Noisy Lifters in E36 M3

[unclehumble]

I have seen this question all over the place, but no clear cut answers.

Essentially I have an E36 M3 with about 92K miles on it...pulls like a bat outta hell still (no mods at all)...but those damn lifters will start to tick like crazy.

So two questions...anyone have a recommendation wether changing the lifters is a good idea or not?

Second, I have heard it is caused by oil starvation (particularily for the lifters). Does it make any sense to put a double capacity oil pump in there to fix this?

Any ideas how to get rid of this?

Thanks.

[wolfgang20878]

If it/they continue ticking longer than several minutes, might be oil starvation caused by accumulated junk in oil journals, along with tolerances that are worn but still in tolerance. Oil pressure check should answer question about pump. There may be some lower-cost solutions than new lifters to try first. What weight oil are you using? Try using an oil treatment like B&G for 203K miles.

[unclehumble]

I am using 15w-40 Mobil 1

However, I read somewhere that lifters problems are just like what you said, due to oil starvation. It also suggested, topping off your oil, since E36 M3s do not have the same problems with bearings going bad with too much oil.

In any case, I topped off the oil, just to the full mark...and I have had no more noise whatsoever.

Thanks for the ideas though.

[Itsa328]

I would do an oil pressure check. How many miles do you have on your engine?

[unclehumble]

I am at about 97K. You think it is time to do some sort of maintainence? Is there an easy way to check the oil pressure?

Thanks.

[Doby]

Wait, when are your lifters ticking? Is it at start up or after some hard driving? If it's at start up, it's the 15w40 you're using.

[Itsa328]

Your ODB should give an oil pressure read out when connected to diagnostic equipment, not those little code scanners.

Is 15w oil recommended for S52 engine? I generally use Mobil 1 10w-30 year round for daily driving.

If you are only hearing the ticking at startup I agree with Doby get something a little thinner.

[Doby]

After pulling apart a couple engines now and seeing what Mobil1 does, I don't think I'll ever use it again. I'm a big fan of 5w40 Redline or Amsoil. I don't like the 0wXX stuff either, but a lot of cars are running that now. Also, if you run a 40weight oil for a long time, you shouldn't drop back to a thinner oil. The bearings, rings, cylinders are all "broken in" to 40weight, so dropping back may cause oil consumption.

[Pinecone]

And I know people who have had problems with RedLine oils.

I have used Mobil 1 in several engiens to crazy miles, so it works for me.

WRT changing oil weights, the engine doesn't "break in" to an oil weight. The weight that the internals parts see varies so much by temperature it couldn't tell if it was 30 or 40 or 50.

Also synthetic oils do thin less with increasing temp, so a 30 weight synthetic may be thicker than a 50 weight conventional oil temp at teh uper ranges of oil temp.

Nothing wrong with a 0W-xx oil. That is the viscosity at low temps. Which only occur during cold weather cold starts, when you WANT thinner oil. At normal operating temp a 0W-40 and a 5W-40 and a 10W-40 are all the same.

The oils that bother me are the 5W-20 used in some econo cars to increase the fuel economy rating. But again, you can't compare peroformance of a synthetic to a conventional based solely on the viscosity, too many other variables. And most ecnon engines are lightly streesed, unlike an M engine run at the track or autox.

[Phat Ham]

Your ODB should give an oil pressure read out when connected to diagnostic equipment, not those little code scanners.

Is 15w oil recommended for S52 engine? I generally use Mobil 1 10w-30 year round for daily driving.

If you are only hearing the ticking at startup I agree with Doby get something a little thinner.

FWIW, Mobil 1 5w-30 is NOT BMW approved. 0w-40 is. BMW's 5w-30 is on the heavy side, so while both Mobil 1 and BMW oils fall within the range for 30 weight oils the Mobil 1 is thinner than what BMW recommends.

I just stick with the BMW stuff. Mobil 1 0w-40 can be a bitch to find and is about the same price as BMW oil from the dealer.

[Doby]

And I know people who have had problems with RedLine oils.

It's never turned any motors I've seen brown...

I have used Mobil 1 in several engiens to crazy miles, so it works for me.

I've used in all of my cars up to getting my BMW. It was great in all of my corvettes, mustangs, and jeeps. But after pulling apart different motors, I will not use it again.

WRT changing oil weights, the engine doesn't "break in" to an oil weight. The weight that the internals parts see varies so much by temperature it couldn't tell if it was 30 or 40 or 50.

I relay a lot of information that has been told to me by the guy that built my motor. He's pretty smart, you should look him up.

Nothing wrong with a 0W-xx oil. That is the viscosity at low temps. Which only occur during cold weather cold starts, when you WANT thinner oil. At normal operating temp a 0W-40 and a 5W-40 and a 10W-40 are all the same.

Do you have an Oil Temp gauge in your LTW? Do you know how long it actually takes to get the car to warm up? Use the 0w all you want, but I'm not driving for 10-15min on 0w oil in my motor.

The oils that bother me are the 5W-20 used in some econo cars to increase the fuel economy rating. But again, you can't compare peroformance of a synthetic to a conventional based solely on the viscosity, too many other variables. And most ecnon engines are lightly streesed, unlike an M engine run at the track or autox.

Got to love penny wise people. Let's get 1mpg more by killing a motor...

[Jenson Button]

Vader has had about 80 track days plus autocrosses and a little bit of "spirited" street driving. He was to the point where corner workers were mentioning the ticking to me after sessions. I always keep fresh 15W 50 Mobil 1 synthetic in it and keep the level topped to 1 mm above the full level.

When my lifters were replaced, I had my trusted mechanic check for any other issues. Everything else was very good he told me. Compression etc was great. He explained that this is just a natural issue with this motor, and if you expect the motor to perform in the upper rev ranges for most of its life like it does at the track, you just need to accept that the lifters ned to be replaces every so often.

[CHawley]

I figured I would resurrect this thread since it sounded like a tap dancing competition in the paddock of the last autocross you guys put together. Everyone was commenting on the sound; you could not ignore it. Seemingly everyone's E36 M3 was ticking after a run.

When I first got my 99 M3 and autocrossed it, I experienced exactly the same thing. I'm not positive what brand, weight, or quantity of oil was used by the previous owner, but I changed it to 8 quarts of Mobil 1 10W-30. I believe most people only use 7 quarts of oil, which I think is the main culprit for the lifter ticking issue. After filling with 8 quarts of oil, the level comes up about a half quart over the top line on my dipstick. My lifter tick has been completely gone for over a year now, even after hard autocross runs.

[Phat Ham]

I figured I would resurrect this thread since it sounded like a tap dancing competition in the paddock of the last autocross you guys put together. Everyone was commenting on the sound; you could not ignore it. Seemingly everyone's E36 M3 was ticking after a run.

When I first got my 99 M3 and autocrossed it, I experienced exactly the same thing. I'm not positive what brand, weight, or quantity of oil was used by the previous owner, but I changed it to 8 quarts of Mobil 1 10W-40. I believe most people only use 7 quarts of oil, which I think is the main culprit for the lifter ticking issue. After filling with 8 quarts of oil, the level comes up about a half quart over the top line on my dipstick. My lifter tick has been completely gone for over a year now, even after hard autocross runs.

My car was ticking pretty bad after the first run so I added half a quart of oil and the ticking was all but gone. I guess everyone got caught up in the discussion about which oil to use that nobody bothered to mention the simple fix of adding half to a full quart of oil.