E36 M50 Ticking on Start-Up

[GT4rally]

Hi Guys... again,

The '94 320i that I'm buying has a loud ticking sound at start up, then disapears in about 5 seconds. It's the M50 6 cylinder (I think it's got Vanos), and I'm worried that it might be the valves, timing chain or the vanos.... any ideas?? It's got 180,000km on it.

-Cheers!

-Dave

[DefektiveVibe]

alot of cars knock when first started because the engine is cold and so is the oil...so the oil isnt coating everything inside the engine so the valves hit the top of the cover which creates the knocking sound

if after the car warms up and it stocks knocking its normal

if it happens all the time it could be low on oil or the oil might just be thinning out too much

[Ben]

if you're sure it's only in the 6th cylinder might be worth your while to check for lifter troubles.

if it's going away after 5 seconds tho it seems more likely an issue getting oil to that portion, could have an oil plug or be low in oil.

I'm not a BMW motor expert but that would be my generic prognosis.

[Tuner1]

Cold start lifter tick....very common. The car probably didn't have regular synthetic oil changes from day one :whipped:

We have some great products to help bring the lifters back to life and then make sure to use good oil with regular changes.


Rob

[GT4rally]

Thanks for the info guys... I'll put some synthetic in it, and not worry about it.

-Dave