[zain320DMSPORT]

(Very 1st post, and I am not familiar with boards etc, so sorry in advance!!)

I have recently purchased a 2008 320D Msport with 57k mls on the clock with full BMW service history and serviced every 15k mls. I have noticed engine starting to sound a bit rough in 6th gear, then 5th gear and fuel consumption rising.

I put Hibetane fuel additive in 160 mls ago with no improvement, and i have warmed the car before running at 3.5-4k rpm on motorway in 4th gear for a few miles in hope to clean combustion chambers/injectors etc!

Fuel filter and air filter changed during last service as well as the usual oil/filter etc. Comprehensive warantee wont be valid until end of feb. I had diagnostic check today with no probhlem reported, but car has got worse throughout the day. I am thinking of getting oil/filter change done asap and asking about crank breather/filter change too! Comprehensive warantee (when its valid) obviously wont cover existing problems and im hoping to get away with a small bill before anything major goes BANG, so in the meantime, any ideas/help/suggestions/experienced similar prob/thoughts would be HUGELY appreciated...THANKS...

[ptpending]

google N47 chain problem

[zain320DMSPORT]

Saw the link and it's frightening alright. Drove to BMW dealer this morning and mpg dial moves very low even with very few revs whilst driving there so took it real easy. Service manager checked service booklet and said service isn't needed but if I leave car overnight that they would check it. Comprehensive warantee isn't active till Feb though and I'm hesitant to give car to Bmw as this could prove there is an existing fault before warantee is active so it wouldn't be covered. .. Don't know which direction to best approach. ..

[E91-Gaz]

Why would it be the timing chain? Alot of scaremongering surrounding the N47 timing chain.

You say it's making a noise in 6th and now 5th? What about at idle and in the 1st and 2nd gear particularly around the 1500rpm mark?

My first check would be to check the pressure at the dpf to see if it's potentially blocked.

[zain320DMSPORT]

Thanks for the reply Gaz... it just sounds a bit rough in 6th/5th , and now mpg dial is falling rapidly when hardly depressing accelerator at all! As I've said, I've ran the car on motorway in 4th gear between 3.5-4k rpm for a few miles and since the problem seems to have worsened. I appreciate your reply, but how do I check the pressure at dpf?

[E91-Gaz]

You can check it using DIS or any good bmw specialist should be able to check it for you.

[zain320DMSPORT]

Just popped into local garage and explained everything, and he plugged it in to diagnostics, and...NO FAULTS...so just gonna drive it and then get service when its due and when im covered for warantee faults etc, but ill update on anything/everything in meantime...

[zain320DMSPORT]

had to take car to independant dealer for diagnostic and told him to do oil and filter, but he checked air filter as well and it was so filthy, leaves etc(didnt look like it had been changed, so he did that, despite service book saying that it had been done 15 k miles ago, along with fuel filter and oil (which he said was filthy too) etc. Car running better but still not as good as it was before. Now obviously, if i had gotten BMW main dealer to do this, it would have questioned previous service, but as i went to independant dealer in the meantime, this would invalidate my warantee which is only active in feb...maybe the lesson to be learned here is, no matter what full BMW stamped dealer service record says, get your newly aquired car serviced asap after purchase!!!

[ukbeemerboy]

Filters can look filthy after 15k miles, depends where the car was used before you bought it really.

If it's showing no fault codes, then I'd be checking all pipe work, boost pipes for a kick off. If one is leaking or popped off then that will cause all sorts of funny running.

Why does your warranty not start until Feb? Seems a bit odd....

[dj219957]

have you check the obvious like check engine bay for loose connectors, split/loose hoses, have you tried a fresh tank of fuel. explain the noise you have in more detail. does it make the noise at idle? it is a ticking or more of lumpy running?

[makkan00]

Connect it to dealer level equipment and it should show the codes.
Generic code readers only read the codes if engine management light is on.

[zain320DMSPORT]

Originally Posted by ukbeemerboy

Filters can look filthy after 15k miles, depends where the car was used before you bought it really.

If it's showing no fault codes, then I'd be checking all pipe work, boost pipes for a kick off. If one is leaking or popped off then that will cause all sorts of funny running.

Why does your warranty not start until Feb? Seems a bit odd....

Im seriously thinking that the last service details in the service book are fake, or the previous owner knows someone in his dealership.

The oil was filthy, and the filter and housing were really bad!!!

I bought the car in mid november and imported it. I tried to transfer the warantee, but it wasnt possible. I was on to warantee crowd and they did say that they tried to contact me, but now there is a gap in my warantee from nov till feb (as i have to wait a month before warantee is active). My warantee doesnt cover anything that happened in the interim...i.e...this problem. My BMW dealer said that the car didnt need a service, but i was afraid to give it to the dealer in case they found a serious fault that wouldnt have been covered by the warantee...which is why i thought i'd get an independant garage to just change the oil and filter and wait until my warantee began before putting the car in with the main dealer.

Of course this will mean getting the oil and filter changed within 5k mls, but what the heck...I thought if they had found a major problem, that i would have been paying for a BIG problem. The thing now is...if i tell the dealer that I suspect that it wasnt recently serviced as it should have been, then I am afraid it will invalidate my warantee, as would getting the oil, filter and air filter changed at an independant non-BMW garage...

I feel kinda caught between a rock and a hard place here...

[makkan00]

Oil becomes very dirty after 5k.
I change oil on my car every 5-7k and I can tell you that it comes out filthy.
Air filter every 10k and it appears reasonable as we have less pollution in Uk.

[zain320DMSPORT]

Left car into BMW dealership today for service and later received a call from them stating that the timing chain was eating into the sprockets and it would cost 5k eu to fix, that my warantee wouldn't cover the cost and that he was going to apply to BMW to cover the parts and labour as a good will gesture, even though he admitted it was a known problem with BMW!!! On the way to collect car shortly and to find out my fate...

[kayfaz]

Sorry to hear that mate, I really do hope BMW cover the cost...

Let us know how you get on.

Good Luck

[zain320DMSPORT]

Im shitting bricks here. ... When they called, they said to collect car, no point doing service and on a scale of 1-10, it's a 6 on timing chain failure. .. feels like im going to be driving a ticking time bomb. ..

[zain320DMSPORT]

Decided to leave the car with bmw dealer. .. awaiting decision from bmw on if they going to cover the cost of parts and labour, if any at all. ... Anyone else been successful with similar problem, I would like to hear from them. ..

[Icekube]

it was on BBC watchdog, thats how big an issue it is.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006...gine-2007-2009

[Reece]

Forget me if im wrong but was the timing chain not designed to last the cars life and be bomb proof?
Surely if it goes its down to BMW to replace it?
If i noticed this start happening to mine it would be gone in a flash

[Jase 320d]

Its the problem with the n47 engine!

In theory it should last a lifetime but in reality they can go at anytime

A reason why i bought the newest m47 engine i could find (older engine 163bhp)



Also in regards to oil being black and looking 'old' a diesel car will blacken its oil on the first turn of the key!

Its only on petrol's it stays golden (well it should)

[kayfaz]

Originally Posted by Jase 320d

Its the problem with the n47 engine!

In theory it should last a lifetime but in reality they can go at anytime

A reason why i bought the newest m47 engine i could find (older engine 163bhp)



Also in regards to oil being black and looking 'old' a diesel car will blacken its oil on the first turn of the key!

Its only on petrol's it stays golden (well it should)

So less chances for the newer 177bhp engine?

[Jase 320d]

No the 177 and 184 engines are the n47 engine and suffer timing chain failure.


I bought the older m47 engine (upto 2007)
Granted the earlier m47 engine is reported to have a weak turbo but id rather replace a turbo than suffer timing chain failure :O