here is a question, Have you gotten the car up on ramps while it is running and had someone slowly bring the revs up to try pinpointing the clicking?

[8k3]

Hmm, my car doesn't tick brother and I drive it hard with the VF charger

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by ChrisK

I'm only worried about bearings.

Man to be honest , when this was my car...it was already at my BMW/Dealer and right now !
Said it before here in your thread > take no risks ! Are you waiting for a hole in your engine ?
You know about the consequences of the bearings ! So what are you waiting for ?

[ChrisK]

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

Man to be honest , when this was my car...it was already at my BMW/Dealer and right now !
Said it before here in your thread > take no risks ! Are you waiting for a hole in your engine ?
You know about the consequences of the bearings ! So what are you waiting for ?

It's at the dealer right now.

What I am trying to convey is the sound is gone after and oil change. I don't believe that changing the oil would effect the sound coming from bad bearing(s) to best of my knowledge.

[ChrisK]

Originally Posted by C-M2

Here is a question, Have you gotten the car up on ramps while it is running and had someone slowly bring the revs up to try pinpointing the clicking?

Yes, and not even the guys at A-spec thought it was bearings.

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by ChrisK

It's at the dealer right now.

What I am trying to convey is the sound is gone after and oil change. I don't believe that changing the oil would effect the sound coming from bad bearing(s) to best of my knowledge.

Perfect ! Please keep us posted....

[HP Man]

Consider yourself lucky -- you've identified the problem before it went boom!

[C-M2]

Originally Posted by ChrisK

Yes, and not even the guys at A-spec thought it was bearings.

Hmm, were they able to shed any light on it? As to where it was coming from location wise in the bay.

Now that I listen to it again it doesn't not follow the same rhythm as the engine when you bring the revs up. To me it sounds like its caused by contact. Maybe a heat shield is coming in contact when the motor moves?

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by ChrisK

It's at the dealer right now.

What I am trying to convey is the sound is gone after and oil change. I don't believe that changing the oil would effect the sound coming from bad bearing(s) to best of my knowledge.

Any updates ?

[ChrisK]

Got the car back today, and no ticking at all!

I'm telling you, I think some of these ticking issues are related to oil life.

Fresh Oil = no ticking
5k Oil = slight ticking

I'm sending my oil out to Blackstone asap!

And my ticking has never followed anything rhythmic in the engine. It was always a random tick.

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by ChrisK

Got the car back today, and no ticking at all!

I'm telling you, I think some of these ticking issues are related to oil life.

Fresh Oil = no ticking
5k Oil = slight ticking

I'm sending my oil out to Blackstone asap!

And my ticking has never followed anything rhythmic in the engine. It was always a random tick.

This was a start with the ticking noise just like your's and ended by this > > # 267 http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthr...0#post16313880

[blankstar43]

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

This was a start with the ticking noise just like your's and ended by this > > # 267 http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthr...0#post16313880

ouch

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by blankstar43

ouch

Exactly !

[chris719]

I'd have to search, but there was another person who had ticking and it went away with fresh oil. It was rod bearings for him in the end.

[aussiem3]

Originally Posted by ChrisK

Got the car back today, and no ticking at all!

I'm telling you, I think some of these ticking issues are related to oil life.

Fresh Oil = no ticking
5k Oil = slight ticking

I'm sending my oil out to Blackstone asap!

And my ticking has never followed anything rhythmic in the engine. It was always a random tick.

Chris, I can confirm this. My car is ticking a lot now given that it's almost 5k on the oil. I recently added a 1l of oil when it showed half. This is very interesting. It's winter in Perth and when I first start the car the oil temp is around 12 Celsius but warms up very quickly and at times I hit almost 100 Celsius but when cruising drops down to 75 Celsius. But I can tell you that when the car is at optimum operating temperature the ticking is louder at idle but when you build the revs it goes away. I have 45k km on an '07 build car with 6MT.

I might do a video this morning when I first start the car and follow it up when it is hot. This is an interesting finding about the oil.

If this is true, then thinner the oil is the engine harmonics are louder. Then going for thinner oil like 0w-40 will only make the situation worse in terms of ticking. So no wonder BMW used a thick oil to mitigate this. So leaving the oil for a lot longer completely sheers its protection properties to the detrimental of the engine and in this case the bearings. Less lubrication will increase contact between metal surface. Does this mean we need at least two oil changes a year? going to be a very expensive exercise unless one is happy to ignore the ticking and put it down to the sheering of oil. My 2c.

[chris719]

I would be careful equating increased ticking noise with increased wear.

Just because the thicker oil causes the ticking to become less noticeable doesn't mean less wear is occurring.

[aussiem3]

Originally Posted by chris719

I would be careful equating increased ticking noise with increased wear.

Just because the thicker oil causes the ticking to become less noticeable doesn't mean less wear is occurring.

Agreed ... spot on

I uploaded the video for reference. When I started the car the oil temp was 17 Celsius - read through the performance steering wheel. In the seconf part of the video you'll see after going for a lengthy drive and engine tem at 98 Celsius what it sounds like even when you rev it to 3000 rpm.

[ChrisK]

Originally Posted by chris719

I would be careful equating increased ticking noise with increased wear.

Just because the thicker oil causes the ticking to become less noticeable doesn't mean less wear is occurring.

Agreed

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by aussiem3

Agreed ... spot on

I uploaded the video for reference. When I started the car the oil temp was 17 Celsius - read through the performance steering wheel. In the seconf part of the video you'll see after going for a lengthy drive and engine tem at 98 Celsius what it sounds like even when you rev it to 3000 rpm.

My friend , your engine sounds normal , the ticking noise in your video is normal and that cold and warmed up !
But OP , chrisK in his video i can clearly hear a different sound , and that every time when he revs from idling to higher revs there is something else like a "rattle" !!!
I've compaired the two video's with my head phone on (your's and chrisK) at least 6-7 times,and again i need to say chrisK engine sounds nok !
Anyway let's hope i'm wrong....

[aussiem3]

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

My friend , your engine sounds normal , the ticking noise in your video is normal and that cold and warmed up !
But OP , chrisK in his video i can clearly hear a different sound , and that every time when he revs from idling to higher revs there is something else like a "rattle" !!!
I've compaired the two video's with my head phone on (your's and chrisK) at least 6-7 times,and again i need to say chrisK engine sounds nok !
Anyway let's hope i'm wrong....

My friend, that's why I posted my video as a reference. As I said in most posts, I have no issues with my engine and I am extremely happy with its performance.

How are you doing? It's winter here but very nice with blue skies and temp around 17 Celsius. But it has been raining in the last two days.

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by aussiem3

My friend, that's why I posted my video as a reference. As I said in most posts, I have no issues with my engine and I am extremely happy with its performance.

How are you doing? It's winter here but very nice with blue skies and temp around 17 Celsius. But it has been raining in the last two days.

Weather is going realy crazy on here ! It's tropical with 38 ° Celsius and more in the shade!So not normal at all !
Now that i have the time,it's not possible to detail my car and in our homes we have no airco because it's never that hot ,even at night it's hot and hard to get sleep ! So all we can do....is waiting for cooler temps !
BTW...my S65 sounds perfect and hope it stay's this way !
But i'm getting out of my mind...and damn angry when i'm seeing all this people with bearing failures and blow engines!
Anyway hope that we are still lucky.....