BMW timing belt [chain]

I done my chain about 18 months ago, genuine parts came in at about 1000 euro. If it isn't rattling I'd leave it alone

I had pretty much the same situation in December last year. 2008 320D estate which I imported in Jan 2009 from the UK. I had 160,000 miles on it. Always serviced with BMW for the first 3 years andd then independents. Oil changes every 9000 miles as well.
When i was in with the mechanic he said that the noise from the engine was the timing chain starting to go. He suggested that I contact BMW as they were doing them under "goodwill". I was extremely sceptical about this but done as suggested and contacted them on line via their web site.
I was contacted by a lady from bmw uk who told me I would need to leave it into a bmw main dealer where they would do a test using some listening device (my words, i cant remember the exact term) which i would have to pay for (around €60 i think). She was confident that there would be a contribution.
Booked it in with Joe Duffy (there was also a couple of recalls to be done).
Short story, it was the timing chain on the way out with a possible bill of €2,500. The guy in Duffys really doubted that BMW would cover little if anything of the bill!!
I contacted BMW again. They stated that once Joe Duffys made a report to them they would definitely cover some if not all of the bill. Two days later the guy in Joe Duffys contacted me to say that BMW came back and was covering 100% labour and 100% parts. He was genuinely surprised as much as me.
Job done and two year warrenty on it as i had to cover the cost of oil and couple of items ancillary to the job.
I wonder if the change in BMW's attitude is related to the court cases being taken in relation to timing chains? I saw the solicitor involved stating that BMW had settled 30 of the cases. Also there may be very few left with the timing chanis left to do.
Anyway its most definitely worth contacting BMW to see if they will cover this before doing anything else.
Best of luck!

Had I known this 3 months ago i might have kept the 5 series.

Was looking at a clutch and flywheel and doing the chain at same time.

Just traded the car as got decent value for it and this hefty bill coming down the tracks fast.

intro wrote: »

Hi Wildly Boaring,

I had intended to post this earlier but unfortunately illness over the christmas period curtailed things a lot.

Oh no worries. I just assumed going near BMW be a complete waste of time.

Learn something new everyday

Are they replacing them as goodwill when have already gone or when they start noising?

If I had a wand test done by bmw and it was shown to be noising could I ask them about getting it done before it snaps/loosens?

Are BMW still replacing timing chains as a goodwill gesture,
Or was there ever a recall regarding these!

Reason I ask, is that I’m looking at a 09 520d but am put off by the timing chain issue!
Beautiful car....... but! I have a niggling feeling in the back of my mind due to this!
If the timing chain was done, or BMW would replace it for me, it would alleviate a lot of my fears!!

Not sure about service history, but mileage is about 285,000km

I’m reading figures of about €1,500 to get that done! And while I could factor that into the life of the car, I’d much prefer if someone else (BMW) would pay it! 😅

Seth Brundle wrote: »

Has a mechanic familiar with BMWs seen the car? Get their advice on whether it's a good buy.
My 09 520d is on about 240k kms with a decent history. I still wouldn't assume that BMW would think that I'm a valued customer driving an 11 year old high mileage low value car.
My mechanic told me that I should get the pre-emptive fix done (doesn't seem noisy to me). I will at some point but as I'm cycling more and more these days I'm not too pushed about it.

I’m based in Mayo, are there any good indie BMW mechanics here that anyone knows about!
I’ve never had a BMW before, so wouldn’t be sure!