Dripping sound after shutdown
 

Hi all,

I am trying to get a 525i on 85k miles in good shape, it has been sitting for a year. Gone through and refreshed filters, sparks, fluids, brakes already but have now discovered a weird sound after I turn the car off. The sound is like a dripping or crackling sound its hard to describe exactly. The sound is strongest under the car and towards the back, there is no visual leaks. I have searched the threads and a few people seem to have this problem but I did not find a conclusive answer as to what it is. I have checked my coolant, engine oil and power steering fluid and levels are OK. Any ideas to help me diagnose this weird sound?

Thanks,
Dan

The exhaust, gaskets and fittings are resetting. One you shutdown the engine there's a sudden exhaust temperature drop. Basically evey car has it. Especially when driving ht engine hard. With an engine that has not run for a 1 year there tends to be some dried out gaskets, some oxidation etc....The exhaust basically needs to settle in again. The tickeing will get less over time with each normal drive.

Thanks for the info. I went for a short drive and no sound. When I heard the sound previously it was after a long drive as you suggested. I will keep an ear out and try and record the sound if it happens again.

The dripping sound might have been engine oil as I have gone from maximum to minimum on the iDrive sensor. Found oil on the floor of my driveway and double checked. Looks like it is coming from around the oil pan :( Hopefully its not more than £1000 to fix.

Might be the dreaded oil pan gasket leaking. My indy mechanic quoted $850.

Gotta love a "cheap" car. I need it fixed or I will start to be measuring MPG in engine oil also.

I'm going to get get my diff and trans fluids checked also. I'm paranoid about this car now.

Got it booked in at the dealer for the battery wiring recall and will see how much they say for the gasket.

I had the same thing happening on my 545. It turns out to be the condensation from the AC. It drips right about the middle of the trans from a tube right next to it. When it hits the ground it sounds like it's hot grease one drip at a time. I'm guessing the tubes are a tad clogged. At first, I thought it was the tranny I just had rebuilt for 4200.00 and I was pissed. But once I got it up and got a good look at where it was coming from I felt much better. lol. Just water.

So I was reading the iDrive oil sensor wrong, also I have been driving e60 for a year and still cant work out the iDrive climate control. Anyway my oil is still on maximum not on minimum like I thought. So maybe I will just live with the slow leak instead of getting the gasket fixed.

Now I am thinking that the original sound was not engine oil but probably the gaskets resetting or maybe AC condensation like wkloppen and MrPython are suggesting. I haven't heard the sound again because I thought I had a bad oil leak and have not been driving. I will definitely record it next time it happens.