Tick Tick Tick

B

Bumpy

Senior member
 Whitby, Ontario, Canada
Well I noticed 'it' a while ago but didn't really think much of it.
It was especially noticeable when I pulled out of the garage or pulled next to a parked van with the top down.
Tick Tick tick ..bounced into the interior. Not so much with the top up.
Then I was motivated to pop the hood and try to locate the source.
Just a lifter noise. Could be some slop that should disappear when the hydraulics got pumped or the engine made operating temp.
But those conditions didn't really end the noise.
Like Poe's A Telltale Heart....Once aware you can't ignore ..even escape it.
None the less it was embarrassing when Z4 admirers came close.
So I took er in to the dealership for an opinion.
Of course I had searched this condition on a couple of BMW Forums and discovered as much as I could about it.
And I half expected to be in for a fight to get a proper repair under factory warranty.
I called BMW a day later to discover what was happening ..
SA told me they had waited to get factory approval for the repair.
As an 08 I guess I missed the latest upgrade.
Not to worry. I was assured that the 3rd revision to hydraulic lifters were going to be installed.
With 7 - 10 hours of labour involved, Im hoping to get the Zed back tomorrow afternoon .
I'll let you all know how this one plays out.

Cheers John
 
Do you have a warranty Bumpy, or are you going solo and claiming against a known fault ?
 
Bing ...
I have full factory warranty til next May.
Although Im a firm believer in identifying every concern during warranty so you can have some leverage later on.
The 'tick' from the lifter was almost inaudible inside the car.
Actually Im pleased that my dealership went to this extent to repair the problem, rather than offering up less invasive options and hoping I just learned to live with it.
 
Car completed today.
I got picked up by a nice gentleman in an X5 and returned to the dealership.
SA went over the repairs. When I told him I knew what a hydraulic lifter was, he mentioned that at his previous dealership they were less than accommodating of this tick.
Some customers were told that this is just a typical mechanical noise. Given that the info I managed to glean from the web, it appears that the noise wasn't considered terminal to the valve train. So some reluctance to eradicate it could be understood.

So it looks like updated lifters and followers on the exhaust cam were installed along with other bits and pieces.
They had the Zed for the best part of 3 days. It purrs like a kitten now.

I also had mentioned that there was a slight hesitation on acceleration from standing. Its and automatic and it was more of an irritation like the tick.
Surprisingly the diagnostics went like this :
Short Test
No faults from DME or EGS (?)
Test plan completed for Bump felt in drive line (?)
Instructed to program to latest I-Level - Vehicle programmed and road tested.
No change
Reset engine adaptation and road tested - No change.
Reset transmission adaptation and road tested. - no change
Sampled fuel and tested for alcohol content
15% alcohol content - well over 10% limit and 0% ideal range.
Recommended customer use Shell 91 and monitor the issue.

Wow ! Damn those oil companies cutting our gasoline with corn mash !
Curious that I had just filled up with Sunoco 94 .. The highest octane available...

No idea how much all this would have cost as it was all warranty.
Very impressed at the extent the tech went to fix my 'problems' ..

Now to run that watered 94 proof through my gas tank and fill up with Shell 91
 
Best of luck with the lifter fix . Some seem to be ok after that. Cured mine for a while but came back , 58 plate car . New head sorted prob
 
chris6 said:
Best of luck with the lifter fix . Some seem to be ok wafter that. Cured mine for a while but came back , 58 plate car . New head sorted prob
Click to expand...

Maybe the 3rd revision if there is such a thing will fix properly. Although mine bing one of the first if not the first on here to be fixed had the head replaced for a revised one which did cure the problem 100%
 
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