mole1811

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. :)

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