Ticking in the engine bay.

[WillNattrass]

Looking at buying an E85 Z4 2.5si. The one I saw in the dealership today had a wierd ticking/ wiring noise coming from the engine bay. Is this something to be concerned about or just a common sound.
Many thanks.
Will

 

[Marlon]

ticking is normal - my 3.0si ticks louder after a week of short journeys, open her up on a good run and it pretty much disappears.
Discussed here: https://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=112691&p=1625869&hilit=ticking#p1625869
Search 'ticking' and you will find lots of info

 

[WillNattrass]

Excellent thanks so much, just rang the dealership back to make a deposit and apparently someone else is there looking at it. Fingers crossed.

 

[Marlon]

I would however take it for a good test drive, long enough to get the engine temp up to middle of gauge and then listen for the ticking.

 

[wonkydonkey]

Whereabouts in the engine bay? There are rather a lot of things that can tick and whirr in an engine bay, before we dismiss this as an everyday sound :wink:

 

[road warrior]

back in the days of ohv a ticking meant a tappet was dry

 

[firebobby]

Cam chain tick/rattle :wink:

 

[Silverzedtom]

Could also be the dual mass flywheel rattling a little bit - also generally pretty standard. If it’s the flywheel it will stop when the clutch pedals down. Like others have suggested it probably just needs a run