I added 3 litres of oil, and that brought the oil level to the max level on the dipstick.
There has been no tranny work of anykind done recently.

The noise really seems to be internal and right at the top left side of the engine.

The noise does tick down when put into gear, but returns loud and progressively faster as you actually drive and pick up speed.

At crawl with no gas , the noise is almost non existent.

A little off topic: When changing my oil, I pour a quart of oil directly over the new filter before sealing it off. I believe this prevents the 'dry start'

:wow:Three quarts low. Luckily they have 8, but there may be some damage. I hope not.
I had the same type of sound in an all wheel drive Endeavor. I changed all belts, among other things. Finally some kid working at a tire shop found a post on a forum. It turned out my drive shaft needed to be replaced. When it was taken off at the dealership, it was broken in two placed!!!!! We could have had a serious accident. I only mention this because everyone (4 different mechanics) thought it was coming from the engine.

Does it sound like it's from the front edge of the engine, or the middle/rear?

How is your back? Did you have your surgery yet?
Congrats on the super bowl.:thumbup:

I would say left side middle to rear. Basically the area shown most in the video.

I'm thinking I should do a full oil and filter change, along with an engine flush.

My understanding is if there are metal shavings in the oil/filter then I have major problems.

I will have to do the oil change myself, because I don't want to drive the car to the dealer nor do I want to pay for a flatbed just for the oil change.

Is it whishful thinking for me to hope a full oil change and engine flush is going to solve this, or am I wasting my time?

If course I am going to the dealer at some point, I just want to be certain this isn't minor.

The video didn't load the first time I tried it. Maybe timing might be off a bit. I hope you don't have any major damage. Let us know what you find out please. Good luck

Will do, thanks for the input.


Regarding sound location:
The sound seems be coming from the area where it says BMW on the cover on the left side of the engine.

1stE53, back is still jacked up, surgery not scheduled yet... (damn HMO needs therapy to fail first)

Godfather, I'd do the oil change first (not worrying about the flush just yet) and make sure to catch the oil in a clean pan so you can take a good look at it and analyze it for any debris. You would be looking for any signs of a shiny gold colored metalic flake with a bright flashlight, and for any plastic debris to come out with it... maybe let the old oil drain through a funnel with a screen/strainer in it in case there is any debris.

And I say to do this before a flush so you can properly analyze the oil for any details/clues to the problem.

Good news,

My brother fired up the X today, the engine made the noise immediately after startup but then the noise diminished. He also revved the engine and heard nothing.

He has not taken it for a spin yet, we will wait to do the full oil change.

Oil level has dropped to minimum on the dipstick, even though I topped it up to what I thought was full a day ago. The oil does leak, but there is not 2 litres of oil on the garage floor. Perhaps the oil has seeped into the filter and entire engine, where as I didnt give it enough time before?

This gives me hope that the correct level of fresh oil will solve this problem. It also makes me cringe to think just how little oil was in the engine before I topped it up on Saturday.

Anyways, I am definitely counting on this oil change solution here.

_________

Question 1:

I have searched for "engine flush" on the forum but have found nothing.

Does anyone know how/what you do to essentially clean the inside of the engine when its empty of oil, just before adding new clean oil and filter? Products, procedure? Yay or nay?


Question 2:

Say I do find metal shavings in the old oil, but the noise goes away after the new oil change. Should I assume some damage was done, but not enough to compromise the engine, or am I not out of the woods?