E34 M50 Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick... Help!

[6670charger]

Does anyone know if there is a good place to buy Seafoam in Europe (Germany)? I can certainly mail-order it from somewhere, but, if I can just buy it off the shelf somewhere, that would be even more convenient.

Thanks.

[6670charger]

Well, I found the liquid Moly Hydro-stossel additive at a local German car parts store. Added a bottle and it only seems to help a little when the engine is cooler. When it's good and warm from a good long run, she chatters like . Also changed oil to a 10W-30 partial synthetic. Car seems to run great, develops plenty of power, and gets decent fuel economy. Routinely get 25mpg+ on the Autobahn, just chatters like when warm and sounds like hell. Seafoam isn't available here, and to ship it here by boat would take half a century. Think I'll try the timing chain adjuster in the next few weeks and see if that makes a difference. If not, it's probably just bad lifters.

[Bill R.]

Check here

[6670charger]

Thanks Bill. I bookmarked the page as I won't be able to get to it for another week or two. Nice to have the info.

[6670charger]

I know this is a bit out of order in the scheme of replies at the top. I've been doing just as suggested by driving the car like I stole it after having changed to 10W-30 part synthetic oil and adding Liqui-Moly lifter cleaner. When I drive the car on the Autobahn for about 7-8 miles at 110mph or so, the engine seems to quiet down at all speeds for about 3 days, but then the lifter clatter starts up again during city driving. Only happens when the engine is warmed up to normal temp. When it's cold, it sounds normal.

I'm taking Bill's suggestion and changing out the gasket for the oil pickup tube in the oil pan tonight to see if the problem might be air getting into the oil causing foaming at warmer temps. I'll post and let everyone know if that solves the problem. If that doesn't solve the problem, I'm open to suggestions.

[Russell]

I know this is a bit out of order in the scheme of replies at the top. I've been doing just as suggested by driving the car like I stole it after having changed to 10W-30 part synthetic oil and adding Liqui-Moly lifter cleaner. When I drive the car on the Autobahn for about 7-8 miles at 110mph or so, the engine seems to quiet down at all speeds for about 3 days, but then the lifter clatter starts up again during city driving. Only happens when the engine is warmed up to normal temp. When it's cold, it sounds normal.

I'm taking Bill's suggestion and changing out the gasket for the oil pickup tube in the oil pan tonight to see if the problem might be air getting into the oil causing foaming at warmer temps. I'll post and let everyone know if that solves the problem. If that doesn't solve the problem, I'm open to suggestions.

I have the warm idle lifter noise, only after the oil has about 3,500 miles on it. Looking forward to your results. I would think that changing the oil pan gasket is a bit of a pain on the M50.

[6670charger]

Yes, it was. I spent about 8 hours working on the thing the other day. The gasket behind the oil pickup was the culprit. Lifters are nice and quiet now.

Had to lift the engine a couple of inches to create some clearance to get the pan out, and then remove the driver-side motor mount to replace two of the pan bolts.

[Russell]

Thanks, Looks like it will only be done by my Indy in my case. I hate the thought of his labor cost.

[6670charger]

The only thing that saved my butt was that I'm on a military installation, and we have what's called an Auto Craft shop. It's a fully stocked garage with workbays, lifts, tools and a few coaches who help out or give you pointers on what needs to be done. You do the lion's share of the work yourself. Costs me $7/hr for a lift bay, so I spent $50. Total was about $75 with the parts.

If it hadn't been for that, I'll bet it would have cost me a good 150-200 euro (around $200-300) to get it done provided any local mechanic would even look at a car this old. Might have had to take it to BMW, or else just junk it.