Time for that Shim Job ?? M3 E46

[ghaith]

Hey guys ,

So I`ve been noticing a loud ticking noise lately from underneath the car and louder when I pop the bonnet up . Its Definitely not the Vanos as the sound is coming from the right side(next to the Coolant Box).

The Car has just 75000km done and to be honest she is pampered like crazy for something to go wrong


Is it time to change the Valve Shims? Been Reading a lot on the M3 Forums that Valve Adjustment should be done every 30000Miles(50000km)

Bad Fuel Injectors ?(This could cause Ticking as well)

Headers or Exhaust Gasket Leak ?(could cause ticking as well)

I plan to operate tomorrow with the Octane Team But should we be looking at anything else ?

The Painful Part is the Valve Adjustment Kit which is always on Back Order and the Kit is for 5 cars as they sell you 5 shims of each Size and you only need 1 of each :(

I cannot ignore this as it will just kill the Cam as it will mess up the Grind which will cause bad idles and Loss of power

Ill leave the Replies to people who experienced this here

[Hasan Shaikh]

How did it go? What did you find out?

I guess it was just the injectors.

[ghaith]

I wish mate The Culprit turned out to be the Valve Shims..

Just an FYI for people who never did this Job .

Worn out shims can cause a lot of things from Harmless to Harmful

1.Obvious Loud ticking from the Engine
2.Bad Emissions(Smelly Exhaust , Increased Fuel Consumption)
3.Worn Out shims can cause the rockers to have a .MM Gap and Cause the Cams to Loosen up which will not only Cause Power Loss But Worst Case scenarios Destroy the Grind of the cam

I think this is as bad as gets

Valve Adjustment Kit is no where to be found in this country so I might put down an order for the Blue Box from ECS Tuning not only its for 700DHS Cheaper than the Dealers(2600) vs ECS(1700->2000) Depending on shipping method + you get the SHim installation Tool

Sadly you cannot get a box for 1 single Shim from each size , the box comes with 6Shims per .MM Size depending on how bad the gap is , But the Kit could cover 3 -4 Cars (bear in mind Shims are supposed to be done every 50000km especially for the cars that have a High Redline