are M30s really this loud?

[sefb222]

ive been putting a few miles on my recently swapped M30 vert, and i just cant get used to the extremely loud ticking thats coming from the engine compartment.

one guy (who's pretty well educated when it comes to these engines) told me it sounds like the injectors are just working correctly. but, i cant imagine BMW being able to ever sell a car with an engine this loud.

assuming it's not injectors, are valves being out of adjustment the likely culprit?

exhaust leak?

i dunno.. it's bumming me out.

[kronus]

What headers are you using? Is it a ticking or a pinging?

[mooseheadm5]

Adjust valves. Did you look to see if the cam is still intact with no flat spots before you installed it? These motors like to wear out the rear lobes, especially if the banjo bolts that feed oil to the sprayer bar are loose. Flat cam lobes make quite a racket.

[Brew]

Definitely adjust the valves, I believe the spec is 12 thousandths cold. Its not a bad idea to check the clearance every 10k miles or so.

[sefb222]

thanks. i'll get right on it and report back.

[BDK]

12 thousandths cold like said above, any tighter and you will get a rocking like a broken motor mount...
park the car where you are going to adjust them at, go to bed and wake up and then do it...gets best results...
even starting the car will throw it off abit..
and they are abit noisy though...and the injectors are the cuplrit...wonder if new injectors would help that? ANyone Know???

Banjo bolts definatley and a E28 M30 trick is to crimp the oil bar in the middle to keep oil going to the front 3 set of rockers, under high accelleration the oil will pull to the back and the fronts won't get the oiling that they need....

[euroshark]

I've got hellaciously loud injectors in my 535is... They sound like horribly out of spec valves. Maybe get them ultrasonically cleaned are reconditioned or whatever the cool kids are doing these days. You can listen to your valves through the cover by sticking the tip of a nice long screwdriver on the cover right over each rocker arm and putting the handle up against / in your ear. It sounds hokey but it works incredibly well. This also works with injectors.

[E30SPDFRK]

My valves are perfectly in spec and in great shape and they're still loud. I've just gotten used to it.

[Good & Tight]

I run mine .008 adjusted when warm.

[mooseheadm5]

You have an M10, they are supposed to be 0.008. An M30 takes 0.012 dead cold. That is how I have been adjusting them for over 15 years.

[kronus]

You have an M10, they are supposed to be 0.008. An M30 takes 0.012 dead cold. That is how I have been adjusting them for over 15 years.

He has a turboed M30 now, and AFAIK building a second one.

[mooseheadm5]

Ahh.
The other thing is- adjusting them dead cold is better for a couple reasons:
It doesn't matter how long it takes (great for a novice)
It is more accurate since they are all at the same temp within a couple of degrees, which is better, especially if you don't check your clearances as often as a real gearhead would.
It is much nicer to work on a cold engine