Where could this nasty noise in my 130i come from?

[Spiller]

I recently bought a pretty abused E87 130i/6 as a project car. It was running and driving but just tired and needed some tlc.

Shortly after buying it, it started to produce one of the nastiest noises i have ever heard coming from a running and driving car. It started close from home so i just drove it and it just starts and drives fine.

The noise does not go away when pressing the clutch. The frequency of the rattle goes up with the engine rpm, but no difference whether engine is under load or not.

What do you guys think? Crank bearing? Clutch? Transmission? I dont know where to start..

[BimmerBreaker]

Did these have the recall for the VANOS bolt? Could that possibly be it?

Whatever it is is drivetrain related at least... never heard a noise quite like that before.

[Spiller]

Im gonna look into that.

I think the rattle is coming from either the back of the engine, the clutch or the transmission where as the vanos is up front.