318d Touring owner

[Atti]

Hi All, 

After nearly 35 years of motoring, I just picked up a 2010 318d Touring and I have to say it is brilliant!

It has a FSH and done just over 128k, but starts and goes really well. There are a couple of issues which I'll try to find elsewhere on the forum. If anyone can advise or put a link to similar queries I'd be grateful. 

1. It is one of the potential engines with timing chain issues. However as the car had BMW FSH until recently, is it fair to assume that it is not affected? 

2. There is no recall in the DVLA Mot site, but BMW have the following recall references 61660400 61770400 when I plug in the VIN number. Anyone know what these are? 

3. There is a slight tremor in the gear stick at idle, that disappears when being driven. I assume this is the DM Flywheel. Question is how bad does it need to be before considering a new DMF/Clutch 

4. There is a high pitch electrical buzzing. It's very faint and audible as soon as I put the fob into the key (ie no ignition) and continues once the engine starts. There is no change in pitch with revs or gears. 

Perhaps I'm being a bit cautious, considering the mileage and my lack of BMW experience, but any thoughts on the above would be appreciated. 

Meantime I'm looking forward to driving the car. 

Cheers 

 

[Greydog]

Morning Iain 

Happy New Year and Welcome to the Forum

Congratulations on the new to you car, first was it a Private purchase or from an Independent Garage or from a BMW Dealer? Each will give a varying amount of protection.

1. Private sale virtually no protection under the Sale of Goods Act

2. Independent Dealer some Warranty possibly and full cover under the Sale of Goods Act

3. BMW AUC here you should have BMW warranty plus Sale of Goods Act

Now your questions as best I can

1.The N47 engine in your car has the timing chain at the rear of the engine so engine out to change guides and chain (clever !!!) However there are thousands of these engines out there with mega miles on them, the V8 engines had similar issues by the way. My own being one of them BMW are not alone with these problems and my own theory is the extended service intervals that all manufacturers go to these days are actually the cause particularly in engines that live life in towns with short stop start journeys. I now change oil at 5k intervals with filter every 10k.

2. Can't give a pointer as to what the numbers are but call BMW their recall number is 0843 133 7228. There are several recalls some safety related so for a phone call?

3. If it is just a tremor try just putting your foot on the clutch does it stop then? Vibration can be many things engine mounts, gearbox mounts, misfire, oil leak. Very difficult to diagnose from a brief description.

4. Without hearing the sound again difficult to guess, but could be high pressure fuel pump running.

If you are a DIY mechanic get yourself a BMW specific code reader it will prove invaluable, if not there is a Register of Independent BMW Specialists find one near you and talk to them.

For parts check www.realoem.com put the last 7 digits of your Vin into the search box it will bring up your model. For Technical information use www.newtis.info this is the same information used by BMW Dealers.

Remember most Forums are populated by folks with issues some of whom are on several sites so magnifying the perceived problem.

I hope this helps, enjoy your new car

Dave

[Atti]

Hi Dave, 

Thanks so much for the response and links/leads. I'll follow up in due course.

The car was from an independent dealer - but I insisted on a 6 month warranty - so hopefully that will cover any major failure, given the FSH. I've attached a couple of photo's to show it off - yes the finish is that good!

Having read through a number of posts yesterday I am a bit more relaxed and think there is no expensive repair on the horizon. I drove the car on the motorway yesterday and, other than the vibration and electrical noise, it was sound.

I am probably being picky as I not fully aware of how a BMW should sound and feel. I don't mind the the noises/vibration - as it is a "fairly" aged and high miler and it will have nuances - I think it adds character.  

I like the idea of working on my own car again - I used to do a bit of DIY when distributor caps were the norm - but I am a bit reluctant to do so given how much IT is in a car these days. Reckon I buy a Haynes manual to begin with and see how confident I am at the various tasks. 

Cheers

Iain

 

 

 

 

[Greydog]

Hi Iain

No Haynes manual I am afraid, there is an American site www.pelicanparts.com which has some very detailed how too's with pictures (steering on the wrong side of course) just remember America still thinks diesel is for trucks so mechanically all petrol engines. However electrics, suspension and drive train are all the same. Plus someone is always posting video's on You Tube so plenty of help.

If you have an old laptop down load a diagnostic programme so you can interrogate the beasty your self, I find it invaluable even if I am not going to do the work myself (in my 70's) but I do have a couple of younger bendier sons so there isn't much I/we cant tackle. I use BMW 1.4.0 which cost me around a tenner (that was a few years back) it will scan every control module in the car and give fault diagnosis in English not codes I can clear fault codes then re-read to see if they come back often they are triggered by low voltage at start up so spurious. But if there is an issue it is clear about what and where the fault is, my most recent a faulty parking sensor the reader told me "rear centre left" was at fault so simple fix.

Really nice looking motor enjoy

Dave