what is the best year for E46 ?

[slammin.e28]

Mine ticks when it gets a quart low, usually the week before I change the oil (7-10k intervals). We had cars coming into the dealer all the time with a tick back in 2008 when I was there. We had some flush we'd do and if that didn't fix it, IIRC, the fix was a new head.

I think mostly ticking is caused by the 15k oil changes and the oil passages/lifters getting gummed up as a result.

[MonkeyMan]

Mine ticks when it gets a quart low, usually the week before I change the oil (7-10k intervals). We had cars coming into the dealer all the time with a tick back in 2008 when I was there. We had some flush we'd do and if that didn't fix it, IIRC, the fix was a new head.

I think mostly ticking is caused by the 15k oil changes and the oil passages/lifters getting gummed up as a result.

it's only one lifter, and the oil level is definitely good - was the first thing I checked.. also, we've been changing the oil every 5k-7k miles, which to me is pushing it.. I'm not sure I'll ever buy into that 15k mile oil change interval..
I did some research on the E46 forums and I've seen a couple guys mention adding Lucas to the oil, but that stuff is no joke.. for one thing, it calls for one bottle per 4 quarts of oil or something, which is a ton of that shit.. so since the oil level was good, I only added half a bottle just to see what happens and there was no change..

slammin, is this flush you're referring to still the go-to method for dealers? I'm curious as to what they use and how the hell they justify changing the entire head if that doesn't fix it (instead of say, changing the bad lifter).

[slammin.e28]

it's only one lifter, and the oil level is definitely good - was the first thing I checked.. also, we've been changing the oil every 5k-7k miles, which to me is pushing it.. I'm not sure I'll ever buy into that 15k mile oil change interval..
I did some research on the E46 forums and I've seen a couple guys mention adding Lucas to the oil, but that stuff is no joke.. for one thing, it calls for one bottle per 4 quarts of oil or something, which is a ton of that shit.. so since the oil level was good, I only added half a bottle just to see what happens and there was no change..

slammin, is this flush you're referring to still the go-to method for dealers? I'm curious as to what they use and how the hell they justify changing the entire head if that doesn't fix it (instead of say, changing the bad lifter).

Scapegoating, pretty much. Add some shit, if it stops the ticking hey, no more money to spend on it.

Replacing the whole head is probably cheaper from a labor/cost standpoint than digging in and replacing lifters. Money money money.

IDK if they still do it. IIRC there was a TSB for it but I've been out of the dealer for 3+ years. Hopefully going back next year though.

This is all tongue in cheek. I'm not 100% but figure it gives a jumping off point to look into it.

Mine hasn't ticked in a long time since I switched to Mobil 1 0w40 synthetic.

[delatlanta1281]

Best year for the e46? 2006