2008 BMW 320d timing chain - known issue?

kkelly77

The OH's mother has a '08 320d. A few weeks ago the engine died on a drive back to Dublin from Carlow.

When she got it to a mechanic, she was advised the fuel pump had failed and all the subsequent material made it's way into the engine. (This is fifth hand information I am getting from the family BTW)

Long story short, she was told by BMW the repairs would be around the €5k mark. However, apparently this model of BMW has a known issue with the timing chain, which I believe BMW aren't admitting.

Anyone know if this actually is a known problem? Could a stretched chain have been responsible for the pump failure (if indeed it was the pump that failed :rolleyes:)

galwaytt

kkelly77 wrote: »

The OH's mother has a '08 320d. A few weeks ago the engine died on a drive back to Dublin from Carlow.

When she got it to a mechanic, she was advised the fuel pump had failed and all the subsequent material made it's way into the engine. (This is fifth hand information I am getting from the family BTW)

Long story short, she was told by BMW the repairs would be around the €5k mark. However, apparently this model of BMW has a known issue with the timing chain, which I believe BMW aren't admitting.

Anyone know if this actually is a known problem? Could a stretched chain have been responsible for the pump failure (if indeed it was the pump that failed :rolleyes:)

Yes it's a very well known problem. Can't link from my phone but a quick Google will find it...

bazz26

There must be a million threads or articles on the web at this stage about BMW diesel engine timing chain issues. Also if all that needs replacing is the chain then it can be done for alot less than 5k by a good indy garage. I'd only let a main dealer repair a 7 year old car if BMW were contributing a fair amount towards it.

Peter T

Bmw were replacing timing chains as part of a recall on some models. Id ring your local dealer and have a chat

kkelly77

bazz26 wrote: »

There must be a million threads or articles on the web at this stage about BMW diesel engine timing chain issues. Also if all that needs replacing is the chain then it can be done for alot less than 5k by a good indy garage. I'd only let a main dealer repair a 7 year old car if BMW were contributing a fair amount towards it.

I have a friend who bought a 2010 520d not even a year ago and found out about the timing chain woes. Didn't think it extended to the 3 series.

I believe there's more than the timing chain to sort out on the 320 and the work is being done by BMW.

bazz26

kkelly77 wrote: »

I have a friend who bought a 2010 520d not even a year ago and found out about the timing chain woes. Didn't think it extended to the 3 series.

I believe there's more than the timing chain to sort out on the 320 and the work is being done by BMW.

Any BMW diesel 2.0 litre on cars from late 2007 to around 2013 are potentially affected. Anything with N47xxx engine code. I hope your mother ain't paying BMW 5k to fix it btw.

johnayo

Lots of info on the Google.
This is just one
http://www.bmwhaus.ie/forum/showthread.php?tid=5746

kkelly77

bazz26 wrote: »

Any BMW diesel 2.0 litre on cars from late 2007 to around 2013 are potentially affected. Anything with N47xxx engine code. I hope your mother ain't paying BMW 5k to fix it btw.

AFAIK she's not but is still getting stung for a big repair bill. I told her if it's a known issue and there was a recall, she should be pushing for a free repair and then haggle from there if needs be.

It's the girlfriend's mother so I'm only getting information further down the line. Everyone's being hush hush about it as it was her immediate family that convinced her to purchase the car new in the first place. I think none of them want to admit they advised her poorly to spend a huge amount of money on a new Beemer only for it to have a catastrophic failure like this. Should have stuck with her old reliable POS :rolleyes:

delly

Based on the opening post relating to fuel pump failing, how does this apply to the common chain issue?

kkelly77

delly wrote: »

Based on the opening post relating to fuel pump failing, how does this apply to the common chain issue?

Sorry, I didn't explain that very well. As I said, I'm only getting this info from very non technical people.

It was explained to me (by her mother) that the pump ran off the timing chain. I knew this info wasn't correct at all but it was pointless querying it with her. It's possible that the mechanic she brought the car to initially explained what had failed and also mentioned the known issue with the chain. 2+2=5?

bazz26

There is no official recall on the timing chain. BMW were replacing them on a case by case basis on the QT. The BMW dealer can lodge a goodwill claim with BMW but it really depends on the car's service history and how willing the dealer is prepared to make your case to BMW. If your car has a good service history with BMW or you are a good customer of the dealer then you have a good chance they will cover most of the cost. But some dealers are better at pushing the manufacturer for goodwill than others.

kkelly77

I'm just reading the recall document that was posted to the bmwhaus forum (attached).

On page 3, it details the high pressure pump chain. Can anyone clarify if this is what drives the fuel pump?

delly

kkelly77 wrote: »

Sorry, I didn't explain that very well. As I said, I'm only getting this info from very non technical people.

It was explained to me (by her mother) that the pump ran off the timing chain. I knew this info wasn't correct at all but it was pointless querying it with her. It's possible that the mechanic she brought the car to initially explained what had failed and also mentioned the known issue with the chain. 2+2=5?

Ah, I get you now. So the theory was a possible chain failure led to pump failure and so on. I'm sure someone with more tech knowledge will confirm if this is possible or not.

In relation to the chain issues, my brother imports BMWs from the UK. His bread and butter is the 520d and he has been unlucky with one of them over the last five years having the very early sound of the chain death rattle. BMW Ireland didn't offer anything to get it sorted, but he went to a NI dealer who managed to contribute 80% of the cost, but only after certain criteria were met. This related to age, mileage and BMW service history. He ended up with a car that he could then advertise as having been fixed, which led to a more educated buyer happily purchasing the car.

I would think it would be very unlikely that BMW Ireland would offer anything in your case, if it was found to be chain related.

George Dalton

kkelly77 wrote: »

I'm just reading the recall document that was posted to the bmwhaus forum (attached).

On page 3, it details the high pressure pump chain. Can anyone clarify if this is what drives the fuel pump?

Yes the HPFP is chain driven.

But fuel pump failure and fuel pump drive failure (chain failure) are two very different things.

To be honest without any more definite info about what happened to the engine this is a pretty pointless discussion.