320i M20 Engine

[RichieValens]

Hi to all E30 owners. I am still quite new to the world of BMW. I owned a 316i for 6 months but recently replaced this with a a 320i, and very nice it is. Does any one know, and I appologise if this has been asked before but after my 320i warms up to normal temp I can hear a slight rattling rasping noise noise from the engine, sounding like well chattering and this gets louder the faster I go. A friend suggested the tappets need replacing and another that the injectors need cleaning but knowing very little about the engine I havent got a clue. The only thing is I heard the same sound from the 316i engine. Any suggestions would be really helpful. Rich

The sound is definately metal rasping. Not really loud certainly coming from the top of the engine. Very quick not tick tock but more like the sound of the engine. I was sat in Traffic for 2 and a half hours on the Motorway and although the engine didnt overheat she sure did get hot. It is since then this sound has really appeared.

[Davenotouring]

Hi there.

Could be a number of things, the injectors make a plastic ticking kind of noise...the tappets make a similar noise but more metallic.

A rasping noise, I would suggest that possibly a baffle is loose in one of your silencers.

Another possibility is a broken stud in the cylinder head, this makes a ticking noise which can be confused with tappets.

Try to indentify where the noise is coming from and decribe the noise in as much detail as possible!