All 2006 Non M Z4 Drivers Read! Important Information About Our Engines

[mhughett]

I have a unique perspective on this problem because I have purchased two 3.0si's over the last 4 months (one roadster and one coupe), both have made the noise described in this email and it seems that I've solved the problem with both vehicles. When I got my first one (the roadster), the problem surfaced very early. Since it sounded like a stuck lifter possibly caused by old oil, I called the dealer asking when the next oil change was due. He said the annual change wasn't due for another 3 months but if I wanted to bring the car in, they would do the "bleed test" and see if they could get the noise to go away. I felt this was a waste of my time. Therefore, I decided to change the oil myself to see if I could get the noise to subside. I used Valvoline SynPower 5w-30 (which is approved on the BMWUSA website) and the noise immediately went away. I was frankly surprised at how much better the engine sounded and I thought it might come back at some time but it never did all the way up to the day I sold the car.

Then I sold the roadster and I got my coupe 3 weeks ago. This car had the oil changed by the dealer in Rochester NY just before I bought it. Nevertheless, a few days after I got it, I started occasionally hearing the same ticking noise. It would not happen all the time but it seems like about 40-50% of the time I would hear it and was especially evident at idle. Sometimes it would go away after driving a few miles and sometimes not. Today, the noise seemed more pronounced than ever, not just at idle but at all RPM's. So I decided to change the oil again with the same Valvoline oil. I immediately noted two things:

1. There was more than 7 quarts in the crankcase. My oil catch container holds 8 quarts and was starting to push its limit. When I emptied it into some old 4 and 5 quart containers, I was careful to measure exactly how much oil came out of my car. It looks like about 7.5 quarts. Also, the oil seemed very watery (it was warm) and just seemed to have a very low viscocity.

2. I checked the old filter to make sure it looked good. Since it was changed only a few weeks ago it still looked good so I stayed with it. I siphoned all of the old oil out of the oil filter container, then filled with the Valvoline. After I started up the car, the ticking noise was heard for about 2-3 seconds, then NOTHING. It immediately stopped making the noise and the engine sounded MUCH smoother. I then drove the car for several miles and varying RPM's. When I finished the drive, still no ticking noise. It seems much quieter and smoother.

I know this sounds crazy and I'll let you all come to your own conclusions (no, I don't work for Valvoline) but this cannot be just coincidence that both cars made the same noise and both times it went away after I changed the oil. Could dealers be skimping on the oil being used and some engines are just more sensitive to what oil is being used? After the first one was cured, I simply chocked it up to the fact that it had been nearly a year since the last oil change and that maybe it had lost some of its lubrication properties. However, this last time, the oil was changed at the dealer just a few weeks ago. Feel free to voice your own opinions and experiences with this problem but it sure seems to me like this engine doesn't like the oil from the dealer but does like the Valvoline.

[mcoupe60266]

this is how it works.

the bleeding procedure is done 2 times, after performing it twice if the customer comes in a third time for the tick noise BMW will allow the cyl head to be replaced with the updated one. IMO BMW does the bleed procedure to put the customer off and try and make them happy as the bleed procedure pays the tech less than a half hour costing BMW only about $50 vs. the cyl head that is close to 7000.

The ticking noise is NOT harmful to the engine, i have heard this from both a BMW field engineer and a BMW region manager that i have worked with.

in a nut shell, the tick is a simple annoyance and if the customer pushes it enough then BMW will correct after the customer and dealer have to jump through a few hoops.

[mhughett]

that's all fine but why is it that when I changed to Valvoline, the ticking noise stopped. Here it is several days later and I've still not heard the noise on my current car. This got rid of the noise on my 2006 3.0si as well. Whether it is harmful or not, it doesn't sound good and if it is lubrication-related, I find it hard to believe that there is no harm in it.

[16thBMW]

Originally Posted by mhughett

that's all fine but why is it that when I changed to Valvoline, the ticking noise stopped. Here it is several days later and I've still not heard the noise on my current car. This got rid of the noise on my 2006 3.0si as well. Whether it is harmful or not, it doesn't sound good and if it is lubrication-related, I find it hard to believe that there is no harm in it.

If 7.5 quarts came out, how many did you put back in?

[mhughett]

7

[zee4mike]

My dealer just replaced the cylinder head on my 2006 Z4. Bought it CPO and noticed the noise when I first drove it off the lot and the salesperson suspected the noise was a low octane "ping", maybe the previous owner had not always used the proper fuel. Had the bleeding procedure done about 4 months ago before a 1000 mile highway road trip. Even after the trip and more than a few high speed stretches, ticking still would return and was getting louder, even though the bleeding procedure worked to quiet it initially. Ticking is gone, engine sounds great now. The dealer never said the noise was damaging, but I never believed it could not be harmful so I persisted.....it just didn't sound right. My first BMW was a 2004 330xi and I never heard anything remotely similar from that engine.
Love the Z, and cruising with a tick, tick, tick was downright embarassing.

[DocRoadster]

FYI- Bleeding is just a temporary fix to placate the customer. I would imaging for most people like me, by the time you get to the dealer, the sounds stops; because driving the car on the freeway effectively recreates the "bleeding procedure", which is to rev the motor to 3000 RPMs for a couple mins. This is supposed to bleed any air from the system and stop the noise. Even if you leave the car at the dealer, the chances of them recreating the noise is often minimal since it tends to be intermittent. I should know, I just went through this and it took me 2 years and 4 separate visits, leaving the car over night each time. And of course, each time, by the time I got to the dealer [who was 25 miles away] the sounds stopped and they could never recreate it. It wasn't until I recorded videos on three different occasions, within a few weeks of each other, and published them on YouTube that the dealer took me seriously. They passed the info on to BMWNA who finally gave the approval for the latest fix which is to replace the lifters with updated versions and replace the check valve in the head. I'm going to pick up my car tomorrow and I hope this is the LAST time it ever happens. The moral of the story is, if you have an intermittent problem, document it with a video camera if you can and post it on line to back up your claims. Here's my video which illustrates the problem much more clearly than the previous poster's videos.

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[mhughett]

I've heard this sound on my engine before but it seems to me that when I drive it daily, It never resurfaces. What I'd like to know is what exactly is the technical explanation as to what we are hearing, what causes it and assuming I can keep it from coming back, do I need to get the "fix" while my car is still under warranty.

[DocRoadster]

I'm not an engineer, so if anything I state is wrong, somebody please correct me. However, as I understand it a hydraulic lifter is a small cylinder and piston like mechanism that goes between the cam and valve to insure smooth constant contact between the two components. For optimum performance, it's important that there are no gaps between the cam and the valve at all times. Whether the engine is hot or cold, old or new the lifter takes up the "slack" between the two, eliminating the need for valve adjustments. The hydraulic lifter "floats" between the cam and valve constantly adjusting itself automatically via an internal spring and check valve that uses oil pressure to maintain optimum contact. When the lifter fails, it's usually because the oil drains out causing the lifter to collapse. This leaves a small gap between the cam, valve, and lifter which is the noise you hear as the components "smack" together. This is not good because it can cause your engine to run rough, rob horsepower and gas mileage. In the case of the BMW 3.0 N52 motor, there was a design flaw in the earlier production runs, which allowed the oil to drain out of the lifter, causing them to collapse and fail. This can usually be fixed *temporarily* by revving the engine up to 3000 RPMs for about 30 seconds, which increases the hydraulic pressure inside the engine, forcing the oil back into the lifter and returning them to proper operation. Unfortunately, as this is only a temporary fix, in some cases if it gets bad enough, it will occur frequently at which point you need to take it to the dealer where they can decided whether or not to perform the procedure I described in my previous post. My personal recommendation would be to get them to fix it now, while the car is still under warranty as it will cost you a lot of money later.

As a follow up to my original post, I picked my car up today and it feels much smoother. I noticed car is more responsive now in the higher gears. Before I used to cruise on the freeway in forth gear most of the time, now I can shift into 6th and feel like there is still some grunt if I need to get out of the way quickly without downshifting. Even my gas mileage improved by about 2MPG during the short 30 mile ride home. I only hope this is the last I ever hear of the problem.

[aerobod]

Originally Posted by DocRoadster

I'm not an engineer, so if anything I state is wrong, somebody please correct me. However, as I understand it a hydraulic lifter is a small cylinder and piston like mechanism that goes between the cam and valve to insure smooth constant contact between the two components. For optimum performance, it's important that there are no gaps between the cam and the valve at all times. Whether the engine is hot or cold, old or new the lifter takes up the "slack" between the two, eliminating the need for valve adjustments. The hydraulic lifter "floats" between the cam and valve constantly adjusting itself automatically via an internal spring and check valve that uses oil pressure to maintain optimum contact. When the lifter fails, it's usually because the oil drains out causing the lifter to collapse. This leaves a small gap between the cam, valve, and lifter which is the noise you hear as the components "smack" together. This is not good because it can cause your engine to run rough, rob horsepower and gas mileage. In the case of the BMW 3.0 N52 motor, there was a design flaw in the earlier production runs, which allowed the oil to drain out of the lifter, causing them to collapse and fail. This can usually be fixed *temporarily* by revving the engine up to 3000 RPMs for about 30 seconds, which increases the hydraulic pressure inside the engine, forcing the oil back into the lifter and returning them to proper operation. Unfortunately, as this is only a temporary fix, in some cases if it gets bad enough, it will occur frequently at which point you need to take it to the dealer where they can decided whether or not to perform the procedure I described in my previous post. My personal recommendation would be to get them to fix it now, while the car is still under warranty as it will cost you a lot of money later.

As a follow up to my original post, I picked my car up today and it feels much smoother. I noticed car is more responsive now in the higher gears. Before I used to cruise on the freeway in forth gear most of the time, now I can shift into 6th and feel like there is still some grunt if I need to get out of the way quickly without downshifting. Even my gas mileage improved by about 2MPG during the short 30 mile ride home. I only hope this is the last I ever hear of the problem.

Although hydraulic tappets (lifters) have nominally zero clearance, all engines with solid or mechanically adjustable tappets have to maintain a cold clearance of about 0.15mm for the inlet and 0.25mm for the exhaust valves, otherwise the valves will be partly open at certain times in the engines thermal cycle, leading to burnt valves and a head replacement or rebuild. This is no different than a hydraulic tappet that is not fully pumped up and is not detrimental to engine life. Higher revving engines such as the S54 in the M3, Z3M and Z4M have relatively noisy tappets due to the clearance between the valves, with no issue on engine life, especially considering that at 8000RPM the valves, tappets and camshafts are under more strain than in the normal lower revving BMW engines.

[DocRoadster]

Follow up/ FYI- Claims of lifter noise causing no harm to your engine is total BS! I finally have my car back and WOW... what a difference! Previous to the service I'd been experiencing a noticeable drop in performance and gas mileage. When I purchased the car, I averaged approximately 20-21 MPG. Recently, just before the service, I was averaging 17 MPG and I found it necessary to drive in lower gears at higher RPMs to keep the car in the power band. I'd also noticed a faint exhaust tick when the car was on throttle under a load. This was a different noise than the lifter tick, much more faint but clearly there. Now since the lifters were replaced, I'm back up to 21 MPG and the car runs much smoother and quieter. It's noticeable even at idle. The car also spins up much more quickly too. I even find I'm cruising in 5th and 6th gear on the freeway, which I never used before, due to lack of power. I'm just grateful to have my car back to the way it was designed to perform. So let this be a lesson, if anyone tries to tell you the noise is harmless, they're wrong.

[aerobod]

Originally Posted by DocRoadster

Follow up/ FYI- Claims of lifter noise causing no harm to your engine is total BS! I finally have my car back and WOW... what a difference! Previous to the service I'd been experiencing a noticeable drop in performance and gas mileage. When I purchased the car, I averaged approximately 20-21 MPG. Recently, just before the service, I was averaging 17 MPG and I found it necessary to drive in lower gears at higher RPMs to keep the car in the power band. I'd also noticed a faint exhaust tick when the car was on throttle under a load. This was a different noise than the lifter tick, much more faint but clearly there. Now since the lifters were replaced, I'm back up to 21 MPG and the car runs much smoother and quieter. It's noticeable even at idle. The car also spins up much more quickly too. I even find I'm cruising in 5th and 6th gear on the freeway, which I never used before, due to lack of power. I'm just grateful to have my car back to the way it was designed to perform. So let this be a lesson, if anyone tries to tell you the noise is harmless, they're wrong.

You would expect a loss in power and fuel economy if the lifters are not fully extended, leading to increased valve clearance and the ticking noise. The fact that after lifter replacement the engine returned to normal shows that the effect on the engine is harmless (ie, no permanent damage from lifter deflation/tick to the cams or any other part of the engine).

[DocRoadster]

Originally Posted by aerobod

You would expect a loss in power and fuel economy if the lifters are not fully extended, leading to increased valve clearance and the ticking noise.

OK... I think we're getting hung up on semantics here. I did not say anything about "permanent damage" I said harm... and by your own admission, [See above quote] my statement is correct.

Anything that prevents the vehicle from performing at optimum levels is harmful. What the dealer is implying is, "hey... don't worry, once the sound goes away, everything is fine, just rev motor up and it will go away and you can forget about it." Clearly that is not true; otherwise there would have been no discernible difference between how my car performed before the service and after; other than the occasional lifter noise.

[aerobod]

Originally Posted by DocRoadster

OK... I think we're getting hung up on semantics here. I did not say anything about "permanent damage" I said harm... and by your own admission, [See above quote] my statement is correct.

Anything that prevents the vehicle from performing at optimum levels is harmful. What the dealer is implying is, "hey... don't worry, once the sound goes away, everything is fine, just rev motor up and it will go away and you can forget about it." Clearly that is not true; otherwise there would have been no discernible difference between how my car performed before the service and after; other than the occasional lifter noise.

OK, I agree it is probably semantics. I was equating "harm" with at least some damage. Not living in a litigious society, harm is normally equated with something severe, but in the US I think lawyers have turned even a paper cut into a "harmful" event

I think what we have is a classic lifter bleed down problem, which is a relatively easy problem to fix with the fairly easy replacement of lifters with a modified design.

Our E90 with the N52 has had the lifter tick in cold weather when it hasn't been used at high revs for a while (about 3 times over 3 years). I've fixed myself with a hard drive, which is in line with the initial fix BMW suggested.

[DocRoadster]

To hopefully clear matters up once and for all and avoid any further misunderstandings; ***even though the lifter ticking is erratic and may go away on it's own, -OR- by performing the "lifter bleed service", THE LOSS IN PERFORMANCE AND GAS MILEAGE CAN REMAIN AND INCREASE IN SEVERITY OVER TIME.***

In my case, the car would sometimes go for months without making a sound and then for no apparent reason, the ticking would return. Most often it would stop after about 10-15 mins of driving or by revving the motor above 3000 RPMs for 30-odd seconds. Usually the cycle would repeat and the ticking would continue each morning, for the next 2-3 days. Then, just as suddenly as it began, it would cease and not return for a long while. Over the course of the past two years, the intervals became more and more frequent until they were a week or two apart. I am bringing it to everyone's attention because it's a slow and gradual process. Some people may not even be aware their cars have lost power and gas mileage unless they have been paying attention. In my case, my suspicions were confirmed when the lifters were replaced. So regardless of what anyone says, until you've had the lifters replaced, just because the sounds stops, doesn't make it harmless.

[denial512]

So I just put the car into service, and they replaced the lifters. Not one day later, the noise is still there.

Is there another service bulletin stating the need to replace the head and not just the lifters?

[Huz-Z]

Just to be clear, can this problem occur in both the 3.0i and the 3.0Si versions of the 2006 Z4?

I ask because its my understanding that the 3.0i and 3.0Si cars in 2006 used different engines.

[mhughett]

Originally Posted by denial512

So I just put the car into service, and they replaced the lifters. Not one day later, the noise is still there.

Is there another service bulletin stating the need to replace the head and not just the lifters?

Oh oh, this is the first I've heard of an unsuccessful result of this TSB. Unless of course they tried to pull a fast one on you and never actually did the work. But certainly no reputable BMW dealer would EVER do anything like that.

I have the parts on order and should have this procedure (replacement of the lifters) done before the end of the month. I'll be real disappointed if it doesn't fix the problem.

[A267839885568]

You dont just replace the lifters....you have to replace the cylinder head and stuff. the process takes up to 3 days (when I did it that is, as the dealership had to custom order the part from germany).

[A267839885568]

and yes, its both the 3.0i and the 3.0si becuse they are both the N52 engine. the X3 also suffers from this.

[mhughett]

Originally Posted by A267839885568

and yes, its both the 3.0i and the 3.0si becuse they are both the N52 engine. the X3 also suffers from this.

I'm not sure about replacing the cylinder head. My advisor told me they would be just replacing the lifters. The parts were ordered about 2 weeks ago but still aren't in. I'll ask when they get in exactly what parts are involved.

[vachss]

Originally Posted by A267839885568

You dont just replace the lifters....you have to replace the cylinder head and stuff. the process takes up to 3 days (when I did it that is, as the dealership had to custom order the part from germany).

I believe that cylinder head replacement was the initial approach BMW took when they recognized this as a problem. Subsequent to that they determined that lifter replacement was a much cheaper solution, and that is now what they offer. All the recent posts I've seen (in the last 3-6 months) referring to a BMW dealership fix for the N52 ticking problem have involved only the replacement of the lifters not the full cylinder head.