Ok, I know this subject has been beaten worse than a dead horse.

However, since there is so many mixed theory's and opinions I'm trying to get some clarification. I did just purchase a 2011 C63 base model and I do have louder ticking coming from the front intake cam adjuster area on the left bank only. It drives good and from what I can tell with my ears it quiets down as soon as engine hits 1,000 rpm regardless of being hot or cold.

It makes the sound no matter what at idle from the very second the engine is started. According to all I read or have searched if it was the cam adjuster it would only do it on start up for a few seconds and quiet down. Everyone says if it continues it's not the cam adjuster. SO my questions are, what else is in the very front of the left bank valve train area that would make that metallic clanking / ticking sound if cam adjusters aren't the cause? If it is a bad intake cam adjuster what will it eventually damage if anything? From my understanding now it is the adjuster flopping back and forth from full advanced to full retard and I'm guessing under idle it can't keep oil pressure up to stay in a stable state vs as soon as it's not idling the oil pressure has no issue keeping it in a stable state.

Is this even worth the time or money to worry about?

I'm a bit confused as I made sure to get an engine outside of the other common faults of the M156, but seems cam adjusters is one there isn't a fix MB ever did and can't get away from. Just not sure if it's something worth dropping the coin to fix or to just let it go?

My symptoms seem to be way different than anyone else's I have read so flame me all you want but as long as it sounds fine and pulls fine under load I'm lost and searched all I can bear with my brain.

So aside from CEL eventually and diminished HP and MPG nothing major?

Saw an image of the side valve cover shattered and was wondering if that was common?

Guess everyone here replaces them at the very moment they need it so no one really knows what happens?

I'm not wanting to cheap out but with so many saying they replace them and then they start making noise again within a few thousand miles I'm just trying to gauge the typical severity of this issue. Which reading all the many many past threads I guess it really does boil down to no one knows.

I'll probably pull a valve cover off in a few weeks when I have time and see just how loose it is like Tasos shows. Until then I'll drive it like a scalded dog haha.

Post a video.

Xentry can log cam angle vs expected cam angle. If the percentage is seriously wrong then you know what you have to do.

After hearing the video it sounds worse than I thought in person. I guess from where the rest of the engine increases sound it hid it more.

That sounds like valve lifters and/or camshaft wear. Not uncommon on the earlier engines.

Is it worth the time and money to worry about? It depends entirely on your definition of "worth". If you got the car for free and you don't care how long it lasts, then it isn't worth it. If you paid decent money for it and expect the engine to last you for a few years, then it is worth it.

Yeah. I'll have to take valve covers off for sure. That's what I thought it was, the cams or lifters but it's only from the very front of the left bank. So it's coming from in front of the cams, it may be the noise following the cams to the front but usually it seems like cam wear noise stays where its at.

Only reason it has me a bit confused, I almost didn't buy this one and maybe I shouldn't have but in the end I got an ok price on it, not a great one but all in for $19k. I left a few thousand in the bank to take care of things.

In person it's easy to pinpoint where it's coming from and since most say cam adj. only make noise for a short time it being something else can make sense. I'll have to get some pics when I go in to add to this and let it help dictate it. Sadly not any mechanics around here worth a hoot so gotta do it all myself.

Do appreciate the input all.

The cam adjusters usually make a whine at startup when they go bad. I can't tell where the noise is coming from, but the ticking is usually indicative of lifters and/or cams. And, if you're mechanically inclined and can do the work yourself, you'll save yourself a few bucks in the process.

Bad adjusters rattle like hell on start. Especially a warm start after the car has sat for a while. With a bad adjuster, when you pull the valve cover and turn over the engine (by hand of course), you will see the adjuster spinning with the engine and camshaft not rotating.

In my case, the intake adjuster wore down so much, it knocked the camshaft out of timing a couple of degrees on a cold start. I was having the startup rattle often, and then boom, more than 8 codes and an CEL.

That is the first time I have heard of anyone having one fail to that point except when they are taken off a car and reinstalled.

From what I can hear, your ticking noise isn't as pronounced as mine was - it sounded like two marbles or ball bearings hitting one another that did stop after the car was warm and driven; no lights ever came on. When I took my 2013 w/ 42k miles to MB they found wear on all the cam lobes and all the lifters had collapsed/failed. Adjusters were fine, but in the end I had all the cams, lifters and adjusters replaced. Thank god for the warranty, even though I still owed some money. Just got the car back after two months, ugh.

That said, my car does still make a noise at idle that, from what I can tell, is typical of these engines - I may completely wrong, though.

Good luck - happy to try to address any other questions you have.

I want to Thank everyone for their time and input. I've looked and can't find a good guide and I know it's not crazy hard but I've spent the last 2 Saturdays trying to get this valve cover off hahaha.

I am having an issue getting my torx socket on the 2 bottom rear bolts due to firewall clearance issues. I've searched and searched and I am typically mechanically inclined but does anyone have some quick tips that I must be missing on how to get those bolts out?

I have the T30 swivel socket and I still can't get a good bite and angle on it to break it loose. I don't know what I'm missing and just thought maybe someone might have a pointer I can use.

Stubby torx wrench set is your friend. I think Bondhus makes a set, maybe an “L” wrench with ball head.

Ah BLKROKT why didn't I think of that, "L" would work indeed I bet. Didn't even cross my mind. Thank You, sometimes it's always the obvious idea's one looks over.

Also try teach-in of camshaft positions on MB SD (Star) That quieted down the "ticking" Sound on my engine