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bmw 320d 2008 - bmw 320d timing chain, why did it fail? - sradnor

Hi, a couple of months ago the timing chain failed on my car, my local garage couldnt fix it, so it was sent away to a place in Cardiff.

Best part of £2800 later and I had a repair on my engine and a new clutch.

Up until last year i kept it serviced at my local Bmw dealer, when I bought the car at just over three years of age it had 63000 miles on it and fsh. It now has 110000 miles, I have never abused my car or not serviced it when required.

Neither the garage in Cardiff (national engine centre) or Dick lovett BMW could satisfactorily expain to me why it broke other than technical mumbo jumbo. The Cardiff garage did say that they fix a couple every week but other people having the same problem doesnt make me feel better

The car runs fine now and I have had it back 6 weeks but is there someone out there who can explain to me why it failed and more importantly will it happen again or should i sell it once the warranty on the engine runs out?

bmw 320d 2008 - bmw 320d timing chain, why did it fail? - RobJP

Why it failed ...

BMW have a long service interval. Too long, in the opinion of this MSc Chemist who used to work in oil testing. When oil has done 15k + miles, it's worn out.

The timing chain is lubricated by very fine jets of oil (yes, that same oil that's knackered). A lack of lubrication from that oil leads to the chain stretching or snapping.

That's it.

How to stop it happening again. Every 10k miles / annually (whichever comes first) get the oil and oil filter changed. Make certain that the old oil is drained through the sump plug, NOT pumped out via the dipstick hole. Use the proper BMW oil filter (or one of equivalent quality, no cheap job off ebay) and the best oil too.

bmw 320d 2008 - bmw 320d timing chain, why did it fail? - Falkirk Bairn

2 or 3 at most oil changes in 63K miles.

Chains need good & clean oil.

An interim oil change - 5 litres + filter - say £100 @ an Indie would have saved you nearly £3,000.

BMW UK 18K / 20K miles for oil changes

BMW USA 10K or 12 months whichever comes first.

Both BMW companies but different rules on the same car.

bmw 320d 2008 - bmw 320d timing chain, why did it fail? - SLO76
Common problem on BMW 4cyl engines both petrol and diesel and while much blame can be laid at the daft biannual service plans most business lease cars are on there are too many cases of it on privately owned and regularly serviced cars to assume there isn't fundamental design/quality issue here and one that's been going on for far too long.

I bought a grey 2002 318Ci in 2005 from our local main dealer with lovely bright red seats (was much younger and clearly colour blind) 15,500 miles and a service book that had been stamped every year and despite carrying the dealer servicing on and allowing a local BM specialist to do one as the cars value dropped it still cost me a fortune in repairs culminating in a terminally rattling timing chain at just 47,000 miles.

I remember at the time seeing a few of them on Autotrader with "new engine fitted" which should've motivated me earlier to get shot of it but I figured I was looking after it so I'd be fine... great things to drive, terrible things to own.
bmw 320d 2008 - bmw 320d timing chain, why did it fail? - gordonbennet

Slightly older engine but the 320d Compact in the family was bought at 45k miles with full BMW history as an approved used car, within 6 months the compulsory turbo failure happened, the dealer replaced the troublesome first generation engine breather whilst dismantled.

That car had an oil change, by me, with good quality oils and filters every year, around 7k miles for all its time with the owner, around 110k miles there was a noticeable rumbling in the area of the head or timing chain which no longer went quieter after an oil change, so part ex'd it was.

I'm sure part of the problem is that some of these engine designs (PSA 1.6 Diesel is the same) do not drain fully at oil change time, because 2 minutes after an oil change the oil is filthy, i changed the oil in my 90k Landcruiser couple of weeks ago and 500 miles later its still so clean its difficult to check the level without me glasses on.

If these engines are not draining well, does it suggest to anyone else that carbon nasties are being held in pockets all around the engine ready to immediately mix with the fresh oil, an they gradually form the good old black death mix on many surfaces that we thought was a thing of the past, or is it me?

bmw 320d 2008 - bmw 320d timing chain, why did it fail? - Brit_in_Germany

Is this the N47 engine? If so, a known problem with apparently BMW goodwill payments up to 8 years/200,000 km (according to German Wikipedia de.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_N47 )

autka.pl/serwis/bmw_akcja.pdf

bmw 320d 2008 - bmw 320d timing chain, why did it fail? - Railroad.

Manufacturer's service intervals are sales pitch, intended to impress the consumer that this/that car will do xx,xxx miles or x number of years between services. Anyone who knows about cars, knows this is nonsense. None of us use our cars in absolute ideal conditions, and the more we don't the shorter the actual service interval should be. The longest anyone should go between engine oil changes is 12 months, regardless of mileage, and even 6 months is preferable. The single best thing anyone can do to keep their engine in good condition is to change the engine oil and oil filter regularly.

bmw 320d 2008 - bmw 320d timing chain, why did it fail? - gordonbennet

The longest anyone should go between engine oil changes is 12 months, regardless of mileage, and even 6 months is preferable. The single best thing anyone can do to keep their engine in good condition is to change the engine oil and oil filter regularly.

Anyone reading should print the above off, enlarge it, laminate it and stick it in on the wall in a prominent place where it will be seen every day.