Help 318i noise on startup

[Vin]

After a long trip of about 200km. My car has started to make a noise on startup. Kindoff like a grinding noise which goes away after a few kms. Sounds a lot like a bad bearing noise. Any ideas what the problem could be? Pulleys or Waterpump perhaps? Would the noise go away after a short while if it was the waterpump. No water leaks or coolant level drop. Car is 2004 318i auto with 112000km. Any advise would be much appreciated.

 

[Mr Occo]

Interesting to find out what it is...

 

[Ephraimramodike]

I have the same problem on mine, especially in the mornings when it's cold. I usually idle my car for about 3 minutes... and the noise eventually goes away. The sounds comes from underneath the car, not as much in the bonnet... :blab:

 

[The K-Man]

Strange that it goes away and you're not mentioning any problems like overheating, oil leaks, etc.

 

[Raybimmer]

Ok a few stupid questions :
Does it happen at every start ( even after standing for say a few minutes or a few hours ) ?
Can you get someone to start the car while you listen with the bonnet open ?
Have you checked the tension of the various belts , air con , powersteering , alternator etc ?
Does the noise come from the engine area ?
Have you checked the oil level if the noise is engine related ?
If you are in JHB and spanner challenged and need help I am sure you can send Gizmo on the forum a pm :thumbs:, he will sort you out without you needing a bottle of vaseline :roflol:
Good luck .

 

[Ephraimramodike]

Ok a few stupid questions :
Does it happen at every start ( even after standing for say a few minutes or a few hours ) ?
Can you get someone to start the car while you listen with the bonnet open ?
Have you checked the tension of the various belts , air con , powersteering , alternator etc ?
Does the noise come from the engine area ?
Have you checked the oil level if the noise is engine related ?
If you are in JHB and spanner challenged and need help I am sure you can send Gizmo on the forum a pm :thumbs:, he will sort you out without you needing a bottle of vaseline :roflol:
Good luck .

:biglol:

 

[Mr Occo]

Ok a few stupid questions :
Does it happen at every start ( even after standing for say a few minutes or a few hours ) ?
Can you get someone to start the car while you listen with the bonnet open ?
Have you checked the tension of the various belts , air con , powersteering , alternator etc ?
Does the noise come from the engine area ?
Have you checked the oil level if the noise is engine related ?
If you are in JHB and spanner challenged and need help I am sure you can send Gizmo on the forum a pm :thumbs:, he will sort you out without you needing a bottle of vaseline :roflol:
Good luck .

:biglol:

:biglol::biglol::roflol::roflol::roflol:

 

[The K-Man]

I have the same problem on mine, especially in the mornings when it's cold. I usually idle my car for about 3 minutes... and the noise eventually goes away. The sounds comes from underneath the car, not as much in the bonnet... :blab:

In the box then???

---

I have the same problem on mine, especially in the mornings when it's cold. I usually idle my car for about 3 minutes... and the noise eventually goes away. The sounds comes from underneath the car, not as much in the bonnet... :blab:

In the box then???

Then the sound should rev up with your engine.

 

[SPIDER]

wELL IF IT HAPPENS IN THE MORNING THAN ITS YOUR LIFTERS CAUSE THE OIL IS ALL IN THE BOTTOM AND WHEN THE MOTOR RUNS THE OIL WILL THEN CIRCULATE. i HAD THE SAME PROBLEM AND AFTER I SERVICED MY CAR IT WENT AWAY AND IT HAD 423 000 ON THE CLOCK. mAKE SURE YOUR BELTS AND PULLEYS ARE ALL FINE

 

[Raybimmer]

" The noise goes away after a few Kilos " wow I think lifters would be stuffed to do this !!

 

[Nic_s]

My E30 318i's power steering pump would make grinding noises once the fluid starts to get low. Don't know if the same goes for the newer cars, but I would say check all your fluid levels (Power steering, oil, water, ect). At least you'll have the basics covered. :thumb:

 

[Vin]

Ok a few stupid questions :
Does it happen at every start ( even after standing for say a few minutes or a few hours ) ?
Can you get someone to start the car while you listen with the bonnet open ?
Have you checked the tension of the various belts , air con , powersteering , alternator etc ?
Does the noise come from the engine area ?
Have you checked the oil level if the noise is engine related ?
If you are in JHB and spanner challenged and need help I am sure you can send Gizmo on the forum a pm :thumbs:, he will sort you out without you needing a bottle of vaseline :roflol:
Good luck .

Thanks for input guys. It happens when the engine is cold only. If I start it when it is hot the noise is not there. If the car is very cold or has stood for a few hours then its there. The belts all look fine. Oil level is fine. Water level is fine. Took it to a mech in midrand yesterday afternoon but since the car was warm and murphy's law was silent. One thing I have not check is power steering level. The noise is definately in the engine bay. If I had to guess it sounds like a bearing on its way out. It appears to be coming from the alternator but the idler puller and adjuster pulley are in the same area. Visually I have to admit the adjuster pulley looks like its running a bit rough? Btw im new here. Who is gizmo? It would be good to get this sorted without needing any vaseline ha ha. Most of all im just scared that one of the bearings seized up and leaves me with a huge bill to sort out.

 

[Mike1]

Spider is most probably right here! What oil is in there and when was she last serviced?

*Damn these oil threads today.

 

[Vin]

Spider is most probably right here! What oil is in there and when was she last serviced?

*Damn these oil threads today.

Thanks. Its definately not the lifters. The reason I say that is the lifters got quite noisy before the last oil service due to prev garage using some crap quality oil(aka Agip). The oil service was done abt one month ago and the lifters got much quieter. When it is really really cold I hear the lifters slightly for about 30 seconds. This noise I speak about is distinctly different and started only two days ago. In fact I still hear the lifters when its really cold together with this new noise. Its more like a grinding bearing sort of noise than a tappety lifter noise

 

[Nic_s]

This might be long shot, but does it sound anything like this:
[video=youtube]

 

[Raybimmer]

Send Gizmo a pm , he will help you .
A long screwdriver with the handle to your ear and the point on a likely culprit will help to pin point the noise maker .
Water pump bearing , alternator bearing , belt tensioners , power steering pump may be a culprit ( Aircon not used so not on list )
Good luck .

 

[Vin]

Raybimmer thanks a lot. I have pm'ed Gizmo. Any idea where his workshop is? I would rather just get someone who knows what their doing to sort out my car instead of doing this myself even if its a small thing. I dont want to risk stuffing anything up as this is my only means of transport and since its a BM i want it to drive like a BM and sound like one.

 

[tai88]

My car(e46 318F/L) also sounds odd when it idles, kind of like a diesel.
:sorry:

 

[Iceman007]

:rollsmile::rollsmile:

I have had this issue and I found the problem eventually. Its the machanical belt tensioner that is the culpret

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=AY72&mospid=47632&btnr=11_3183&hg=11&fg=18

Item No 1. I proved them wrong and they did not like it a bit me telling them that i am right and that they could not find it after 2 atempts(they replacedthe alternator pulley and who knows why. Then they regased the aircon.)I did the timing chain tensioner and it was still there. Then they listend and did as I told them. Its a year later and the noise is still gone:bravo:

 

[Vin]

Just update this the cause of my noise was a combination of bad tensioner and idler pulleys as well as a bad tensioner.