Much will depend on the cars service history but i hope they do honour this too common problem.

However you mention Cambridge, well Chelmsford isn't a million miles away and at Chelmsford lurks PMW a well respected BMW indy, a very nice chap to deal with and would be who i would ask advice from in the event goodwill is not forthcoming....we have used them twice for swirl flap removal on 320d's but other than that have no association.

I certainly wouldn't be giving any money to the main dealer who represents the maker unless you can come to some agreement.

ISTR that HJ mentions PMW in his in depth car by car revies of BMW.

Edited by ajp116i on 26/05/2013 at 04:21

A very very common fault on the 1 series just about every car from this era has a timing chain problem often resulting in new engine

Is that why you see thousands of broken down BMW's and other cars with snapped timing chains littering the sides of the roads.

What total nonsense. We currently have 3 cars in the family (one is a BMW) with chains and have had no problems, total age of the cars is 14 years. Prior to this in the past 20 years we have had another 5 cars with chains (3 were Nissans which some say have major issues) and guess what, no problems.

Like most things poor maintenance by previous owners causes the problems, use the correct spec oil/filter and change at the correct interval and problems are most unliekly.

Those Germans are great engineers, they managed to take the almost unburstable PSA TU engine as a starting point and re-engineer it into a potential grenade. If it was a Rover engine the news would be plastered all over the media. Still, you've got a nice shiny "premium" badge to polish on a Sunday morning to impress the neighbours, that's all that matters? Isn't it?

Surely if it was timing chain failure the car would be completely undrivable?

Or am I missing something?

May have just jumped a tooth rather than letting go completely.

It was part of a recall to have the timing chain replaced probably escaped the net on all 1 series here in Germany, I cannot think it would be any different in the UK.

So does the car now run perfectly then? If so then it can't have been a timing chain problem, can it?

Are you absolutely sure that the work you've described is the work the BMW dealer has carried out on your car? It wouldn't be the first time a large main dealer has managed to mix up the details on two similar car invoices.

Many years ago an AA patrolman told my dad that his car wouldn't run "because there was something wrong with the carburettor". In reality the cambelt had snapped!

I suspect it was the timing chain but the dealer would rather charge you for some invented problem which covers the (trade) cost of doing the chain over the hassle of chasing a warranty claim.

Not that I'm aware of. But do remember, this is a 9 year old car you've got.

If you've got a full BMW main agent service history, then I suppose there's a slight chance of getting some goodwill payment/discount, but if it's been serviced by an independent then I don't think you've got much hope at all.

What ? You mean you actually expect people to read the thread before posting ?

In all fairness though, the OP might have read the thread through. If they're not down in the Sarf East though, PMW wouldn't be much use to them

Hi Jason, I'm currently in the same position as you 3 years later. Just wondering what the outcome was?

Jason has not posted on the forum in over 2 years, so is unlikely to see that