Originally Posted By: sprintman
I'm on the second consecutive RX clean in my 2001 E46 325 (87,000 kms M1 0W40/filrer 8K KMS OCI) and my engine is silent. BMW indy shops are amazed as they usually rattle a bit by now particularly the infamous VANOS seals failing which if you havn'nt changed your are utterly stuffed)? See Beisan Systems for seals thyat work. XW30 oils won't get near my car and neither do they at the BMW dealerships (0W40 only). Get some ester and PAO free oil (Pennzoil Platinum Euro Formula 5W40) and two bottles of RX and a clean filter and run it for 5-6,000 miles. If you have top end noise it will fix it.
A run of ARX by Frank's instructions (shorter interval) using XD3 15W40 for clean and rinse greatly reduced my one ticking lifter but hasn't eliminated it.
When I went back to GC (which, btw, UOA indicated was thicker than M1 0W40 when I remove it around 6000-8000km OCIs - I hope your "no XW30s" statement is backed by measurements not just PDS) I continued to use maint dose of ARX and the slight tick was always more or less the same.
I decided to run XD3 15W40 again this summer because I was replacing VANOS seals and a couple of other things where I might lose some oil. I put 4oz ARX in and I've observed the light tick changing again (comes and goes, changes in character, tick-tick-tick-toink-" "-" "-tick-tock-tock-toink-" "-" "-tick, that sort of thing). This kind of thing happened during my full ARX treatment in 2006 or 2007.
I must go back to GC for the winter here, and it's already August. I only drive
Based on your experience, should I perhaps dump a whole bottle or two in and see if the magic happens without a proper rinse, or is the rinse still critical? I doubt I could find an ACEA A3 rated ester-free dino good in cold weather (0W or 5W) to use for rinsing.
Maybe I should just do a two-bottle treatment in the spring?