[aleks001]

Hi Everyone,

I have a weird issue I have been chasing for years. Car is a 2006 E90 325i N52 with about 110,000 miles. My car makes a slight intermittent ticking sound after it has fully warmed up and is idling either in Drive, Reverse or Park and the RPM is under about 700-800rpm. I have tried different viscosity oils and none have really helped or made a difference. When I dropped from a 5w-40 to a 0w-30 my oil consumption increased quite a bit. There are no performance issues or engine codes and this has been happening since I've had the car for the past 4 years. I'm just wondering if anyone has any suggestions. People normally get the ticking on cold startup but that is rare for me, most likely because I'm from a hot climate, but I really hate hearing the ticking at idle, also I can only hear it with the window open. Here is a youtube video of the exact sound mine makes, it's more of a tick then a tack that is normally associated with these engines.

Unlike the one in the video mine isn't as consitent it has intermittent gaps of a second or so where there is no ticking.

I don't know if it is an oil pressure issue or oil thickness problem. Any suggestions ?

[David0ff]

Standard bad lifter noise unfortunately,

it was more of a feature on earlier N52s,

If the BMW bleeding procedure does not work, and the street bleeding procedure, drive it like you stole it for 10 mins, fails as well,
either
Live with it, change the lifters to the updated design or rebuild the head

[houbmw]

I have a 2007 530i with N52 engine.

If you are driving the car granny style, this ticking noise is common.

You need to allow the revs to go over 3500 so that the oil can properly lube the parts. Have fun

[Delta0311]

Common issue for the earlier model N52s. There is like a 100 page thread on this.

To make it go away you would need to replace the head and the lifters.. Out of warranty it would be like $5k+ of work. It wont really shorten your engine life to best option is just to live with it.

[924er]

Every BMW I ever owned ticks. Not as loud as that tho.

I wonder if u just live with it what would happen ?

[Delta0311]

Originally Posted by 924er

Every BMW I ever owned ticks. Not as loud as that tho.

I wonder if u just live with it what would happen ?

The ticking on a 335 is NOT the lifters that's the fuel injectors. This is normal for a 335.

[Eddien123]

I had no idea that revs solved the problem. In my mind I kept the revs down when I heard it because parts were not lubed up... Good to know

[PhaseP]

Unlike the one in the video mine isn't as consitent it has intermittent gaps of a second or so where there is no ticking.

It is probably the vanos valve train. It does it if I start mine cold and then leave idling to warm up. Initially the valve train gets noisy, then after a while lifter ticking happens if left long. If lifter ticking doesn't happen then, if you turn off and wait a while and start, it will start ticking.

I don't know if it is an oil pressure issue or oil thickness problem. Any suggestions

Just drive the car. If you don't want the noise, don't let it idling waiting especially after cold startup. My understanding what happens is, the lifters and the top of the engine receive some oil but release some oil also as they are doing their thing. When cold and idling, the oil pressure is not very high. Each time they release just a bit more than what they receive, and waiting idling like that eventually they lose on net enough oil to start making them noisy.

Just drive the car, rpm goes up, more oil goes to top of engine.

As already mentioned there is a long sticky thread on this. Haven't heard anyone having any problems with their engine because of this. Seems like only annoyance.

[ccraig13]

I had my lifters replaced under warranty, but it still ticks. Like others have said, it's simply an annoyance and nothing to worry about. If you're having trouble sleeping at night though, go page through the million page thread on the topic. Currently, all new posts consist of "hey I don't feel like reading all this so could someone tell me the answer"...

[Kolyan2k]

When I was shopping for 2006 3-series, I compared 2 BMWs side by side, both ticked but one was scary loud

[Delta0311]

Originally Posted by ccraig13

I had my lifters replaced under warranty, but it still ticks. Like others have said, it's simply an annoyance and nothing to worry about. If you're having trouble sleeping at night though, go page through the million page thread on the topic. Currently, all new posts consist of "hey I don't feel like reading all this so could someone tell me the answer"...

Because you have to replace the head too. Normally the dealer replaces the lifters. If that does not fix the issue then they replace the head.

[924er]

Originally Posted by Delta0311

The ticking on a 335 is NOT the lifters that's the fuel injectors. This is normal for a 335.

I had an e46 325i that ticked
E46 330i that ticked
My moms e60 ticks
My 335i ticks. Lol

[Delta0311]

Originally Posted by 924er

I had an e46 325i that ticked
E46 330i that ticked
My moms e60 ticks
My 335i ticks. Lol

Lmao makes me feel like Bmw was built by ISIS.

[aleks001]

What I think a lot of people didn't read here was that mine ticks when the engine is HOT and not Cold. Only rarely does it tick cold and mine isn't as loud or as consistent as the one in the video and only can be heard at idle.

But regardless, looking at the responses no one actually has solved the issue cheaply. I have tried driving at high rpm (not an issue as I like to press it every now and then) but no matter what kind of driving style I had it always ticked at idle and im not confusing it for the injectors, I know what injectors sound like lol I've even driven it for 1000km's at 2500 rpm and it still ticked when i got out of the car.

It's definetly a metalic tick. I'm going to try to go to an even thicker oil from my current 5w-40 to a 5w-50 in about 6 months when my service is due and see how it goes as not one person seems to have tried using a thicker oil in this car. My logic behind this is that as it ticks when it's hot and not cold it's too thin and not filling the clearances that have opened up over the years.

[aleks001]

This will also be the last BMW I ever buy, the issues this car has had are just unbelievable for such a "prestige" car.

[aleks001]

Originally Posted by 924er

I had an e46 325i that ticked
E46 330i that ticked
My moms e60 ticks
My 335i ticks. Lol

Why on earth did you keep buying them lol

[Kolyan2k]

Originally Posted by aleks001

Why on earth did you keep buying them lol

Ticking is normal for most cars because injectors tick, in some BMWs lifters tick as well and its also normal. My guess is that excessive ticking is not normal, not sure if it actually causes any damage. My E46 M3 and 335i didn't have any abnormal ticking, N52 that I test drove did have very loud ticking.....not normal.

[ccraig13]

Originally Posted by Delta0311

Because you have to replace the head too. Normally the dealer replaces the lifters. If that does not fix the issue then they replace the head.

Sorry, I forgot that they did replace the head after I told them the ticking was still there. So even with that replaced it still ticks.

[924er]

Originally Posted by aleks001

Why on earth did you keep buying them lol

I only buy BMWs. Lol I actually just picked up a clean e30. The tick is nothing that worries me.

[924er]

Originally Posted by aleks001

Why on earth did you keep buying them lol

I only buy BMWs. Lol I actually just picked up a clean e30. The tick is nothing that worries me.

[bimmerclad]

i have the same tick. definitely the lifters and totally not worth the cost to basically re build half the engine. doesnt hinder performance so i just deal with it.
btw i think mine is worse

[techie182]

I had my head and lifter replaced at 36k. Now at 96k still making ticking noise. Slow ticking noise......