BMW timing chain snapped

bertiewhite

motorguy wrote: »

Do BMW themselves say that though?

I don't know - the OP said it was the response given by the BMW when they phoned up.

My next comment would have been "well this one hasn't".

motorguy

Tarambor wrote: »

Depends on the design of the vehicle. One of the trucks I've driven, a Mercedes Actros, uses a centrifugal oil cleaner and is on 100,000km oil changes. Given they're not broken down at the side of the road and manage several hundred thousand kilometres without a spanner being put near the engine suggests it isn't an issues.

Engineering Explained covers long life Mobil oil which claims to be good for 20,000 mile oil changes and looks at their test procedure with Mobil giving him in house access to their tests. They ran vehicles for 300,000 miles, checking every 5,000 miles for wear, and pulled apart the engines and they were fine. They had one they ran to 500,000 miles and the only thing to fail was the automatic gearbox, engine wear was very light.

We don't live in the 1970s any more either with the oils we use or the tolerances engines are built to.

Sorry, i thought we were talking about BMW cars here - not industrial vehicles with oil cleaning capabilities?

That BMW engine is known for oil usage and with diesel engines particularly you will get an element of pollution over time from the fuel itself in to the oil.

I personally wouldnt trust it over that miles between services and that IMHO was borne out for us with our extra servicing / oil checking regularly and tends to be borne out with others experience too.

I would almost guarantee the engines that have had chain failure get serviced only at the service interval at best, and never get checked for oil between one service and the next.

motorguy

bertiewhite wrote: »

I don't know - the OP said it was the response given by the BMW when they phoned up.

My next comment would have been "well this one hasn't".

I guess there is a difference between "expected to" and "warranted or guaranteed" to.

Maybe thats their get out?

bertiewhite

motorguy wrote: »

I guess there is a difference between "expected to" and "warranted or guaranteed" to.

Maybe thats their get out?

Indeed - but surely would have been worth a go (assuming nobody else has mucked about with it first).

MG didn't expect the head gasket to go on my MGF at 16,000 when it was just a couple of months out of warranty but they still took the hit on sorting it out.

eschaton

bertiewhite wrote: »

MG didn't expect the head gasket to go on my MGF at 16,000 when it was just a couple of months out of warranty but they still took the hit on sorting it out.

Why not? Not exactly something unusual on an MG.

Exper1ment626

My wife has a 61 plate 116d M Sport with 26k on the clock. It's been making some strange noises and after paying out to have things like the fan belt and water pump changed, we just bit the bullet and took it to a BMW dealer to have the fault diagnosed. We already knew it was the timing chain (since the last guy to service it was a BMW technician) and he said it was a common fault with the N47 Engine and that it was the timing chain. He said he could do it for £2k. The BMW dealer has confirmed the timing chain now and they say its £2,250 including the diagnostic. I'm waiting to find out if BMW are going to contribute some good will towards the cost, but this is looking unlikely. The guy who serviced it last may have been a full time BMW technician for a BMW dealer (the same one it's at at the moment), but when he does on the side jobs he's no longer an authorised BMW repairer. So to save a few quid I have more than likely cost myself a few grand. I can't produce paperwork to prove genuine parts were used. Lesson learned too late really. Why am I posting one here then, well my point is, this car has only done 26k miles. If I pay out to have the timing chain done, will I have to do it again in another 26k miles? What does this say about BMW's? I thought they were supposed to be built better than the average car. I have never had a fault with any other car in the past that have done up to 5x the amount of miles. I have kind of lost all confidence in BMW even if they do offer some good will. Surely they should fix it considering it's mileage.

foxy-stoat

Exper1ment626 wrote: »

My wife has a 61 plate 116d M Sport with 26k on the clock. It's been making some strange noises and after paying out to have things like the fan belt and water pump changed, we just bit the bullet and took it to a BMW dealer to have the fault diagnosed. We already knew it was the timing chain (since the last guy to service it was a BMW technician) and he said it was a common fault with the N47 Engine and that it was the timing chain. He said he could do it for £2k. The BMW dealer has confirmed the timing chain now and they say its £2,250 including the diagnostic. I'm waiting to find out if BMW are going to contribute some good will towards the cost, but this is looking unlikely. The guy who serviced it last may have been a full time BMW technician for a BMW dealer (the same one it's at at the moment), but when he does on the side jobs he's no longer an authorised BMW repairer. So to save a few quid I have more than likely cost myself a few grand. I can't produce paperwork to prove genuine parts were used. Lesson learned too late really. Why am I posting one here then, well my point is, this car has only done 26k miles. If I pay out to have the timing chain done, will I have to do it again in another 26k miles? What does this say about BMW's? I thought they were supposed to be built better than the average car. I have never had a fault with any other car in the past that have done up to 5x the amount of miles. I have kind of lost all confidence in BMW even if they do offer some good will. Surely they should fix it considering it's mileage.

3700 mile a year for a diesel.....get if fixed and buy a petrol car.

If you do manage to get a this done under goodwill then you have a winner - but out it quick once repaired....you wont have to get the chain replaced every 26,000 miles as they will use different parts to the original.

motorguy

Exper1ment626 wrote: »

My wife has a 61 plate 116d M Sport with 26k on the clock. It's been making some strange noises and after paying out to have things like the fan belt and water pump changed, we just bit the bullet and took it to a BMW dealer to have the fault diagnosed. We already knew it was the timing chain (since the last guy to service it was a BMW technician) and he said it was a common fault with the N47 Engine and that it was the timing chain. He said he could do it for £2k. The BMW dealer has confirmed the timing chain now and they say its £2,250 including the diagnostic. I'm waiting to find out if BMW are going to contribute some good will towards the cost, but this is looking unlikely. The guy who serviced it last may have been a full time BMW technician for a BMW dealer (the same one it's at at the moment), but when he does on the side jobs he's no longer an authorised BMW repairer. So to save a few quid I have more than likely cost myself a few grand. I can't produce paperwork to prove genuine parts were used. Lesson learned too late really. Why am I posting one here then, well my point is, this car has only done 26k miles. If I pay out to have the timing chain done, will I have to do it again in another 26k miles? What does this say about BMW's? I thought they were supposed to be built better than the average car. I have never had a fault with any other car in the past that have done up to 5x the amount of miles. I have kind of lost all confidence in BMW even if they do offer some good will. Surely they should fix it considering it's mileage.

How many times has it been serviced and by whom?

Stoke

I might be wrong here.... I have a petrol 3 series and you can somewhat inspect the chain for movement and stretching through the oil fill-up. You can do it using a screwdriver and if you can lift it so that it's almost off the cog, then it's stretched, but the whole point is the tensioner should pick up for that.

Anyway, my car has 72k miles on at the moment. Thinking I might get the chain replaced at 130k, if it gets that far

KazzaCy

I have an X3 20d 2013. On Monday i took it to my local BMW dealer (in Cyprus) for a scheduled Brake Fluid Service. When i went to collect it, they said the timing chain was making a noise, which means it's stretched. To check the condition, they would have to remove the engine & therefore suggested i change it anyway, at a cost of €2k (incl numerous other items associated with this). Half of the cost is the labour. It will take a week to fix it.
My car is 5.5 years old (45k/kms).
I've asked them to check to see if BMW will cover this, as it appears to be a design fault, but i don't hold much hope.
Any suggestions anyone?