Timing chain: to replace or not??

[AK_Wes]

Originally Posted by Portly

This is a pretty good place to start regarding what's involved as a DIYer.

https://blog.fcpeuro.com/how-to-repl...part-1-removal

It's.... involved. I plan to address mine in the not-too-distant future, just so I don't have to worry about it.

_Jeff

I saw that same guide a little while ago and that's what made me think about doing it myself at some point in the future. I at just over 50k miles and I don't hear any noise just yet, but if I have the vehicle still in a few more years I will give it a try.

[aloyouis]

Originally Posted by aloyouis

I did just as you indicated above and it seems tight. No movement up or down. 79k miles.

So now I am at 83K miles. The engine has used no oil in 3K miles since I changed it. Sounds exactly the same. Runs great and getting about 27 MPG in mixed use.

Am I out of the woods on a timing chain issue?

[4_ring_circus]

I have done a tone of research into this issue on the N20 engine and on Audis TFSI 2.0 which seems to have a similar issue.

From what I have gathered and experienced it is the guides that wear out from not doing proper oil changes or not using the proper oil. I have a 2012 X1 that I bought with "bad timing chain" and no compression in any of the cylinders, I did some investigating into this bad engine and it turned out that one of the guides fell apart retarded the timing and plugged up the oil pick up. There was no compression because engine was not timed properly, there was no damage to the valves or pistons. Oil starvation caused scoring on the camshafts and camshaft journals.

Anyways, long story short I bought a replacement engine out of a 2013 with 100k kms and it already had play in the chain and the guides were worn a fair amount. Had those replaced while the engine was out of the car.

So just a reminder to watch out and be careful what mechanics tell you, chains don't usually just break on their own, there is usually an underlying issue with something else.

[aloyouis]

Originally Posted by 4_ring_circus

I have done a tone of research into this issue on the N20 engine and on Audis TFSI 2.0 which seems to have a similar issue.

From what I have gathered and experienced it is the guides that wear out from not doing proper oil changes or not using the proper oil. I have a 2012 X1 that I bought with "bad timing chain" and no compression in any of the cylinders, I did some investigating into this bad engine and it turned out that one of the guides fell apart retarded the timing and plugged up the oil pick up. There was no compression because engine was not timed properly, there was no damage to the valves or pistons. Oil starvation caused scoring on the camshafts and camshaft journals.

Anyways, long story short I bought a replacement engine out of a 2013 with 100k kms and it already had play in the chain and the guides were worn a fair amount. Had those replaced while the engine was out of the car.

So just a reminder to watch out and be careful what mechanics tell you, chains don't usually just break on their own, there is usually an underlying issue with something else.

Great info, thank you.

My engine sounds fine, runs strong, has had frequent oil changes and consumes no oil. Best bet is just to continue, I guess.

Will do.

[GuamX1]

My X1 is a 2013 Xdrive 2.8 It is a wonderful car but now at 79K miles, it is driven by my wife so it has not been pushed. I do the oil changes myself with Castrol 5w-40 oil all the time every 3K miles. It starts and sounds like a diesel and does not change even when warm. I was told that this 4 banger really sounds like that. Is that true?

[jsparts]

Originally Posted by Jonathan0880

Just to update everyone on the situation:

I called a few BMW dealers in the region regarding this and elite BMW Ottawa said to wait until June as there might be some news on whether a recall will happen or not, if it doesn't, then we're $hit out of luck. I also realized there is a recall for the driver side airbag so I have to bring it in anyway...

Furthermore, I talked to my mechanic about it, his shop specializes in european cars like BMW and Porsche, VW, Audi etc. He said for me personally that there doesn't seem to be any issue at present (I'm @ 67K-kms) and he said usually it's an issue of abuse or not doing proper oil changes that leads to the timing chain failure. So I shouldn't worry that much about it. But having said that, he did mention that the N20 engine is the worst engine BMW ever made. lol.

As far as how to check if things are ok, listen for a clatter and whining noise when the engine is running, that's the loose timing chain and it should be fixed right away if that's the case. You can youtube search video's to know what to listen for. General consensus seems to be that it's less likely to happen with more frequent oil changes and not using the stop start function, BUUUUUTTTTT there have been cases where even then, people have still ran into issues.

Personally, I'm going to sit on it for a while, as I'm fairly low km's and I just finished changing coils and some other $hit so in no rush to spend anymore money but I most likely will have it done before 100km's, whether BMW pays or not, I'm budgeting for it already.

Any updates on that recall?

[orca4wd]

My personal experience with BMW is they don't backup with their issues. I had to contact a third-party consumer agent to resolve my disagree. Although, great cars from a driving dynamic standpoint but terrible in customer service. The company does not care for their customers, only care on pure profit. I would never purchase a BMW in my lifetime again.