[C14SE]

Originally Posted by richk84

Really sorry to here that mate, one of the reasons i went will a 2011+ 320d was that i thought all the issues had been resolved with the timing chains. What mileage had your car done and did it have FBMWSH?

Me too mate.

119,000 with FBMWSH. No warning, just popped!

[richk84]

Originally Posted by CH14SE_E

Me too mate.

119,000 with FBMWSH. No warning, just popped!

There are some good points from Leah1 about making your case. Recent QE and the media coverage should help. Think it was on Watchdog. At the end of the day, you have serviced the car according to BMW by BMW and it simply shouldn't of happened!

[ally_bassman]

Originally Posted by CH14SE_E

Me too mate.

119,000 with FBMWSH. No warning, just popped!

Gutted for you. Keep pushing for near enough full contribtion!

Out of interest, how often were your getting the oil changed? Were you doing it according to BMW's service plan, or yearly / 10k miles?

My 2011 N47 is on 35k now and i'm beginning to worry that a 2011 car isn't safe from issues.

[C14SE]

Originally Posted by ally_bassman

Gutted for you. Keep pushing for near enough full contribtion!

Out of interest, how often were your getting the oil changed? Were you doing it according to BMW's service plan, or yearly / 10k miles?

My 2011 N47 is on 35k now and i'm beginning to worry that a 2011 car isn't safe from issues.

Hi Ally.

I've done 10,000 miles since I bought it at 109,000 with FBMWSH. The chain failed while we were doing an engine flush and oil change, so it was on the ramp when it failed.

In your position, I'd sell & upgrade to one of the 6-Cylinder engine variants for peace of mind. The chain will fail at some point. If it hasn't failed by the time you come to sell it, it'll be noisy enough to put off any potential buyer. Especially if they do a simple search on Google.

P.s. What's the tune you've done? I had mine mapped and I was really pleased with it. You must be pushing 210 bhp?

[bishbosh]

That's really bad luck for you CH14SE_E, although it's not a given that the chain in every N47 engine will fail.

For you with FBMWSH you should be getting a 100% contribution from BMW especially as they have finally admitted to the chain problems. Keep pushing them.

6 cylinder engines aren't immune to chain issues, just that there are less reported incidents as the 4 cylinder engines are more popular than the 6 cyl ones.

[ally_bassman]

Originally Posted by CH14SE_E

Hi Ally.

I've done 10,000 miles since I bought it at 109,000 with FBMWSH. The chain failed while we were doing an engine flush and oil change, so it was on the ramp when it failed.

In your position, I'd sell & upgrade to one of the 6-Cylinder engine variants for peace of mind. The chain will fail at some point. If it hasn't failed by the time you come to sell it, it'll be noisy enough to put off any potential buyer. Especially if they do a simple search on Google.

P.s. What's the tune you've done? I had mine mapped and I was really pleased with it. You must be pushing 210 bhp?

Ahh So there's no way of knowing really other then looking through the service history. The reason I asked is i've read a fair few articles that suggest making sure your oil is changed yearly/10,000 miles is one way of trying to protect the chain. I know BMW's service schedule for oil changes is every 20,000 miles or two years which I think is obsured. This was clearly set to keep fleet managers happy.

For an engine that is designed to trundle up and down motorways all day, it realy should be getting fresh oil more regulary than what BMW reccomend. I got mine at 20,000 miles and 3.5 years old and in that time it had only had 1 oil change, So I got mine change at 30k and will again at 40k or August.

I'm happy with my car, but I do fancy jumping ship as the horror stories are getting more frequent and are affecting 11 plate cars and newer. I fancy a manual M135i, but decent ones are few and far between.

I've got a DTUK CRD-T box on mine, it's quoted at 230bhp, but 210-220 is probably about right. It certainly gives a nice shove when it kicks in at around 2700rpm.

[evohicks]

Originally Posted by ally_bassman

My 2011 N47 is on 35k now and i'm beginning to worry that a 2011 car isn't safe from issues.

Same here, 35100 miles at the minute, am looking at either getting some sort of warranty for this as I like the car or trade it in for a 330d.

There was 30,000 miles on my car when I had it and it looked like 1 oil change in that time, I do around 6k per year and change oil with every MOT.

[richk84]

Originally Posted by evohicks

Same here, 35100 miles at the minute, am looking at either getting some sort of warranty for this as I like the car or trade it in for a 330d.

There was 30,000 miles on my car when I had it and it looked like 1 oil change in that time, I do around 6k per year and change oil with every MOT.

I've got the BMW/Mondial warranty with my car - fully comp. It's roughly £35 a month and I took it out at roughly the same mileage yours is now. I've had the car close to 2 years.

Had my first claim last month with a dodgy headlight. Complete new headlight fitted, no questions asked and simply paid my excess. Very happy indeed.

[evohicks]

I was quoted £567.12 per year on the BMW comprehensive plan, bit pricey but with what's at stake these days, it's an option for sure.

[richk84]

Originally Posted by evohicks

I was quoted £567.12 per year on the BMW comprehensive plan, bit pricey but with what's at stake these days, it's an option for sure.

Yea but it's best to pay monthly so that as your mileage increases your warranty cost remains the same

[evohicks]

Originally Posted by richk84

Yea but it's best to pay monthly so that as your mileage increases your warranty cost remains the same

Cheers, nice tip.

[C14SE]

Originally Posted by ally_bassman

Ahh So there's no way of knowing really other then looking through the service history. The reason I asked is i've read a fair few articles that suggest making sure your oil is changed yearly/10,000 miles is one way of trying to protect the chain. I know BMW's service schedule for oil changes is every 20,000 miles or two years which I think is obsured. This was clearly set to keep fleet managers happy.

From what I gather, the oil change intervals aren't the real cause of the timing chain problem. The chains stretch over time, as expected. But the tensioners don't have enough travel in them to take-up the slack after a certain amount of stretch. So they either jump, or snap from excessive wear (cause they're slack and jumping big about). Just total madness that it hadn't been modified in later built cars. Irresponsible and unacceptable.


That said, I'll still always drive BMW. They just need to take ownership of this problem.

[bishbosh]

The guides and tensioners have been through several updates. The first major update was in 2011 which supposedly fixed the chain issue. But, there were other updates over the years up to and including in 2013. Then there was the latest QE which started last year.

I have a 2008 N47 engine block + head, a 2013 crank, guides, tensioners, lower chains, and possibly a 2015 top chain (not sure as I don't know what happened when I took my car in for the QE)

[Ninja21]

I called my local dealer today and they said the recall had now stopped as of January this year, They didnt even take my VIN number just said all the dealers had stopped doing the QE. ????

Anyone else had this?

21

[C14SE]

Originally Posted by Ninja21

I called my local dealer today and they said the recall had now stopped as of January this year, They didnt even take my VIN number just said all the dealers had stopped doing the QE. ????

Anyone else had this?

21

No mate. I wouldn't take there word for it. Call another dealer or BMW H/O. Also, how can they say they've stopped it if cars are still out there with the issue? Unacceptable.

[pmmcbl]

Originally Posted by Ninja21

I called my local dealer today and they said the recall had now stopped as of January this year, They didnt even take my VIN number just said all the dealers had stopped doing the QE. ????

Anyone else had this?

21

I think you are right. Someone from work with a 2011 with 90k had it go and the dealer said they no longer offer cover. Also the car didn't have BMW service history which didn't help his case. I told him to keep going but he didn't get any help. So lost a lot of money and. Now sold the car. Makes me think I'm lucky (touch wood) that I have a 335i.

[C14SE]

Originally Posted by pmmcbl

I think you are right. Someone from work with a 2011 with 90k had it go and the dealer said they no longer offer cover. Also the car didn't have BMW service history which didn't help his case. I told him to keep going but he didn't get any help. So lost a lot of money and. Now sold the car. Makes me think I'm lucky (touch wood) that I have a 335i.

Hi pmmcbl,

Any chance you can put me in touch with your mate? I have a 2011 which failed too and I need to get some names on paper so we can make a point to BMW.

[rado_slav]

Originally Posted by Ninja21

I called my local dealer today and they said the recall had now stopped as of January this year, They didnt even take my VIN number just said all the dealers had stopped doing the QE. ????

Anyone else had this?

21

Confirmed. After a call and a visit to my local BMW dealer here in Milan I was assured that the QE process has been finished and if I really need the job done - need to pay 2k euro (laber + parts).

MADNESS

[CamD93]

I have had similar troubles when speaking to BMW, I recently bought the car about 3 weeks ago I was aware of common problem with these cars but when I went to view mine I couldn't hear any noise but now on cold starts or short journeys I can hear it. The more and more I read up about it the more its making me Paranoid. I've been Quoted £1800 to change the chains as there is no QE in place anymore. It's just scandalous considering its nearly a third of what the car is worth!

[C14SE]

Originally Posted by CamD93

I have had similar troubles when speaking to BMW, I recently bought the car about 3 weeks ago I was aware of common problem with these cars but when I went to view mine I couldn't hear any noise but now on cold starts or short journeys I can hear it. The more and more I read up about it the more its making me Paranoid. I've been Quoted £1800 to change the chains as there is no QE in place anymore. It's just scandalous considering its nearly a third of what the car is worth!

Do yourself a favour mate and get the chains, sprockets & tensioners changed. It's not worth risking the damage it'll cause if it goes. Me and my brother just had to rebuild my engine after the top chain ground the cam sprocket down to a perfect circular disc! We had all the tools and an engine crane so it cost me £700 including a DMF and clutch.

[CamD93]

Do yourself a favour mate and get the chains, sprockets & tensioners changed. It's not worth risking the damage it'll cause if it goes. Me and my brother just had to rebuild my engine after the top chain ground the cam sprocket down to a perfect circular disc! We had all the tools and an engine crane so it cost me £700 including a DMF and clutch.[/QUOTE]

I want to get it changed but £1800 is out of my budget by a long chalk, I got the car with money left over for maintenance etc. but that is almost double of what I can afford.

[gremlyng]

I bought a 320d E90 about 6 months ago - It's a 2011 (built on the 27/5/2011)

I have the N47T engine - I'm trying to work out if the chain and tensioner issues are something I need to be concerned about.

The car has done 51K and sounds fine to me, but I stumbbled across this thread and have since had to change my underwear a few times!

Any insight or advice would be very much appreciated.