2006 Z4 - under hood ticking/chatter

[RAYADAM]

Mr Mike Miller is probably hard to argue with..very knowledgeable and respected..
however,on this peticular subject.."5W" is for maximum oil flow at cold temps..yes,this will help fuel economy and most importantly reduce cold start emmissions..by having less parasitic drag,less fuel is need to maintain load demands when cold.."marketing ploy?" hmm,a company with probably the best engines in the world,we're obviously using the right stuff .
on the other end of the viscosity spectrum,30 or 60, the "30-60" rating is how much time oil can flow thru a viscometer(i think that is it) at approx 100 deg celsius(212F).. the 60 would take more time,so less oil is circulated at operating temps.
engines like the S54 for example are built relatively "loose" from the factory..can handle the special weight (60)

bottomline is,I am not going to ever stop anyone from using oil in a car that it was not designed for..I am just happy to make you and anyone else in this situation aware of possible consequences.

[victory1auto]

I am not here to argue with anyone. I have had quite a few conversations with Mike over the years and have occasionally contributed to Tech Talk in Roundel. I certainly respect Mike's opinions.

I do not agree with the statement "it never hurts to have more viscosity". [Admittedly, I am not privy to the context in which the statement was made.] Viscosity [roughly defined] is a quantification of a fluid's resistance to flow. Viscosity varies considerably, and inversely, with temperature, so the trick is to use an oil that is thin enough to provide adequate cold-start lubrication yet remains thick enough to provide sufficient wear protection under protracted high-load conditions.

The subject of what oil to use in a particular motor would have to begin with "what does the manufacturer recommend?" and [maybe more importantly] "how is the motor used?". I have seen many, many non-tracked BMWs with 150,000+ miles that run perfectly, sound great, and have virtually zero oil consumption on their recommended BMW 5W-30 synthetic. Is 5W-30 the best oil for these motors for warm-weather driver-school use? Probably not. Under these conditions a higher-viscosity oil would I think provide better overall wear protection. It would take some oil sampling to say for sure.

Vic

[dtothef]

Hey I know this reply is a long time coming but I haven't checked in here in quite a while. Ok, I give. I am going to take your advice and quit using the m oil in my non-m Zed 4. Bell BMW worked on my lifter problem by replacing some of the lifters and bleeding the rest and now I don't hear any clicking. They also changed out a control arm bushing and replace my clutch, pressure plate and flywheel. All this cost me nothing because I was still under warranty. Needless to say I am very happy with their service. The clutch failure was premature (37,000 miles) and probably due to a faulty flywheel. I had the starter replaced at 10,000 miles and they said that that was probably related to the flywheel as well. Everything seems to be fine now. My better half broke her cup holder and they replace that at no cost too. It's an 06 3.0i and now I have just shy of 40,000. It goes out of warranty this coming Tues. Sorry to see that date pass. Hoping for the best as the extended warranty seems to be rather expensive for what you get. Once again I cannot say enough about Bell BMW's service dept. My experiences there have always been very positive.

[danielim]

The ticking noise is a known issue on the n52 engines. Go to yor dealer and have them perform the tsb for "valve litters"

I just had mine done on my 07 3.0si coupe at Pace BMW.