Tapping noise (in head?) - sound clip

[BMWPWR]

Hi Hypr5,
I had the same noise in my 525i (M50) not long ago. One of the spark plugs was found loose & sounded like a valve lifter noisy!
Re-tightened the loose plug & noise has gone. Hope this helps!
Regards,
Nello

[Hypr5]

Hi Hypr5,
I had the same noise in my 525i (M50) not long ago. One of the spark plugs was found loose & sounded like a valve lifter noisy!
Re-tightened the loose plug & noise has gone. Hope this helps!
Regards,
Nello

Thanks,

I just went out and checked the plugs, but no luck They were all snug.

The thing I noticed is - the ticking is a lot louder under the car than on top of the car. It sure sounds the noise is coming from the seem of the head and block area.

[bsell]

Hi Hypr5,
I had the same noise in my 525i (M50) not long ago. One of the spark plugs was found loose & sounded like a valve lifter noisy!
Re-tightened the loose plug & noise has gone. Hope this helps!
Regards,
Nello

Give this man a cigar! He hit the nail on the head for my new-found 'lifter tick' after changing the valve cover gasket. I guess I forgot to tighten down one of the spark plugs I forgot I looked at while everything was apart. I found #6 loose so I went through all of the plugs to ensure they were clean and tight while I replaced the spark plug leads.

So now I am 'noise-free' (if you don't count the vanos rattle).

My hat is off to you, Nello.

Brian