Drone from the Engine between 5 to 10 MPH.

[chrisvk]

Greetings...

I posted over at the E36 Forum by mistake.

I have a 99 323i with 88,000 miles on it.

Nice car I love it.

It has been producing this strange noise that scares me.

The best I can describe it is as like a single engine prop plane, like a cessna or some thing. Only a higher pitch.

I can't say where it is coming from. I think the engine or the From wheel, very hard to say.

It comes between 5 to 10 MPH at 2000 RMP when I'm acclerating.
I don't know if it happens at higher speeds coz of the other noise (wind etc).

It comes only when I'm driving the car. If I put it in nutral and step on the Gas, nothing...
also its not from the A/C, it comes even when its off.

Its driving me insane. I don't know if something will go bad and I'll have to pay top $$ to fix it later. I already spent a small fortune fixing various little things in it.
Now the Locking system is also acting up. It does not unlock sometime, I have to manually unlock.

Also will someone explain why BMW chose to put the CD player in the trunk at the top. It all but renders the trunk usless for all but the smallest od luggage.

My CD player skips when I hit the small Yellow lane dividers, i.e eveytime I change lanes. And also when the road surface is not all that good. Any thoughts on that one?

Can the CD changer be moved under the passenger seat? I'd love to do that. Anywhere else other than on top of the trunk.

Also, does anyone know about the reffer valve or something not functioning due to lack of Vacuum. My Check Engine light came on and the local mech ran the diag tool and looked up the code ( code 142 ). It was not a BMW diag tool, but on looking up it said something about the reffer valve not closing coz of vacume leak or somesuch. Is this a big thing? Can it be because my GirlFriend did not close the Gas Cap tight enough?



Love and luck to all.. and please drive safe.
Chris

[mankiks323i]

Now this is a guess perhaps it is PCV crankcase valve not sure exact name these are not uncommon to start making funny noises when they fail. I recently had mine replaced because there was a moaning noise everytime i started the car and would here it when it was warm sometimes. Now the part is 40 dollars if thats the problem but its underneith the intake manifold I had no clue how to replace it so had to take to dealer 300+ for labor only it looks like a heart with 3 holes on it used . oh ya my check engine light came on too but was misfire on one of the cylinders i had a bad coil.

[Relevart]

CD changer on e46 mounts on left side of the trunk, behind specifically designed trunk liner.
Unless European version is different... You have somebody installed CD changer cheap way: CD changer brackets and trunk liner runs approx. $120.00 US.
Get yourself a CD changer manual, in installation there described how to set orientation of CD changer, vertical vs. horizontal or in between.
If nothing helps, you have bad shock dampers in CD changer. Then replace CD changer or repear it.
I think the orientation set incorrect...

[GDBJLB]

I had a similar noise on my '00 328. Droning noise from inside the engine bay, and an erratic idle. Seemed to be worse when the engine was under load, but not in a repeatable way. Engine light also came on.
Dealer fixed it (still under warranty at the time) and said the noise was coming from the Auxillary fan and was caused by a disconnected vacuum pipe. No parts needed to be changed.

Hope this helps