Timing Chain Replacement - B10 Bi-Turbo - The Unofficial BMW M5 Messageboard (m5board.com)

NRL BITURBO · 6th February 2001, 22:08

I am getting conflicting advice regarding replacement of my timing chain. Some say that you need only change it if it gets noisy, others say that it should be replaced at 160,000 kms.

Can anyone shed any light on this? Does it need to be changed at a given mileage, or can it be left to chug on and on?

Thanks in advance and regards,

Neil

[This message has been edited by NRL BITURBO (edited 06 February 2001).]

MTY · 7th February 2001, 09:55

Hi Neil,

Changing the timing chain is quite expensive...but in my opinion is what you have to do if it gets noisy.

I had a 635csi and I sold it with 234.000km, I didn´t change the timing chain because it didn´t get noisy. ( I mean, they can last a lot of km ).

Now, I´m in the same situation as you, with a 535i. My mechanic suggests me to change and this is what I´m going to do. They know much more than us ! I don´t want to have problems due to this, reliability is what I most value in a daily use car.

Regards, Mikel.

[This message has been edited by MTY (edited 07 February 2001).]

raymondw · 7th February 2001, 12:57

Hi Neil,

The origin of the recommendation for replacing the timing chain comes from experiences with the earlier ///M engines with a single timing chain such as the E24 ///M635CSI, E28 ///M5. When with these engines the timing chain is not replaced before the 100k mile mark, the odds are very high that it breaks (This also counts for the E30 ///M3). These six cylinder engines are based on the M49 engine family from the 1970's. To solve this problem, BMW used a duplex timing chain for the later ///M engines for the E34 and E36.

The Alpina B10 biturbo engine is based on the M30 engine family which is also used for the 535i, 635CSI and 735i after 1982. This engine type also have a single timing chain. For the standard BMW cars it is only necessary to replace the timing chain for this engine type when it becomes noisy, but mostly the timing chain outlives the car itselfe. I also have a 1988 E32 735i which needed a cylinder head revision at 130000km last year and my BMW dealer did not find it necessary to replace the timing chain.

But since the Alpina B10 biturbo has a much faster revving engine than the standard BMW M30 engines which it is based on, it might be wise to replace the timing chain at higher mileages. Like the ///M engines, it revs up much faster and the forces on the timing chain, cranck-and cam sprockets are also higher which in turn increases wear and tear.

With best regards,

Raymond

[This message has been edited by raymond woertman (edited 07 February 2001).]

NRL BITURBO · 8th February 2001, 21:57

Thanks for the comments, Raymond and Mikel.

Neil