M3 E46 Rattle

[ianm3]

Morning all, i collected my m3 on Wednesday this week and absolutely love it. There are a few bits and pieces I want to get sorted but on an 11 year old car it's in great shape.

The only thing that's worrying me is a rattle I can here at just over 2000 rpm under load coming from the engine area. It sounds like a chattering/ flapping noise. I've tried to get it to do whilst parked up but i couldn't here it. I'm worried about what it could be.

I've got three months warranty and I need to get it sorted ASAP.

I know it's hard to say exactly what it could be but Any advise would be appreciated.

Thanks Ian

[Guest Mister Dabsy]

Probably the exhaust mounts, or too close to other parts or body...

[Dizgav]

Try the plastic surround by the fan that tends to rattle a little , its in two pieces the left one was a little loose on mine when I first got her

I just used a plastic bonding glue job done,.,

Or if it's engine rattle/tapping under any sort of throttle get the tappets looked at ! Inspection 2 service should cover this tho

Hope this helps,,

[Estoril X5 D Sport]

Morning mate I had the same thing 3 weeks ago, I have a post in the M power lounge, the long and short of my problem was the car sounded like it was pinking around 2300rpm and it through up the management light, did a diagnostic and it showed up a constant misfire on cylinder 6, swapped around coil packs and no change, checked the plug on said cylinder and it was new, did a compression test on all 6 cylinders and cylinder 6 had none, got the head off and the head gasket was gone between 5 and 6, the job took 14 hours, the gasket set and bolts were £168 inc VAT from BMW but the problem was the tooling for the timing a good specialist may have it, if not then you can buy it at around £600 plus VAT, hope am wrong and your problem is a simple one but after a lot of research its a common problem, they are getting old.

Regards

Stephen

[Guest jeffthro]

Ian, mate, if you've got three months warranty, DO NOT DO ANYTHING YOURSELF, you will void your warranty if the suppliers realise you've been playing!

Just take it back, tell them what the problem is, and tell them to please sort it.

[ianm3]

Thanks for all the advise. The more I look on these sites the more confused I get. The guy who I bought it off is a 100 miles from where I live so would like to find what the problem is before taking it back down. Think I might take it to BMW for a check over and see what they come up with. Fingers crossed.

[Guest jeffthro]

OK, alternative, phone him, talk to him, ask if OK with him if you get the problem checked out locally with an estimated cost before anything is done. As long as you don't get a BMW main dealer quote (£100 p.h. plus labour), he should be amenable to easy solution.

[Estoril X5 D Sport]

Ian I have been buying and selling cars for 28 years and BMWs solely for the last 10, my advice is read your warranty document and inform the dealer you bought it from immediately as driving it is wrong and you may make the problem worse and give both the dealer and the warranty company an opt out, most warranties pay around £40 plus VAT an hour and BMW will take 2 hours diagnosis time off you at around £120 an hour plus VAT so your already out of pocket, who is your warranty company?

Regards

Stephen

[Guest jeffthro]

Follow Stephens advice, Ian. He is spot on, the voice of experience.

[mickl3008]

As above, don't get anyone to look at it until you authorisation from the warranty company or they will invalidate it. They would do anything to get out of paying.

[Guest jeffthro]

So, what's the latest news, Ian?

[ianm3]

Ok so here's the latest. I work at a ford dealer, so I've put it on a ramp and run the car up to try and here the noise but it sounded perfect. I've spoken to the guy I bought it off and he has mentioned the vanos unit as the car was stood for 3 months and they don't like being sat for long periods of time. He has suggested that a good run might be idea and it might make it quieten down but I'm not convinced. I'm planning a day out on bank holiday so I'll see if he's right. If not it looks like I'll be taking it back to him for him to try and sort out. The only down side is that he's 100 miles away from where I live so it might be a long walk home. Does anyone know it is the vanos unit can these be repaired or is it a case of take it off and fit a new one??

[ianm3]

Hi it looks like you were spot on estoril x5 d sport, it's the head gasket that's gone. It going back to the garage where I bought it from on Saturday and he is taking it to a specialist on Monday somewhere near Birmingham. The garage gave me 3 months warranty so he is footing the bill which I am over the moon about. I'll be glad once this horrible noise has gone away and then I can start to enjoy my car.

[Guest jeffthro]

Result then, Ian, well done! But its taken a while?

[ianm3]

Yeah it's been a while as I've been trying to make sure what the problem is as it's quite a journey to the garage where I bought the car from. The owner of the garage has been looking into where he can get the repair done with taking it to a main dealer. I Think once it's all sorted and I'm 100% happy with how it's running I might be tempted with a track day.

[Estoril X5 D Sport]

Glad your getting it sorted out Ian

Regards

Stephen

[mickl3008]

Glad its sorted

[Estoril X5 D Sport]

Hi Ian did you get your M3 sorted?

Stephen

[ianm3]

Hi Stephen, I got my car back yesterday. The head gasket had gone in 3 places when they took it apart. The head needed skimming as it was burnt slightly. The garage who have done it seam to have done a very good job with it. I drove it back yesterday about a 100 miles a it drove like a different car, a lot smoother and there is defiantly more power. The best part about it is that it's not cost me a penny as the guy I bought it off gave me 3months warranty.

It's time to start enjoying it now. Here are a couple of pics of the gasket and looking at it I'm not surprised it goes it so thin.

[Estoril X5 D Sport]

Hi Ian glad its all sorted for you, they probably gave the head a light skim of around 4tho or so as they don't warp and the black marks are down to blow through from cylinder to cylinder but quite normal, the new gasket is a moded item and far more substantial, enjoy your car mate

Stephen

[mickl3008]

Hi Ian glad its all sorted for you, they probably gave the head a light skim of around 4tho or so as they don't warp and the black marks are down to blow through from cylinder to cylinder but quite normal, the new gasket is a moded item and far more substantial, enjoy your car mate

Stephen

Of course the head can warp