random ticking and misfire
 

hello everyone I was hoping someone could help or point me in the direction where I can find the info on my problem.

my 2003 bmw x5 3.0i has just recently started ticking randomly and misfiring. the problem started a week ago and seems to be getting worse quickly.

Apparently my former roomate decided he could take my x5 when he wanted as well as everything else of mine and I had to leave once I confronted him about it (i lost everything but my x5 and a handful of clothes and a couple computer yes he emptied my bank account as well.)

I noticed the lite ticking when I realized he took the x5.

anyways

it started very randomly a quiet ticking and slowly got louder the misfire started once I got back to wisconsin from texas it misfires bad in the cold when I first start it.

I changed the oil filter housing gasket about 3000 miles ago and 1400miles ago (before I had to drive to wisconsin) when I first heard the ticking I checked the oil and it was black as tar.

I'm hoping its a sticky lifter or something like that and I plan to change the oil and filter within the next 10 miles.


I had a similar problem a while back and the turned out to be a loose plug boot. I just checked the plug boots and noticed a very small amount of of oil near the plug boots just enough to get oil on my fingers.

this ticking rattle noise seems to be coming from the center of the cylinder head but is random and seemed to stop when I went over the railroad tracks near my parents house. didn't hear it again till I took the cover off the motor and went to shut off the car after letting it idle for about 10 mins. if I touch the gas pedal it goes away but at idle or when I'm slowing down is the only time you might be able to hear the noise.

I will be doing an oil flush soon unless the wise people here advise against it

If anyone knows what is causing the problem or what would fix it cheap please let me know I will not be driving the x5 till I get my final paycheck from work I was planning to replace all the seals on the upper end of the motor this summer but I may have to do it sooner. Since it isn't paid off yet I still owe a couple grand on it I don't want to just trade it in on something else but will if it's going to cost more then I owe to fix it


Thank you for taking the time to read my rambling may you have a wonderful day
Jake

Have you checked for security of fitment of all the coils and leads? Sounds typical of a short or poor connection to a spark plug.

Hope you whooped his ass before you left.

Do a compression check before you start replacing parts. The tester is $20 and it is very easy. I made the mistake of replacing $1000 worth of parts and fining out it was an internal issue.

I would take that guy to small claims court at least.

Thank you gentlemen I have checked the disa valve and found it to be in proper working order but had a strong smell of gas. I will be going into town a little later to pick up oil. there are 3 parts stores in town. But for some reason they only carry a couple quarts of synthetic at a time which means for my motor flush I end up using 3 or 4 different brands of oil. I am kind of an4l about my oil this motor flush takes me about a hour even though the oil and filter are only used for about 20 mins it is then drained and replaced with fresh oil and filter.

I'll keep checking back and trying cheap fixes like the motor flush. anyone ever use seafoam on their x5? I have 5 or 6 cans here but have not used any on the x5.

would it be worth it to run a can during the flush and possibly through the intake?


Thanks again guys

So I did the motor flush today and will be doing another tomorrow. this time will just be used oil out and fresh oil and filter.
sludge came out with the first change looked like sand in the filter the first two times and the oil drained very slowly out of the oil filter housing 2 gallons of oil was used for the flush.
while on the ramps when I started it back up after the flush the random noise started. this noise wasn't heard today when I went into town to get more filters 8 miles round trip let the engine warm up before leaving for town.
in the video the noise seems to come from everywhere but it sounds loudest to me under the x5 near the exhaust it almost sounds like a loose heat shield or something it sounds like the noise is coming from the cat or something and the rattling clunk when I shut off the engine.
Please watch the video and let me know what you think. yes there is a check engine light on but it is 30 miles to the nearest place the has a code reader that would check it without charging me.
Thanks guys
https://youtu.be/Lq4dZSDkpbQ

Geez - that sounds terrible! Does the noise increase in frequency (rattle get more rapid) when you rev the motor?

only till about 1300rpm then it stops.
the camera picks up the noise more then in person. when I watched the video on my phone afterwards I thought I was watching a different x5. I seriously stopped the video cleared the phone and started the video over before I realized it was the video I just made. Also this noise is random it does not happen all the time. I put 8 miles on the x5 driving to town and it didn't make the noise that was the first time that day it was making the noise it had been idling for 30 mins before it started making the noise.