Rattle sound, bmw e30 318i 1990 4 door sedan

[Lil E30 kid]

hey everyone ive recently had to get my e30 towed away after hearing a rough sounding rattle in the engine bay
i stopped the car and opened the bonnet and it sounds if a bolt were to get stuck somewhere and rattle constantly
not sure if bottom end bearing or cam rods wouldnt have a clue
any help is appreciated

thanks
Lil E30 Kid

[323i E30]

Welcome!
Is it coming from *inside* the engine or could your fan be hitting something for example?
If from inside the engine it could be a broken rocker. You'll be running on 3 cylinders, resulting in quite the loss of power.
Take off the valve cover and see if you find a piece of metal wandering around there.

[Lil E30 kid]

thank you i will be sure to look at this, i appreciate the advice
yes it sounds like it is *inside* the engine itself

[ELVA164]

Well whatever it is, if it sounds like it's inside the engine then don't start it again to get another listen. I have no idea how easy or hard it is to pull the oil pan on an M40, but that might be a good idea also. Was there an oil pressure light at all? Temperature okay? Any other symptoms?

[Lil E30 kid]

my oil service light has been on for awhile but has been done but light stays on, no overheating at all temperature is stable.
i havent noticed anything else besides this rattle sound.
i will check out the oil and some others just to check if there is anything else wrong or that could be causing the problem
thanks for your help

[323i E30]

Search for a diy for resetting the service light if you want that thing green again.
I don't think that it does anything else besides counting kms, so don't be bothered too much by it.

[Lil E30 kid]

yeah ive watched some videos of how to reset it just havent got to it yet :p