[timber71]

The first time I took it in, they could not duplicate the sound for the 3 days it was there.

The second time, they duplicated the sound after 5 days.

34 days after that, I picked up the car.

[dan.cuando]

Of all the people that has experienced ticking noises in their engine, has anyone asked their BMW Center to extend their warranty, at least for just for the power-train. It seems to me there could have been long term damages done to the engine.

[dth656]

yes, thats another concern of mine. does anyone know what else in the engine could have been damaged by something like this? would replacing the lifters and camshaft address all of these components?

[ages944]

Yeah, I have been thinking about this a bit lately too. Basically because 8months after the first time I had this issue I heard the tick again. I only lasted for one day and hasn't been back since, but it got me wondering if there might still be something 'not quite right' with the fix. I don't want to be irrational but I don't want to have the cams wear out at 50,001 miles either and get saddled with an expensive repair.

[timber71]

I spoke to the Service Manager at length when I picked up my car after service. When I asked him about contacting BMW Canada about an extended warranty, his response was that since there was over 60,000kms left in the warranty, I probably wouldn't get far (in his opinion).

[timber71]

Originally Posted by gary328xi

Now i'm pissed got a call from the service adviser saying the car checks out good and the problem would go away after a few thousands miles and not to worry . They have left me no choice but use the lemon law. Tomorrow i will mail the ten day demand letter since this is the second repair attempt.

Hey Gary...any update on your stuggles?

[gary328xi]

Today i received a fedex priority mail from BMW NA stating they were very sorry to hear about my situation follow with a phone call asking me to bring the car in next Thurs to the dealership. They stated the whole situation will be reviewed by by BMW NA at that time.

[klinkerklu]

Gary, so BMW NA contacted you in response to your demand letter?
Do you still have intermittent ticking? Were they ever able to duplicate the noise at the dealership?
Good luck & keep us posted to the outcome of your third trip in.

[gary328xi]

I still have intermittent ticking. They duplicated the noise on the first repair attempt. Second time they could not duplicate but it still count as a repair attempt.

[STE92VE]

For those of us waiting to get their 3 series, do we have any hope that BMW has corrected this problem in production?

[klinkerklu]

Ok, so we've made an appointment to take the car in next week.
It's been ticking all week. Not as loud as the first week we heard it, but still audible nevertheless. I am very nervous about the visit. For one, we haven't good luck with BMW service departments, period. Second, since this is an intermittent issue, I am very concerned murphy's law is guaranteed to kick in and they won't detect even a peep of lifter noise while the car is there. Hopefully they will thoroughly inspect the lifters/camshaft/housing for damage even if they don't detect lifter noise on the road test.
I feel like I'm going in for a root canal...

[dth656]

kinkerklu, what dealership did you take it to?


got my car back today, it no longer makes the noise. heres hoping that it stays that way.

here are the details:

PUMA case# 7038819
REPLACE EXHAUST CAM, CAM HOLDER, ALL EXHAUST LIFTERS AND ROCKER ARMS. REPLACE #3 CYLINDER BACK EXHAUST VALVE SPRING UPPER RETAINER AND KEEPER. CHANGED OIL AND FILTER

here is the parts list (let me know if someone needs part numbers):

CAMSHAFT
SPRING PLATE
9-VALVE COL.
DRAG LEVER
PUSH ROD
BEARING LEDGE
TORX BOLT
GASKET
ASA BOLT
GASKET
SET OF ALUM SCREWS
GASKET
GASKET RING
COLLAR SCREW
FILTER ELEMENT

[klinkerklu]

Ah, I will never go back to Mountain View again. Long story.
Have an appointment for San Jose this week, keeping my fingers crossed.
Where did you take yours in (since it looks like they addressed the problem)?

[dth656]

even though i live in fremont, i took it to prestige BMW up in sonoma county where i bought it (mostly for the loaner car and cuz my parents live up there, so it makes things a bit easier). san jose would be stevens creek bmw i believe. i haven't heard anything about their service dept one way or another. if they try and tell you that the noise is 'normal', i would gently persist (this forum should give you plenty of credible substantiating evidence)

update: knock on wood, the noise has not yet returned.

[MacAttack]

Just got my ride last week. BMW has not fixed the problem yet cause I have the same symptoms. Great info from this forum as always.

[klinkerklu]

Yeah, I haven't heard pros/cons about Stevens Creek either. If they take care of this tho, I will be recommending them to everyone I work with with e90's, this forum, etc. I will also note the SA etc, anyone involved in helping us for future reference.
As for the noise and problem, we videotaped it and clearly show the isolation at its loudest ticking coming from the upper left (exhaust) portion of the engine & for reference taped when the car is running normal & quietly, so they can't tell us we are hearing things.
I would post but its a huge file.

[gary328xi]

Hello Guys,
I dropped the car off last night at the dealership and got a 325i as the loaner. I just received a call from JMK saying that BMW NA rep took a look at the car and authorized them to replace all the lifters.The tentative date for completion would be probably Tuesday if all goes as planned.

[MacAttack]

Good news. I'll be next in line....just not at the same dealership.

[gary328xi]

I think we all need to call Nina Englert (201-263-8202) Bmw after sales manager and air our concern about extended powertrain warranty after the replacement of the lifters. I am awaiting a reply from her as of now.

[MacAttack]

Looking forward to your feedback.

[NFS]

Originally Posted by msinfo_us

OK. Finally I was able to attach one of the sound tracks with ticking noise. If you are wondering about ticking noise listen to it. For those of us who already know what it is it would be very intresting if you can compare it to yours and share your opinion here. Thanks.

PS Before you ask. The sound was taped with car warmed up but before I drove it. Also oil level is at max.

I hadn't seen this thread before.

My car made this exact noise about 2 weeks ago. It didn't go away as it warmed up and it continued to make the noise all through the morning.

I left the car for a few hours and later that evening the noise was gone.

There is no sign of it re-occuring.

Oil level is one dash above minimum - I've done about 8000 miles since 1st Sept 06 (it's an August 06 build) and haven't topped it up yet.

At the time I put it down to bad / dirty petrol.

[STE92VE]

Originally Posted by msinfo_us

Munich for me

PS I don't think "where it was build" really matters. Lifters are done by a third party vendor for BMW from what I understand. It was not a problem with installation/assembly. The lifters themselves were out of spec.

Do we know if this problem has been corrected for current production?