New member requires help please.

S

Steve Parr

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Joined
Apr 22, 2015
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3
My name is Steve, I live in Cornwall not far from Penzance and I am a new member of your forum. I’m approaching 70 and have decided to have a last ‘fling’ with a Z whilst I can still manage to get into one.

I’ve owned several Z3’s and 4’s since the late 90’s which have always done low mileages and had the benefit of a BMW warranty. My latest Z3 is therefore a new experience as it is an old 1999 2.8 which has covered 64,000 miles from new. The engine is smooth running, has loads of torque, starts on the button but has a fault which I cannot identify, hence this post for advice please.

When started from cold the engine runs smooothly and generally sounds like any normal BMW 6 cylinder engine. When the engine reaches operating temperature a loud rattling comes from the front of the engine at about 1500 rpm, if the engine is run at high revs for a moment or so the rattling disappears until the next cold start. The rattling is a tinny sound rather like loose silencer baffles but is definitely coming from the front of the engine somewhere.

Could anyone suggest what this may be? I’ve read a lot about VANOS problems but thought this was always associated with performance issues. I understand that the timing chain tensioner is hydraulic and wonder if this could be responsible?

Any thoughts and advice would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks

Steve
 
Steve Parr said:
My name is Steve, I live in Cornwall not far from Penzance and I am a new member of your forum. I’m approaching 70 and have decided to have a last ‘fling’ with a Z whilst I can still manage to get into one.

I’ve owned several Z3’s and 4’s since the late 90’s which have always done low mileages and had the benefit of a BMW warranty. My latest Z3 is therefore a new experience as it is an old 1999 2.8 which has covered 64,000 miles from new. The engine is smooth running, has loads of torque, starts on the button but has a fault which I cannot identify, hence this post for advice please.

When started from cold the engine runs smooothly and generally sounds like any normal BMW 6 cylinder engine. When the engine reaches operating temperature a loud rattling comes from the front of the engine at about 1500 rpm, if the engine is run at high revs for a moment or so the rattling disappears until the next cold start. The rattling is a tinny sound rather like loose silencer baffles but is definitely coming from the front of the engine somewhere.

Could anyone suggest what this may be? I’ve read a lot about VANOS problems but thought this was always associated with performance issues. I understand that the timing chain tensioner is hydraulic and wonder if this could be responsible?

Any thoughts and advice would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks

Steve
Click to expand...
Vanos was my first thought Steve but I'm only a diy mechanic. @Lee will probably be along shortly. He's excellent with all things Zed. Good luck with your findings and welcome to the forum from Mansfield.
 
Hi it might not be as bad as the vanos.
My 2.0 litre twin vanos like yours has a rattle, only really noticable if you let it warm up standing still, as the engine warms a rattle appears from the front heatshield above the exhaust manifold if you touch it lightly it stops, dont notice it when driving.
Not sure how these are fastend on but looking on realoem the heatsheild looks like it is riveted to the exhaust gasket so probably impossible to repair properly so I think i'll live with it its not that bad :)
 
It sounds like oil pick up from cold up to getting up to pressure may be the issue. I would try an oil flush and new oil and filter before doing anything else.

Tony.
 
Hi Steve, welcome from Suffolk - quite new myself but the help and support on here is superb! :thumbsup:
 
Hi Steve and:welcome:to the forum from Llantwit Major near Cardiff
 
Hi Steve, welcome to the forum. I'm up in Probus near Truro
 
Welcome from Nottingham. Lets hope it is not too serious
 
Sounds like it is ready to scrap, I'll give you £100.

:whistle:

As a few others have said, it is the right area of the engine for a vanos failure/noise, but if it is tinny could easily be a heat shield, is the air filter standard? I've broken a few with open cone filters, attached with various DIY bodges, each one prone to making unusual noises. Could be a broken mount on almost anything, although these cars are not prone to that sport of thing, nothings impossible.

Without seeing it no one could be sure, but check the easy stuff first!
 
Hi and welcome to the forum :p
From Bradwell near Great Yarmouth :)
 
Hi Steve, :welcome: to the forum from me too in Staffordshire. Hope you can get to the bottom of the noise.
 
Welcome and good morning @Steve Parr

Without hearing the frequency of the rattle and going by your explanation it does sound like the Vanos especially after the engine gets warmer (oil gets thinner)

Does it sound like marbles in a can when ticking? if so you have two options, 1) the beisan DIY kit 2) Mr Vanos can come to your door.

The reason why the rattle disappears with driving is the build up of oil pressure in the Vanos holding everything in place

(What is this rattle? A splined cup rides inside the intake camshaft gear that turns with the shaft and rattles)

Because we are only a forum try visiting a BMW specialist armed with this info and get them to confirm.

Lee
 
Thanks for the many messages of welcome and also for your suggestions.

I've recently done an oil and filter change which included renewing the two filter drain O rings within the filter. This made no difference to the noise.

I reproduced the symptoms again today and noticed that immediately before the rattling commenced the engine revs increased momentarily and then settled back to normal. I also think that there are two distinct types of noise being produced; I can hear a light tapping sound which sounds like an excessive valve clearance and a much louder rattling that sounds very much like marbles in a can. I cannot find loose heat shields or any form of bracketry which would account for this.

Once the noise has cleared the engine performs smoothly with no hesitation or loss of power.

I think that a diagnosis from an independent BMW specialist is a good idea, there is company called Howard BMW in Redruth which is quite close.

I will report back when I’ve done this.

Many thanks once again.

Steve
 
Hi Steve, yes I can recommend the independent Howard BMW place, I have used them a few times.
I was in there and they were giving some chap advice on how to fix a snag for free, and a friend round the corner from me always uses them.
:welcome:
 
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