The Dealer Says My BMW Needs a New Timing Chain?

Question

Scotty,

I recently sold my 2013 BMW 328i 2.0 with just over 100k miles to a high school kid. Sometimes when he starts the car, it will not drive and he needs to restart it. He took it to a BMW dealer who says it needs a new timing chain, and two new turbos?

I have never heard of a timing chain needing replacement. Do you think the pulley needs to be replaced like he says, and the turbos, or is it something else? I know, I know, it is a BMW endless money pit, but I feel bad for the kid because as soon as he bought it, it started having problems.

Chuck Tobias · Accepted Answer

He should take it to an independent BMW mechanic for evaluation rather than a stealership. If he's lucky maybe it just needs a chain tensioner and the dealer is lying about the turbos. Poorly-designed timing chains will wear out, as will chains in a poorly-maintained engine. (Unfortunately a modern BMW is not a very good choice for a high school student.)

Kaizen · Answer

Just judging from the history of recent BMW’s and my personal experience with the BMW dealership, it’s probably the chain guides and/or tensioner, not the chain itself. Not sure what the price difference would be, because a bunch of stuff still needs to be removed to access it. Just a guess.

And it seems that the dealer will quote something related but not exactly the cause.

An independent mechanic may be able to do it for cheaper.

As for the turbos, I’m not sure on that. I’ve only dealt with NA. If the turbos are plastic, it might be like. The DISA valve plastic POS. If it is metal, maybe maybe not.

jdavidm · Answer

It is nice of you to try and help the buyer after the sale. If everything worked fine when he test drove it before the purchase, you should consider it an 'as is' transaction. If the car wasn't having all those problems before you sold it, the teenager might have been racing or driving reckless with it. If you still feel bad for him, take it to the shop you used when you owned it and ask for another opinion. Your mechanic would probably be honest with you because of past business and he could tell if the car had been treated rough.