I have a very low mileage (5,000 approx) E93 M3, which I have imported to New Zealand from England. It's perfect, except for a noise I am convinced is from the tappets. It is correlated with engine RPM, and I have not had it on the last 6 BMWs I've owned (only the first, 7 ago, had this and the dealer fixed it). My local dealer, Jerry Clayton BMW, have listened to it and stated that it is normal, and results from the vehicle sitting around. The trip by ship to New Zealand alone might explain that, if relevant.They say that it will go away after a good drive. However, since then, I have driven about 1000 miles, and believe me, those were not pampering - I drive fairly hard. The noise is exactly the same still. Does anyone out there have any experience of what sounds absolutely like noisy tappets on an E9x M3? Anyone know of a fix? I'm on the cusp of going to another dealer to find someone who says this is not normal and that they can fix it.
I should add that today I had an extended drive of a neighbour's E90 M3 and it did not have this noise at all.
With out hearing the noise it is hard to say if it is normal. There is quite a bit of lifter noise from the S65 engine. I would see if you could take both cars to the dealer and show the techs the noise difference and see what they say.
