E36 M3 is hissing...

[Thai Tjen <thai@xxxxxxxx>]

hello all,

i don't remember seeing this question being asked on the
digest before. but just in case it has, my apologies...

anyway 2 weeks ago i brought my '95 M3 for inspection II.
it only has 58k miles on it. everything seems to be fine.
but since i got it back, i notice a constant "hiss" (that's
as close as i can describe the noise) from the engine.
the hissing level is linear with the throttle input.

when i pop the hood, i notice that the sound is coming
from almost right under the cam cover (bad injector maybe?).
the noise is most pronounced when i blip the throttle.
it's almost as if there is a leak in some vacuum line somewhere.

i'm mechanically-inept, so i have no clue where this sound
is coming from. and this could be purely psychological, but
i swear that the car doesn't respond to throttle inputs like
it used to. it seems like there is a split second hesitation.

i brought the car in back to the dealer last night. i got my
car back today. the service guy told me that "it's supposed to be
like that. it's the plastic intake manifold that makes that noise!".

does this noise sound familiar to anyone? is it really the intake
noise? does it get louder as the car gets older or something?
or could it this be a prelude to something nasty?

can anybody recommend a good BMW shop around the boston area?

thanks in advance.

/thai 

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