Matt

Oh, car is facelift e36 coupe if that helps narrow down what the problem could be. Cheers

Hi everyone, I don't really ever post anything much here but am often reading through all the threads but now i'm in need of some help! I was just cleaning the inside of my car and when i lifted up the carpet in front of the back seat to vacuum i noticed a heap of water underneath the carpet! I have no pulled up a heap of the carpet and it is soaking wet underneath on the drivers side (passenger side is totally dry. Weird thing is that the carpet itself is completely dry but the foam underneath is really saturated. Any ideas on where all this water could have come from? There's some pipes under the seat that look like they could have something to do with air con, is it likely to have anything to do with that? cheers for any help you can point my way, Matt

Bugger, my dad has taken his tool kit away with him for the weekend, so i dont even have so much as a spanner to loosen off the alternator. I'm assuming it'll be ok to drive around for the weekend unless the alternator actually stops charging. Fair assumption?? Thanks everyone for all the help, btw.

Ok, just used a piece of dowel to listen into the engine (such a good idea by the way!!) and the noise defintely seems to be coming from alternator. Engine sounds quite as when the dowel is on it but as soon as i stuck it on the alternator the noise sounded real clear thropugh the dowel. Does this mean bearing in alternator is shot?? Easy to fix??

Hmmm... The car's just had a major service and all belts were replaced, plus a belt tensioner too i think. I think there might have been a pulley with a shot bearing that was replaced as well, but i'm not sure, i may just be thinking of the belt tensioner. Does anyone have any recommendations for easy ways i can eliminate common causes of this as the actual problem??

Sorry if im being stupid but isn't the m44 non-vanos??

Hi guys, I'm just new to the forum and i have a '97 318is coupe with 101000k's. Today as I've been driving around i noticed a knocking noise coming from the engine. It seems to be coming from the front of the engine bay, somewhere near the alternator although im not totally sure about this. Its a constant tapping/knocking/rattling noise hapenning several times a second at idle. As i rev the engine a bit the tapping gets faster until the engine drowns it out towards 3000 revs (unless it's stopping at higher revs but i doubt it). Oil level is fine and the oil is brand new (just had it flushed and changed a couple of weeks ago). Any ideas on what it could be?? Anything would be appreciated. Also, while i'm making a post, i think i need a new fuel level sender unit as the guage is being a little bit dicky, anyone got one for sale or know where i can get one? How much will i be looking at for one of them? Cheers, Matt