Model: 2014 F30 320i Sport AWD/xDrive (Stock car only cosmetic changes made so far)
Mileage: 40,300
Timing Chain Status: Seems to be fine at the moment. Looking through the oil filler cap the chain has very light 'shiny' marks on it which i think is normal wear and tear i hope.
(will try upload a pic of the chain through the oil filler cap and add it here soon - might be useful if others do the same for comparison)
Oil Changes: Bought the car recently and car was following BMW maintenance schedules before i got it but now will be changing it every 5-6K Miles
Stop/Start Coded Status: Coded out, never use it and never will (personal preference etc), not sure if the previous owner used it though.
Additional notes:
Had the car for 6 weeks putting around 700~ miles on the car so far with varied conditions (currently at 40.3k). Had no problems and to me the engine is very quiet (some people say it is loud for a petrol when reading forums because of the injectors) but i just came from a e60 520d which was crazy loud even for a diesel (N47 engine with apparently a bigger timing chain problem than the N20 but i never encountered that before selling luckily - sold with 94k miles on it had it from 50k). I've listened to countless 'timing chain' noise videos and it seems to be a distinctive sound which may help with diagnosing the problem before it happens just depends how bad the problem is with your car and if you are unlucky? I changed the oil and filter myself 1 week ago and will be making sure this is done around every 5k miles.
From reading nearly every thread on this over the last 2 weeks and posts about this problem because i have this engine i wanted to do my research. Most people are having problems with build date 12/13 on the 328i so it seems and most with problem mentioned they are using ASS (i know could be a coincidence but its what i've seen while researching). Maybe more 12/13 328i's exist and a lot of people seem to say they are only following the iDrive for oil changes and people who seem to change their oil more regularly report less problems (again coincidence?).
Otherwise i can't see a real 'pattern' emerging and all the timing chain/oil pump chain and guides part numbers changes discussions don't seem very conclusive with no real definitive answer to that. Not seen many people try preventative changes to the parts so not sure how effective this is? I would love to hear more from people who have carried out the preventative maintenance for the chains and guides.
Good luck everyone and i hope all our N20/26 engines stay working perfectly!
