Major disappointment ...e89 people please read

Slaaters

New member
If I am to believe the advice/ diagnostic assessment of the chief technician at my BMW main dealer I am seriously disappointed with my new z4.

I have a noise that kicks in at 1800rpm that would be best described as; a foot operated dentists drill from the Victorian period being offered up to a metal plate... The noise stops when I come off the accelerator.

I was told by the chief technician (following a diagnostic assessment- print offs were proffered) that there was no problem, and that this was simply the sound of the injectors switching over their mix (or something along those lines)

People of z4 forum in e89's.... Is this the sound of a new BMW engine these days...?? If so... Does anyone else think it's sounds more like a problem than a pleasure based sound from the 'ultimate driving machine'???

2lt. M sport.
 
Not sure on the E89, but the E85/86 are fairly tappy as well so probably normal.

I guess as engines get quieter, you can hear more of the internals working!
 
Does sound like a BMW engine tbh. Raw, tappety sort of metallic noise at higher revs, yeah?
Standard issue performance Bavaria I reckon - even the 2l :lol:
 
Not good is it? It would certainly brass me off as well!
Is it audible travelling with roof down?
 
Injector noises seem to be quite common on a lot of cars tbh. Talking cars I've heard in the flesh although I've not heard an e89 to compare to others I've heard.
my z4m on the other hand, makes an annoying noise on a cold start that gets better when warm but still evident on tickover and low rev/low labour cruising. Sound amazing under load but annoying under those circumstances. I'm sure it's normal but I don't like it. Previous car was a v8 jag though lol.
 
Thanks everyone...appreciate your replies. If that; it I guess I have to live with it...

(After I've been back to the dealer and got them to take me out in another z4 - if I hear it there too- only then will I be convinced it's not a mechanical problem)

Please continue to add to this if you have the e89 and think/ hear the same.

(In response to questions; haven't noticed it with roof down yet/ but I don't drop it often. And I don't know what "pots" are)
 
Give it a bit of time. It will eventually purr or growl whichever way you perceive it. Persevere. It is a cracker of engineering! :driving: :D
 
You can only hear it when tootling along at 20/30 mph, and when lifting of the throttle. Give it some beans and you won't notice it :driving:
 
Great shame fella, though not an issue I ever had on my straight 6 E85
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyUt6ObZbRM

This is a video of the 23i n52 engine. Did the vid to try out my new camera last year. In reality it sounds a lot quieter than the video suggests, the recording emphasising the higher freq. but you definity hear the injectors, sewing machine sound.

Why would any engineer designing these think that the noise would be acceptable.
 
CornishRob said:
Not sure on the E89, but the E85/86 are fairly tappy as well so probably normal.

I guess as engines get quieter, you can hear more of the internals working!

Not sure about later engines but by E85 M54 unit is genuinely tappet noise-free silk. As a general rule of thumb a noise that sounds wrong generally is even if it's a 'characteristic' (dealer BS for "it's a known issue but few will actually break and the manufacturer isn't going to retro-fix several thousand cars on the off chance").
 
Search this forum for other threads on the same subject as Iam sure this has come up before.

Some E89's have this noise but fortunately mine doesn't, just a very satisfying growl
 
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