[Sparky68]

Had 3 BMWs before the ST, never crossed my mind, was to busy enjoying it!

[- Paul -]

Originally Posted by shortie

Unfortunately not,i only joined after i got the car, wont ever make that mistake again. Serves me right for not doing my research.

Is the 320d or 325d a reliable engine? Slightly better running costs than the 330d or 335d.

My 320D (2005) was great - especially when remapped.

[AdrianSi]

Originally Posted by dopper99

If its any conciliation, I've had/have two 330d's (pre-LCI and LCI) and had no problems whatsoever with reliability.

Your LCi is fairly new tho isn't it? Mines an Sept 08 (58) registration, that I picked up 2.5yrs old with 56K on the clock which was relatively high mileage. The timing chain noise wasn't severe but being mechanically minded I knew it wernt right. So I had the replacement under manufacture warranty as it had half a year left on it. This was over a year ago now.

What im warning about is that mine was an early high miles example, but there will be a lot of LCi 330ds approaching the similar mileage now so it is something to look out for when buying one. The N47 2.0d suffers the same noise, and failures can be seen between 80-100k. A friend of mines father worked for Kents police transport depot, who said they had a fleet of 2008-2009 3.0d X5s that suffered timing chain failures at around 100k, smashed engines! I have no doubt if the noise on mine continued it would have been the same scenario!

There should be no noises with the 6pot... Just silky smooth throughout the rev range. Mine had a jangally (is that a word?) That was just noticeable on idle but prominent at 2K and feathered off at 3K. It was bad enough that driving with the window down on a country lane you clearly hear the noise. Much like a tappet noise.

[dopper99]

Originally Posted by AdrianSi

Your LCi is fairly new tho isn't it?

Yes this is true and I've only covered just over 10K miles from new so I dont think I'll be seeing timing chain problems for quite some time.

My old 330d was a pre-LCI and covered around 60K, but is the old M57 engine of course.