E30 Zone

First post here so HI to everyone ,

Got a problem with me aul 318is . Every time she starts up there's a horrible raspy sound from the engine . Sounds almost like it's coming from just behind the right hand side of dash . Once the oil gets pumped around this goes away (after 10 secs or so) . About 10 miles later the dreaded rasp returns only to get worse and worse as the journey continues . Noise is much worse at high revs / low gears and turns into a tappett like sound as it worsens . Acceleration doesn't seem to be affected at all , car feels normal just sounds like a tractor . Tensioner was replaced 1000 miles ago and the noise is similar to before this was done .

Have her booked in for a service in two weeks , anybody got any advice words of wisdom to tide me over till then ?

this will be your chain tensioner buddy

common problem on these!! not an expensive job, probably about Ԛ£30 from the dealers and it only takes 10 mins

welcome to the zone by the way!!

Cheers ,

Thought as much but just had that done so though it could be something else , left that mechanic as I reckon he was takin the mickey , she OK to drive or should I park her up ? New to the E30 so I'm fairly clueless to be honest .

Am I right in thinking ya can upgrade to the E36 tensioner ?

they only make the E36 tensioner now. remember to get a new washer for the plug.

she's ok to drive, i drove mine like that for a while until i got it done

did you say that someone has just done it for you?

dont forget to fill out the rest of your profile details... location, and so on!!

Had her done bout a thousand miles ago . Sounded MUCH worse the last time even made the acceleration very "lumpy" once I got over 2500 revs . Still tryin to get a receipt for the work done that's why I'm changing mechanic . Found an ex BMW fella who's takin a look at her in a couple of weeks , car's been neglected by previous owner and I'm slowly fixin her up .

So far I've changed all hoses and fluids , new brakes all round , new fuel pump and fuel lines , idle control valve ,clutch slave and master cylinder and new plugs. Also gave the car a full weekends worth of polishing waxing etc etc .

Did these jobs meself and dropped her round to my local mechanic when the engine got NOISY as hell bout a 1000 miles ago , he replaced tensioner then but I haven't got a receipt of him yet so can't be sure what he did .

Gonna stick a couple of pics up ( before and after ) once I get the camera into work ( no net at home ) I'll post more details then .

Cheers for all the help .

where you from mate?

Town called Arklow in Ireland , bout 60 miles south of Dublin along the coast .

E30's are gettin popular as hell over here last year or two but it's hard enough to find someone who knows their way round 'em unless you're in or around Dublin . I've registered with the BMW carclub over here so hopefully I'll make a few contacts through them . My new found mechanic used to be the head honcho in Dublin's main BMW dealership , he's retired now but does some work from his house so I reckon I'm in good hands with himself ( fingers crossed) .

Cheers .

Robert Furley is a BMW specialist in the Meath area who comes highly recommended. You should be able to get his contact details on the BMW Car Club Ireland webpages.

Best of luck with your iS. Hopefully we'll see you at the Club meet in January.

I assume that you're not THE Pat Kenny?

i went to Dublin earlier this year with the missus. when i was driving through Finglas, i saw a huge BMW dealership, although i cant remember what it was called!!

I aint even PatKenny let alone the real one .

Car's in on Tuesday next so keep all yer fingers crossed for me .

Finglas place is Joe Duffy's I think . Irelands biggest .

I'll keep my eye out for the January meet , there's a newborn in me house though so days out are few and far between at the mo .