750il clicking sound in the engine

[micjordan]

Hello, My friend just bought a 1988 750il. It has 205k miles but seems to run well other than a clicking sound in the engine. Does anyone have an idea what this might be?

-Adam

[shogun]

only when engine is started, only when engine is cold, always, changing with RPM or not, only when car is moving,
which side of the engine (front/rear/cyl. bank I or II).
Could be the hydro valves. Usually when very cold they could make a short time noise when engine is started.
Or the chain tensioner.
Or does it change with speed and not RPM?

[micjordan]

the clicking is steady reguardness of whether the engine is warm or cold. we didnt think of checking whether it changes at different rpms, this was at idle. i'll check that tomorrow and try to get a better idea of the position in the engine its coming from but with a quick listen it really sounded like the center of the engine block, not the front or really far back and between the banks. however i didnt listen from both sides so i'll verify that tomorrow. it seemed to idle smoothly though so it wasnt effecting that.

only when engine is started, only when engine is cold, always, changing with RPM or not, only when car is moving,
which side of the engine (front/rear/cyl. bank I or II).
Could be the hydro valves. Usually when very cold they could make a short time noise when engine is started.
Or the chain tensioner.
Or does it change with speed and not RPM?

[micjordan]

we checked today and the clicking continues even when the engine is warmed up. it also increases steadily as the rpm's go up.