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wiggis · May 5th, 2008, 08:42 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by Richard Korby (original)

Here is the latest from my SA . It’s normal for these cars , it’s the oil bleeding down from the lifters and takes a while to lubricate , it’s doing no damage and other BMW ’s do it also . Chain tentioner has nothing to do with it .

The year 1999 and 2000 E39 BMW M5's had a similar problem - oil would drain out of the VANOS units when the engine was stopped, and it caused a hell of a rattle (similar sounding to the MCS clips I've heard) for a few seconds on startup. No rhyme or reason as to when it would do it and when it would not as far as I could tell. My own 2000 M5 did it for nearly 4 years before I sold it - it seemed to be worse if the engine had got nice and hot, and was then left and re-started before the engine got totally cold (i.e. while the oil was still reasonably warm) - but as I say, no real repeatable pattern which you could use to always provoke the noise. While it sounded awful for a few seconds, it never seemed to cause any problems, or get any worse. Various people over at M5Board.com experimented with different oils, and some reported success, only to come back later with the noise back.

In 2001, BMW introduced a special VANOS Oil Pressure Accumulator which would store some oil under high pressure while the engine was running, keep it in reserve when you stopped the engine, and 'zap' it into the VANOS gear just as you were starting the engine next time round. It cured the problem, and BMW made it available as a 'quiet' warranty repair for owners of older models who complained about the noise. If I remember rightly, it was about £1,100 worth fitted if you wanted it done outside of warranty (parts alone were about £600, and it was possible, though not easy, to do it DIY and then hop along to BMW to reprogram the DME to control the valve on the accumulator at the right times).

It took BMW just under 2 years to develop a definite fix for the problem with the M5, and there was a hell of a lot of speculation and experimentation by owners during that time.

Just thought I'd mention it

May 5th, 2008, 08:42 AM	#983
wiggis VW GT Sport 170 TDI My Classifieds Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Oxford Local Time: 11:37 PM Posts: 345 Offline	Quote: Originally Posted by Richard Korby (original) Here is the latest from my SA . It’s normal for these cars , it’s the oil bleeding down from the lifters and takes a while to lubricate , it’s doing no damage and other BMW ’s do it also . Chain tentioner has nothing to do with it . The year 1999 and 2000 E39 BMW M5's had a similar problem - oil would drain out of the VANOS units when the engine was stopped, and it caused a hell of a rattle (similar sounding to the MCS clips I've heard) for a few seconds on startup. No rhyme or reason as to when it would do it and when it would not as far as I could tell. My own 2000 M5 did it for nearly 4 years before I sold it - it seemed to be worse if the engine had got nice and hot, and was then left and re-started before the engine got totally cold (i.e. while the oil was still reasonably warm) - but as I say, no real repeatable pattern which you could use to always provoke the noise. While it sounded awful for a few seconds, it never seemed to cause any problems, or get any worse. Various people over at M5Board.com experimented with different oils, and some reported success, only to come back later with the noise back. In 2001, BMW introduced a special VANOS Oil Pressure Accumulator which would store some oil under high pressure while the engine was running, keep it in reserve when you stopped the engine, and 'zap' it into the VANOS gear just as you were starting the engine next time round. It cured the problem, and BMW made it available as a 'quiet' warranty repair for owners of older models who complained about the noise. If I remember rightly, it was about £1,100 worth fitted if you wanted it done outside of warranty (parts alone were about £600, and it was possible, though not easy, to do it DIY and then hop along to BMW to reprogram the DME to control the valve on the accumulator at the right times). It took BMW just under 2 years to develop a definite fix for the problem with the M5, and there was a hell of a lot of speculation and experimentation by owners during that time. Just thought I'd mention it