Motorraum: VANOS noise fixed.......but another problem.

[Glacier]

Hi Stan,

not sure but, I think the startup rattle is caused by the oil draining from the vanos units, No.1:

 RealOEM.com BMW E38 740i timing gear timing chain top - VANOS

When I changed the the two units I also changed the oil check valves, No.8:

 RealOEM.com BMW E38 740i Cylinder Head Attached Parts

So, I'm not sure if it was the check valves, vanos units or a combination of both that cured the startup rattle. The vanos units change certainly fixed the ticking/tapping diesel-like noise

I did as 'Memyselfundich' suggested and got myself INPA. Here are some live data pictures of the cylinders:













I'm not sure what all that means so, maybe some of you German experts could confirm that they don't look too bad. Or do they seem not to be very well synchronized?

Now.......... I have been doing more investigating and I found that these parts on the nearside rear wheel have some play in them, No.2 & 5:

 RealOEM.com BMW E38 740i REAR AXLE SUPPORT/WHEEL SUSPENSION

When the wheel is rocked at 12 & 6 o'clock there is about 1/4 inch movement. Nothing at 3 & 9 o'clock.

So, I have come to the conclusion that maybe I have been looking in the wrong place all the time! Most probably I did time the engine correctly and, by a crazy coincidence at that exact time, the rear balljoint started to make the car feel lumpy? And that's why I wasn't getting any fault codes from the engine.

Of course this is all guesswork until I have changed the offending parts. I may as well change the other rear bits too and I have got the parts from good old Ebay-de:

 REP SATZ QUERLENKER_HA 7ER E38 KOMPLETT 10-TEILIG NEU! on eBay (end time 14-Mar-11 13:00:40 GMT)

Waiting for this:

 Advanced Keyword Product Search --- Sealey & Draper Tools - CCW-Tools

More expense!

I will report back on my findings.