BMW engine with slight rattle at idle

Howard · 16 Nov 2010 at 08:27

Doesn't sound like a broken cat or heat shield to me.. More like an exhaust mounting or similar... Hard to really decide though without hearing it in person and determining where exactly it's coming from

merlin · 16 Nov 2010 at 09:00

Kinda OT but PMK - does your engine have the infamous yet random oil consumption issue?

Conanius · 16 Nov 2010 at 10:14

Clearly the solution here is an italian tune up?

Howard · 16 Nov 2010 at 10:21

Conanius said:
Clearly the solution here is an italian tune up?

It's PMKeates. That's probably the cause

InvaderGIR · 16 Nov 2010 at 10:23

Howard said:
Doesn't sound like a broken cat or heat shield to me.. More like an exhaust mounting or similar... Hard to really decide though without hearing it in person and determining where exactly it's coming from

Indeed, sounds like the front exhaust bracket to me. BMW only part that is...well, is on the e36.

PMKeates · 16 Nov 2010 at 10:31

MrLOL - Quite. My dad is doing this today - he has a set of ramps, and some mechanics to hand

hurfdurf - Indeed! I'm hoping to get some more overly camp gear.

merlin - A bit. My old 330i drank Castrol Edge, whereas the 530i definitely uses less. Probably 1l every 2.5k?

Gareth - This has been done. Prolific use of post 5000 RPM occured - it didn't fix it.

Either way, I should hopefully know soon enough what's up with it. If my dad and co. cannot find it, I'll have it taken to the local BMW specialist if they'll look at it today, if not, BMW. Alternatively, I'll book it in to the specialist for this week, and hire/borrow a car.

antijoke · 16 Nov 2010 at 10:35

Waterpump?

That was causing a similar sort of noise on mine.

Conanius · 16 Nov 2010 at 10:37

From what you've said its going to be a mount of some sort/heatsheild.

Take it to a local indie 'bob and frank' exhausts place and ask them to have a look. When I've done that in the past they have fixed it in minutes and not charged a penny. Worth a punt even if they just identify the noise ....

PMKeates · 16 Nov 2010 at 10:42

Conanius said:
Take it to a local indie 'bob and frank' exhausts place and ask them to have a look. When I've done that in the past they have fixed it in minutes and not charged a penny. Worth a punt even if they just identify the noise ....

If my dad can't find it or get it found, it's likely to be something specialist!

Conanius · 16 Nov 2010 at 11:15

Ah apologies, retard here didn't fully read your post ref your dad etc taking a peek.

Clearly you should just be seeing this as a potential 530 death and vmaxing everywhere (but I guess, whats new?)

hurfdurf · 16 Nov 2010 at 11:50

Let us know what you got at the shops.

PMKeates · 16 Nov 2010 at 12:50

I'm going to the shops tomorrow night, but yes, I will do.

I've just heard from my dad and they can't immediately tell what it is. Somebody else with more time/tools is having a look now. There is a suspicion that it could be the torque converter, for some reason.

Lashout_UK · 16 Nov 2010 at 13:04

They can rattle like that but you'd be unlucky if that was the case. Fingers crossed that they've just mis-diagnosed it.

PMKeates · 16 Nov 2010 at 13:06

If it's the torque converter I can sense a sudden unexpected brake test occurring with a crap car behind me.

Janesy B · 16 Nov 2010 at 13:08

PMKeates said:
If it's the torque converter I can sense a sudden unexpected brake test occurring with a crap car behind me.

Make sure it's full of kids too.

PMKeates · 16 Nov 2010 at 13:10

I'll make sure it's an old tank so I can easily claim whippy compo, too.

Hilly · 16 Nov 2010 at 13:19

The_Abyss said:
Never mind messing around with the wife - have a look at the car.

Haha, sorry nothing to add but the genius of this post. Office is now looking at me rather weirdly (even more so).

PMKeates · 16 Nov 2010 at 13:31

hilly said:
Haha, sorry nothing to add but the genius of this post. Office is now looking at me rather weirdly (even more so).

I didn't think it was very funny.

Conanius · 16 Nov 2010 at 13:41

PMKeates said:
If it's the torque converter I can sense a sudden unexpected brake test occurring with a crap car behind me.

Whip round for an old brown volvo estate?

PMKeates · 16 Nov 2010 at 15:06

Just had an update. The noise is certainly coming from the torque converter area, possibly the connection plates. Without taking things apart it's difficult to tell.

What would you guys recommend - automatic transmission specialist or BMW specialist?