Pre-purchase questions on E34

[SNAFU]

I'm close to purchasing an E34 and am having a PPI done tomorrow morning. I noticed some lifter noise when I cranked it for the first time which lasted for a minute or so, and then none thereafter. The owner said it had been sitting for several days, I'll have to see if it does it when I crank it tomorrow. It's a 2.5L 92 525i which from my research means it has the M50 engine so I shouldn't be concerned about timming belts, right? Looking under the hood I could find no identifying marks on the engine. I did notice a Dinan sticker on the right strut tower. Don't know if that means it has Dinan springs, it felt a bit soft to me. It has 190K on the clock and is very smooth and quiet.

Anything in particular I should be concerned about? Is the cold valve noise something to jump right in and fix or is it normal? Can these valves be adjusted?

Thanks for any advice. Obviously I'm a BMW noob but a car nut nonetheless and look forward to posting here in the future.

Alan

[AllanS]

AFAIK, the m50 has hydraulic lifters, so you shouldn't be hearing any ticking valve noise (unless you've got a bent valve? I'd think you'd know if it were that though). The ticking could be a lot of things.

[SNAFU]

Thanks for the reply. It only ticked for a minute after a cold start, it'll be interesting to note if it does it again tomorrow. As an interesting aside, the mechanic who is to do the PPI says the biggest issue he sees with BMWs is that people actually follow the oil change intervals as announced by the onboard computer display, which can stretch to 12-13K miles. He sees huge amounts of gunk build up on high mileage engines.

[ryan roopnarine]

ticking at startup seems to be the norm for the m50, mine does it until the car is run above 2500 rpm for a couple of minutes. my fuel economy is average/above average, and it is mostly an annoyance to me. also, the oil bar issue only applies to the m30, not 50.

[Rick L]

That ticking is not normal. My car (1995 525i with M50) started to tick this year. It will only tick on cold morning starts and last about minute or two. I changed my oil to Mobil 1 0W-40 and now that ticking is GONE. Try changing oil like I did. I noticed right away the improvement with the ticking noise next morning. At first, changing to Mobil 1 didn’t completely resolve the ticking but definitely improved than before. After 4k miles later with Mobil 1 0W-40, my ticking is COMPLETELY GONE! I think in my opinion, I started to have sticky lifters from the crud build up and Mobil 1 0W-40 somehow cleared that up. I can’t say that you have the same problem as I but changing oil is inexpensive and worth a shot. However, if this isn’t your car and going to purchase it from someone else, ask him to change the oil first to see if that makes any difference.

[winfred]

it may not be normal but it is very common, it's not just crud in the lifters we had a guy that wanted to change all 24 lifters on his 92 525 in a attempt to kill the tick, 24 expensive dealer bought lifters later and it was ticking the same or worse

I think in my opinion, I started to have sticky lifters from the crud build up and Mobil 1 0W-40 somehow cleared that up. I can’t say that you have the same problem as I but changing oil is inexpensive and worth a shot. However, if this isn’t your car and going to purchase it from someone else, ask him to change the oil first to see if that makes any difference.