95 m3 Sounds like diesel at idle

[quadcammer]

car has 86k miles.
runs ok, seems to be a bit more sluggish these days.


cold startup its knocks really bad.
when warm, at idle, it rattles from the top front of the valve cover which gets faster with rpm.

it sounds pretty bad in all honesty. I have heard everything from vanos to rod knock.

i pulled the valve cover and the primary chain tensioner seemed to be a bit loose however, there was no oil in it since it obviously wasn't running.

when under throttle, car sounds pretty good, wot towards the upper rev range it sounds fine.

Vanos?
timing chain tensioner?

im used to cobra motors so give me some help please,

thanks, Oliver

[HalcYoN]

Use the old motor stethascope. Grab a short piece of hose and hold it up to your ear while patroling the engine. You can pinpint if it is coming from the front end of the engine, or if it is one of the cylinder valves...

[quadcammer]

i did, the rattle seems to be coming from the very top front of the valve cover.

the knocking can be heard under the car and from the top

[///Arman]

95s have their noises.....

Wait until you get cams, it only gets worst!

I'm not complaining in any way, I was worried at the beginning too when I first got my car, but after hearing couple of ther 95s I knew they all made noises.

[Mazrx7tt]

Mines a loud SOB. Sometimes I also get freaked outta my mind and just sit with the hood open listening for 15-20 mins. The idle is really rough at cold startup mine runs a 500 RPM at cold startup, is that normal? I know my friends with 97-98's idle at 1k at cold startup.

[Rich N.]

This may sound silly but, what oil do you use?

In my 95 M3, at 90K miles, I had a buzzing/rattle at idle from the front of valve cover/vanos area that increased with engine speed. It actually sounded like something hitting the plastic fan blade. Engine ran fine at WOT. This was with 15W-50 mobil 1.

I did all the searches on noises etc and just figured it was vanos gear noise.

For whatever reason, when I switched to 0w-30 mobil 1, the noise instantly went away (in addition to being noticeably quicker). I can't explain it, but it now it idles perfectly and makes no unusual noises. Any engine gurus know why this may be?

Sounds like you may have other issues, but this might be a contributing factor.

Rich

[BJO]

my car made that diesel sound awhile back. it turns out it had some lifters that were going bad. had all 24 of them replaced since I did not want to double the labor in case the ones i did not replace went out as well.

[joe325i]

my 94 325 sounds like a diesil sometimes..
i need an oil change anyways..
where in nj are you?

[quadcammer]

I live in montville. morris county.

i dunno what oil the crap dealer puts in there. oil level is normal.


how much for lifter replacement? im sure its damn expensive.

[joe325i]

wtf!
why does EVERYONE live in morris co

[JSN]

my 95 m3 idles at about 700 rpm, and has a horrible cold start. Shifting 1-2 and 2-3 is rough as hell for a least 10 minutes, after that it is smooth.