This Has been a big subject with everyone on my blog,,,,some of you guys have been asking about the bulletin about this repair,,,,so this is the BMW bulletin that us technicians work with,,,,I hope this helps some of you guys.
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bmwtechnician 
Hi Bimmertech,
So I have the most wonderful engine in the world. So I let you know before that my BMW 550ix N63 engine has had the customer service package. Well 500 feet away from delaler after package completed check engine light, on a d DT Malfunction. They had given me my car when the shop was closing. Called advisor and said oh it’s the computer trying to reset its self. Drove home and pool of oil in garage floor, oil from front of motor , to rear of motor and alllll the way back to the rear bumber. Hard to start, stall, and an timeing chain jump later it’s back at dealer. Would you let them fix the motor or request a new one?
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Sound like a major f*$k up on the dealer end,,,the service advisor should have told you to come right back in,,,also sound like the technician didn’t test drive after repairs like it should have a minimum of 2 to 3 miles,,,,ok that being said I would try and get a new engine,,,BMW have lowered the price on those engine to about $6000 because they are the best engines in the world,,,,lol,,,besides if the oil ran out and the timing chain jumped it could have caused a lot more unseen damage inside the engine.
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I really appreciate your advice and coments back, once I win the lottery, I promise to look you up and its vacation time! I will push back, so far they are saying they have approval to open the valve covers to see what’s going on. LoL, they are just trying to find a way out of the mess up!
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Yes they are trying to cover their ass,,,,I have seen the timing chain jump and it usually causes damage to the intake and exhaust valves
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Hello, I’m from france, Can you tell me if my n20b20 sound normal or timing chain issue ?
Thanks you very much !
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Thanks for the video,,,,yes on the first video it does sound like the timing chain whine is starting,,,I would have it checked out if you can from BMW technician
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Ok ok Thanks you a lot !
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i need to add my chain have no play at all with cold and warm engine, i call my bmw dealer and he said he never have anyproblem with this engine. In france no problem on the timing chain on dealer !
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I know some countries have more problems with the timing chain and some countries don’t have any,,,BMW will not tell us why each country is different.,,,maybe that whine noise is the turbo charger whistle it’s hard to tell from the video,,,it doesn’t hurt to have it checked out from the dealer
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I have a BMW x3 year 2015, but upon looking at the production date the car was produced in September 2014, should I be concerned with the timing chain, I have 76,000 miles on it , I received no extended warranty on the timing chain from BMW.
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Yes I would be concerned
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Good morning, This is my first time posting here. The question I have concerns my Bmw 2013 550i Gt with X drive. I currently have 61000 km on my vehicle with very little issues up to this point. Although, I did purchase the vehicle with 38000km and from what I can see the previous owner did have some issues with the vehicle as the work was done under warranty. I know the engine can be problematic and to b honest the negative reviews do worry me. Just wondering what I can do to reduce the likelihood of a serious engine problem. Kindest regards, Stephen
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Thanks for posting,,,,your a brave man,,,lol,,,hopefully the previous owner had the injectors replaced and turbo coolant hoses updates and turbo oil lines also updated if needed,,,,the best thing you probably could do is have the oil and filter replaced earlier,,,,waiting the 10k mile service for oil change is not helping with vanos unit issue you might run into later on,,,,because when the vanos units get dirty oil in them then you will start to have some problems,,,,also driving the car a little hard at time also helps,,,help clear out the engine.
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Thank you for getting back to me, I just checked the history because I do have it and indicates that the crankcase lines were changed on the vehicle and the spark plugs were done at 38,000 kilometres. Interesting lie, I do have small story to share. Before I purchased this vehicle from BMW in Toronto Ontario I took the car for a test drive with the sales representative, during that ride I noticed there was a bit of a shutter which he said at the time was probably a balancing issue and they would take care of it I asked him to record it so that it wasn’t an issue down the road dread fast forward to the day I picked up my car and everything looked amazing I drove the car for 5 minutes on the 407 Highway and noticed the shuttering was really bad almost seemed to be going back and forth he said to bring the car back immediately ended up going for a test drive with the shop foreman and told me the bad news but the transfer case was gone. They ended up paying for it which turned out to be a $10,800 repair bill. Back to your original comments about the fuel injectors and turbo lines. Also so we’re on the same page I’m in kilometres not in miles. My question is should I be changing the fuel injectors now and doing something with the turbo and or lines? I don’t mind doing the maintenance ahead of time.?
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Hello,
First of all thank you so much for your website and the articles you post. I purchased a 2012 328i sport last year in Canada with 103,000 km. I shortly after became aware of the timing chain issues with the N20 engine. In October I took by BMW in for service at the local dealer for a LIN bus fault. I asked them to check the timing chain to which they said there were no early warning signs of failure and everything looked OK. This morning my wife was driving and she told me that the engine was making rattling sounds and there seemed to be a loss of power. She pulled over briefly and turned off the car and then back on. The engine started for a few seconds and then stalled. It will not start and makes a click sound – the started engages but the engine is seized.
I had the car towed home and removed the oil filler cap. Sure enough the chain is loose and I can pull it up with my finger.
I am so frustrated!! It seems as if the chain must have skipped a tooth ( hence the loss of power and then seized). I knew of this problem and missed it!! Can you tell me, what are the chances that the engine was not damaged and that the chain and guide can be replaced without damage to the head, valves and pistons ( as the car was only idling when it died) The mileages is 147,000 km (90,700 miles)
Any information is appreciated! Thank you
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You probably have a 50 to 50 percent chance that no valve damage happened
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Do all f30’s with faulty n20 timing chain issues have to be repaired per the service bulletin above, or could just the chain be replaced if no damage is found to other components? I have a 2014 328i xdrive that is at the BMW shop right now for this fix. I just bought the car and wanted the timing chain inspected to see if I could the repair before the extended warranty period expired.
Thanks
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No you need to replace the oil pump chain because that chain also has issues and can cause a whine noise.
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Hi,
Really good help here, thanks!
Old tread, but today’s problem for me.
This servicebulletin, how many hours in total did BMW allow to charge? My son bought a used F31N20 2013 close to 150tkm so it’s not covered. Special tools for locking positions, is it optional(just easier to use) or a must?
Thank you in advance?
/Patrik
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BMW charged about 10hrs,,,and yes the timing tools are must and locking pin for the flywheel
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Hi, last years my my BMW X3 2011 engine seized( timing chain issue)
So,I am looking for buy BMW 3 series (328xi or 320xi) and I’m worry about same issues.
I want to know in which months and year, did the BMW already solved the issue for time chaing ?
Could you please give me advice about that.
Is it important which country build the 3 series and used the old timing chain?
Thank you for your help
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