Hi all,

Looking to buy my first 3 series soon and just wondered if I could get some advice. ....

Ive found a 57 plate 320d m sport. It has 1 former keeper and has been serviced with BMW dealers throughout.

Now looking around on BMW forums and general Google bashing, I have read that the N47 engine in the 1 3 & 5 series between 07 & 09 have catastrophic timing chain issues.

From my research it seems to be an error in manufacturing the chains and that the chain can fail at any moment without warning. Whether that be at 20k or 100k. Is this true??

I have also read that this failure is due to poor maintenance and using the wrong oil etc. Again any truth in this?

The 320d I am looking at has 96k on the clock so slightly higher than average, but as said above has been serviced at BMW throughout.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. The car is lovely and I really want it, but this chain issue is really putting me off.

Thanks in advance.

Mole

that be at 20k

This is a really difficult call. If it was me I would probably avoid the N47 engine and go for something else. However there are cars with this engine out there with 170k miles on the clock and I am sure they haven't paid the £1,600 to get the chain changed. Some have been fleet cars.

Auto's appear to have been less of a problem due to the smoother gear changes not putting as much stress on the timing chain.

I would like to know what the ratio of failures is to N47 cars on the road. I would have thought the failures probably only relate to a fraction of 1%.

If you really like the car but find any indication of rattling around the engine, walk away. There are a lot of 320d's on the road and the majority of which I am sure will be fine.

welcome to the forum Chris - :)

there are many 320d models about so hearing about them is common. as long as its had dot on oil changes & not thrashed about you should be ok. i have seen high mile models where people have not had any major issues.

Cheers guys, puts my mind at ease a little.

I will go through the service history with a fine tooth comb amd also take my cousin who is a desiel engineer with me and see what he thinks.

If I do end up with a slipping chain, he has the no how and ability to change it thankfully.

So far it seems all above board with regular services by bmw dealer etc so fingers crossed the test drive will keep me smiling.

:)