Started my R53 (135K miles on it) this morning and heard a nice knocking sound. Opened the bonnet and took a short video. After a short while, it went away (as you can hear it towards the end of the video).

What could be the reason for this knocking? Did it go away because the oil pressure reached a certain point?

Thanks!


PS: When I was playing the video while posting this, my 4 year old said "MINI sounds like a helicopter"

 

Darn it! I meant to post this under "Stock Problems/Issues". Can a mod please move it? Apologies for the oversight.

 

Will move this to the Stock Problems/Issues area.

The knocking stopped when the car warmed up? You know what a dollar bill test is for checking on a burnt valve?

 

Thanks for moving it (sorry for the mix-up).

It didn't take too long for it to stop. It's been parked overnight, I started it, heard the knocking and took a video in about a minute, then it stopped around 2 minutes. Is that enough time for warm-up?

I have no clue what the dollar bill test is, but I'm Googling it now.

 

You can test for a burnt valve by putting a dollar bill behind the muffler. If the bill flutters, the valve is burnt.

My ears are not the best now, too much hunting as a kid, but I could hear something clunking on your car. Do this, on a cold start, put your hand on the far left side of the valve cover, if the timing chain is banging around I would think you could feel it. The chain tensioner that works off oil pressure may be shot.

 

Chain tensioner was my thought.