Another clicking M3

[powertrip]

Sucks that it changed during the 10/2008 run; my '09 was built during the 09/2008 run .

[kouhii]

Originally Posted by elmariachi

Any update kouhii??

Yes, the actual repair was the main bearing not the rod bearing.
Spoke to SA and the guy who did the repair he mentioned that the newer main bearing that came from BMW when ordered had different tolerance spec. He mentioned the reason I hear the tick is because the old main bearing was shifting around.

My car is still at the dealer. It's been about 4 weeks now and they said I will get it back on next Monday (6/7). The reason why it took so long is because they had to remove the engine from the car, order the parts, and take the bottom cover of the engine out to do the repairs. Now they have to replace the spark plugs and the spark coils(forgot what he said but something like that) because the car has not been running for a long time(????).

I miss my car dearly....They gave me a 335i convertible as a loaner but still not an M, the feeling is not the same.

[JCtx]

Originally Posted by powertrip

Sucks that it changed during the 10/2008 run; my '09 was built during the 09/2008 run .

I'm utterly confused. The SIB (or whatever it was) posted just above said 'problem' was fixed on Aug 2007. And now you're saying problem was fixed until Oct 2008??? Are we talking about the same problem or different ones? That SIB also said it was just a 'cosmetic' problem. That doesn't seem to be the case on the other one, right?

My car is from Jun 2008, so it's potentially defective too . My engine has a noisier valvetrain than I expected from hydraulic valve lash adjusters, but no knocking... yet. Engine is still young at 4.5K miles. And has also had a pampered life so far .

For those with the problem: Was the knock there since day 1? If not, how did it start? Suddenly? Or after a track day or such? Curious about symptoms. Thx.

[powertrip]

Hey JC, my fault on this one. I was referring to the change in bearings that occurred on cars post 10/2008. Mine is still running fine with no strange noises, but it would be nice to know that my car had the updated bearings .

Originally Posted by elp_jc

I'm utterly confused. The SIB (or whatever it was) posted just above said 'problem' was fixed on Aug 2007. And now you're saying problem was fixed until Oct 2008??? Are we talking about the same problem or different ones? That SIB also said it was just a 'cosmetic' problem. That doesn't seem to be the case on the other one, right?

My car is from Jun 2008, so it's potentially defective too . My engine has a noisier valvetrain than I expected from hydraulic valve lash adjusters, but no knocking... yet. Engine is still young at 4.5K miles. And has also had a pampered life so far .

For those with the problem: Was the knock there since day 1? If not, how did it start? Suddenly? Or after a track day or such? Curious about symptoms. Thx.

[JOHNBMWM5]

Originally Posted by knifegun

Maybe I am just paranoid.

Yep like many others. Thats about normal M3 noise.
Even in neutral things are moving in the gearbox as well as the engine on M-DCT cars in particular.
This is quiet compared to the Nissan GTR I just tested.

[JCtx]

Originally Posted by powertrip

I was referring to the change in bearings that occurred on cars post 10/2008. Mine is still running fine with no strange noises, but it would be nice to know that my car had the updated bearings .

We're on the same boat then. But do you know what was the reason for this problem? Bearings too large, potentially too large (crappy tolerances), bad installation, or just the wrong (too soft) material?
And is this problem supposed to be present since day 1 if afflicted, or does it develop over time? If over time, I'd assume high revs (7K+ rpm) and/or high loads (WOT) would accelerate the problem, right? I want to learn as much as possible about this problem, especially since I drive my car very little, and wouldn't like to catch it after warranty expires. I also want to know about ALL possible issues so I can make an informed decision if I should keep the car after warranty or not. At this pace I'm going to be around 16K miles by then; not very many. Thanks man.

[kouhii]

Originally Posted by elp_jc

We're on the same boat then. But do you know what was the reason for this problem? Bearings too large, potentially too large (crappy tolerances), bad installation, or just the wrong (too soft) material?
And is this problem supposed to be present since day 1 if afflicted, or does it develop over time? If over time, I'd assume high revs (7K+ rpm) and/or high loads (WOT) would accelerate the problem, right? I want to learn as much as possible about this problem, especially since I drive my car very little, and wouldn't like to catch it after warranty expires. I also want to know about ALL possible issues so I can make an informed decision if I should keep the car after warranty or not. At this pace I'm going to be around 16K miles by then; not very many. Thanks man.

My car's ticking sound was very loud and gets worse when weather is hotter.

If you stand about 1 car distance away and still hear the ticking sound you should definitely bring it in.

My car had never seen the track, no LC, and etc..

[powertrip]

It sounds like it's a main bearing issue which would make me think that there is a problem with the tolerances. If that's the case I would think the engine would be louder than normal from day one .

Originally Posted by elp_jc

We're on the same boat then. But do you know what was the reason for this problem? Bearings too large, potentially too large (crappy tolerances), bad installation, or just the wrong (too soft) material?
And is this problem supposed to be present since day 1 if afflicted, or does it develop over time? If over time, I'd assume high revs (7K+ rpm) and/or high loads (WOT) would accelerate the problem, right? I want to learn as much as possible about this problem, especially since I drive my car very little, and wouldn't like to catch it after warranty expires. I also want to know about ALL possible issues so I can make an informed decision if I should keep the car after warranty or not. At this pace I'm going to be around 16K miles by then; not very many. Thanks man.

[bobbyd1961]

i cant hear anything

[JOHNBMWM5]

I have started the Car cold and nothing, drove 30 miles nothing!!, so cars fine

[JCtx]

Originally Posted by powertrip

It sounds like it's a main bearing issue which would make me think that there is a problem with the tolerances.

That's what I suspect too. And not only there; crappy tolerances are probably the explanation why many M3s consume a lot of oil, while others nothing .

Originally Posted by kouhii

My car's ticking sound was very loud and gets worse when weather is hotter. If you stand about 1 car distance away and still hear the ticking sound you should definitely bring it in.

I think we should differentiate 'ticking' noise (valvetrain related IMO) from 'clacking' noise, the one we're talking about here, which is not rhythmic with rpm. My car makes more valvetrain noise than I'd like, but all M3s I've heard make it, so it's the nature of the beast. With the hood closed, plus the 'whine' of the gear-driven exhaust cams, you can't really hear it a few feet away. I only compared my engine to another local guy, with the cars side by side, and my valvetrain ticked just a hair louder, but sounded normal (again, crappy tolerances, maybe). The good news is my car hasn't consumed any measurable amount of oil so far, and I've done 1,600 miles of highway at elevated speeds, which causes oil consumption on most M3s, so that's good news indeed.

What I'm going to do is do the 1-2K rpm test when fully hot, and also the slight load in 2nd gear at the same rpm. With 110ºF heat the next few days, having the engine HOT is not going to be an issue . Since I haven't heard anything, hope my engine is healthy .

Finally, I just can't believe freaking BMW didn't learn from the fiasco with the S54 engine. In fact, I NEVER imagined I had to worry about main bearing issues after what happened with E46 M3s. Unbelievable. The good news is only a handful of cars seem to have been affected so far, out of thousands. Hope more don't show the problem as miles pile up. Have a good one gang.

[kouhii]

Hello All,

I would like to say IT IS fixed and my baby is back in my hands finally after almost 5 weeks!

[knifegun]

Originally Posted by kouhii

Hello All,

I would like to say IT IS fixed and my baby is back in my hands finally after almost 5 weeks!

I think after what happened to your baby's bottom end, I would say she grew up pretty quickly and is no longer a baby.

[JCtx]

Originally Posted by knifegun

I think after what happened to your baby's bottom end, I would say she grew up pretty quickly and is no longer a baby.

Yep, it should be a porn star now after such a rape .

Hey Kouhii, could you elaborate on what was done to your car? Thx.

[kouhii]

Originally Posted by elp_jc

Yep, it should be a porn star now after such a rape .

Hey Kouhii, could you elaborate on what was done to your car? Thx.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=OMBAA5BD <--zip

3 pages worth of reading. Image crop'ed for privacy.
I tried to resize to fit the file size limit for attachments but letters became too small.

[satinghostrider]

I feel happy for you kouhii. At least BMW helped you out and addressed the problem honestly. Enjoy your car in pink health!

[JCtx]

Originally Posted by kouhii

3 pages worth of reading. Image crop'ed for privacy.

Thanks buddy . Hey, did you read the last sentence on last page? It seemed to me old bearings were used . But higher up it said bearings replaced. I'd be scared to death of my dealer doing a minor overhaul like that, but hope yours knew what they were doing. And if they used the old bearings I'd be pissed as hell. It wasn't clear to me exactly what the hell was the problem. If I were you, I'd talk to them and find out exactly what they found. It must be disheartening to have that kind of major work done on your new car man; I feel for you. Not to mention the possible loss of value. I personally wouldn't touch your car with a ten foot pole if you were selling it, but you can always just trade it in. Sorry to hear about your troubles. It pisses me off to no end stupid BMW didn't learn their lesson with the E46 bearing problems. Geez. Take care man.

[positiveions]

Originally Posted by elp_jc

Thanks buddy . Hey, did you read the last sentence on last page? It seemed to me old bearings were used .

I guess he didn't want to wait for the new parts to come in-since they took too long to get there-and he was able to salvage the old ones.

[JCtx]

Originally Posted by eatrach73

I guess he didn't want to wait for the new parts to come in-since they took too long to get there-and he was able to salvage the old ones.

Yeah, but why the hell use something that supposedly was the cause of the problem to begin with? That's why I wanted you to ask EXACTLY what happened to your engine internally. Many of us want to know.

And may I ask you what's your build date? Curious if there's a trend on these failures. Hope that's the end of problems for you .

[kouhii]

Production date is September 2009. I am waiting for SA to call me back and clarify with what's written on paper. You guys all have good questions, I am awaiting for his call. If not I will pay the SA a visit.

I am a bit pissed with so much repair for a fairly new car but the tick is gone and my MPG has improved to 17mpg with semi-conservative driving!!!
Before the fix it barely reached 15mpg with all out conservative driving!
I thought everyone on here was bullshitting when they claim to have 17mpg with the m3...

There is a sentence that says to check the clearance of the bearing with some tool. So like the mechanic explained it was the tolerance, the main bearings were hitting something.

The SA never mentioned to me about parts damaged during shipment and all that crap. He just said they had to borrow some tool from sister store to take out the engine which took 1 week and ordering parts took 1 week besides that I don't know what happened.

On the brighter side the mechanic who was working on my car was the same guy who prepped my car when it just arrived at the dealer. According to SA and my salesman he is the only guy who's allowed to touch M cars, don't know if that's 100% true....

Thanks all for the support. I hope this will help anyone with this problem in the future.

[raiste]

Originally Posted by kouhii

I thought everyone on here was bullshitting when they claim to have 17mpg with the m3....

If I drive conservatively, I can get 19-20 MPG. At least according to the computer. But it's usually around 15


.

[kouhii]

Hello All,

SA just called. He confirmed with the mechanic who fixed my car that all parts were replaced, nothing was reused.

The mechanic seems like a really serious guy because he actually corrected the SA about what was fixed right in front of me. So in my mind I don't have any doubts on what was being done to my car.