Timing chain broken, sas light on, drivetrain malfunction-??

- El Monte, CA, USA

The contact owns a 2013 BMW 328I. The contact stated that upon the start of the vehicle, there was a white plume of smoke coming from the exhaust pipe. The "Drivetrain Malfunction Drive Moderately" message was displayed. The contact also stated that after driving for a while, there was white smoke coming from the engine department. A local dealer was called about the failure and the contact was informed that the failure might be related to the turbo lines, the oil lines, or the head gasket. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and the contact was informed that there were no recalls on the vehicle. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 165,000.

- Greensboro, NC, USA

I bought the car new and since then, on four separate occasions with the engine running and the brake depressed, the engine begins to race at a high speed and on two of those conditions, the car lurched forward and I struck the vehicle in front of me. On the other two occasions, the car did not move forward but the engine was racing. BMW did their inspection on the vehicle and found nothing out of the ordinary but said when this happens again to place the car in neutral and turn off the engine, I'm concerned that when this happens again, I may be at a crosswalk and actually strike a pedestrian causing personal injury or worse. I honestly now feel uncomfortable driving the car as I deem it a safety issue and request assistance.

- Centreville, VA, USA

Timing chain in engine failed while the vehicle was going 70 MPH on a busy highway. Vehicle had 96,054 miles. -??Low oil pressure-?? warning came on and immediately the engine lost compression and car had to be pulled over to side of the highway. The spot the car stalled was in a dangerous curve of the highway making the towing process dangerous. Vehicle does not switch into neutral when the engine isn-??t on. Vehicle had to be dragged onto tow truck ruining the tires. Quoted the repairs at 6 different shops and they were all very familiar with this issue. All estimates for engine repair exceeded the value of the vehicle. Additional costs may have also been incurred as oil pump may have been damaged from timing chain failure. BMW never notified me of the timing chain issues and no dealership I had prior work at ever mentioned the issue.

- Dallas, TX, USA

BMW failed to inform customers about the class action lawsuit several years ago due to the premature failure of the primary and secondary timing chain assemblies for N20 & N26 engines. See SI B11 03 17. Owners of these vehicles were never notified of this documented and extremely hazardous problem. The government should make this a recall and not allowed it to just be an extended warranty that has since expired and was unknown to many owners. There are thousands of these vehicles on the road with this defective part that could suddenly cause the engine to cease working, resulting in an accident that could cause injury and death to many. If this chain fails while driving it is catastrophic to both the car and the people. A recall should be issued immediately.

- Colchester, VT, USA

The turbo valve outside of the turbo leaks back into the engine and creates a cloud of smoke at start up.They created a new one way valve to come out of turbo but it's not in the recall list. It's very expensive to fix you have to take the whole car apart. It's dangerous at startup I had a huge cloud of smoke and can cause an accident from cars not being able to see from all the smoke in the parking garage. My number is [XXX] [XXX] Email- [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

- Fresno, TX, USA

The engine component caught fire spontaneously when car was pulled into a parking lot. There was no warning sign. It did not show any service required notice like it usually does on the dashboard for example if oil is low. There were no recalls pending on this vehicle. The fire was big enough that we had to call fire department to put out. It would have affected other vehicles if not put out. The vehicle was declared total loss after an inspection by insurance company. The car manufacturer (BMW) was contacted but not responded yet. It is available for detailed inquiry and inspection in a secure place.

- Scottsdale, AZ, USA

Timing chain system failed. Inspection no longer possible due to being repaired in order to be used and not blow engine. Daughter driving on freeway to Phoenix, AZ in 115+ degree weather and left to sit on side of rode with no A/C until tow truck able to tow vehicle rest of way to Phoenix, AZ. Chandler BMW confirmed issue and repaired. Independent service provider in hometown informed me of every BMW owner having this issue a few months after repair. Discovered class action lawsuit from several years ago after research regarding this exact issue. Unknown of symptoms prior to failure, but vehicle has been very well maintained since purchase just about a year ago (2 trips to independent service provider in hometown and one trip to Chandler BMW mentioned above). Approximately 105,000 miles on vehicle at time of timing chain issue.

- Yuma, AZ, USA

Timing chain tensioner failed clogging the oil pump with plastic which in turn starved the engine for oil. We got a low oil pressure light in the Interstate at 70MPH. 10 seconds later trying to pull across 3 lanes of traffic the engine seized. Luckily we were able to coast across the 3rd lane onto the side of the Interstate. With traffic flying by I had to get my family into an uber. I realize the class action suit ended but my car barely has 70k miles on it. I don't see how bmw could get away with this. There are many of their cars that are past the 10 year class action suit but under or at the 70k mile cut off like mine. The car is still at the dealership. It has been inspected and I have been informed that I'm not eligible for the repairs to be covered. The dealer wants 15 thousand dollars for a new engine to be installed on a 12 thousand dollar car. They have offered to sell me a USED engine with 135000 miles on it for 12,000 installed. Imagine the story this would be if one of my family members or myself had been hit on the Interstate trying to get into another vehicle.

- Wyoming, MI, USA

the car engine is dead and the car is 90k miles on it, this shouldn't happened to a BMW car and its going to coast a lot of money to fix even more than what I payed for the car, that's really sad. the car just suddenly stoped working.

- Miami Beach, FL, USA

Timing chain guides broke while driving, so timing chain jumped a tooth and now car will not start because incorrect timing Car has only 92,000 miles

- Belmont , CA, USA

I checked the car history report for this car, it said that it had all of the scheduled maintenance. I have not driven this car hard, I used the best gas I could. I had this car for only 4 months - I took it in to Carmax to get checked out about 2 weeks after I got it back in October. They ran tests, and told me everything was fine that "it could've been a loose fuel cap". 3 months later, well before even an oil change was required - my car gave me the same error message only now it would turn off everytime I put it in drive. If this happened on the road I definitely could've been killed. This car showed 0 signs of any type of malfunction and did not give me any indication that anything was wrong. Fast forward to taking it to the Mins Auto (BMW recommended) they informed me that this car did not in fact seem it had regular oil changes contrasting what was in the carafe report. the timing chain seems to be the culprit and now I'm stuck with a $10,000 bill on a car before it's first oil change, on top of the dealership (carmax) not being helpful at all - when I did everything right with this car. When MinsAuto ran tests they found so many errors - I don't understand, neither can they - understand how Carmax could miss any of these. I was also told by them that because this happens EXTREMELY frequently on these 3-series models, they are pretty familiar with the process and it takes exactly 24 hours to remove the engine, the pistons and take these things apart. so I think this should be investigated and taken seriously. Thank you

- Brooklyn, NY, USA

The timing chain went out. Warranty was extended to 70,000 miles or 7 years, but this is outside the range of many of the incidences, including mine. I'm getting multiple misfires and you can hear the timing belt when the engine starts, if it starts.

- South Weber, UT, USA

2013 bmw 328ix 82k miles timing chain guide broke blowing the engine. This should not be happening on a bmw. I do not have the money for this!

- Lafayette, TN, USA

Timing chain failure after 75k miles, costing a lot of money in repairs after engine starvation

- Palatine, IL, USA

The contact owned a 2013 BMW 328I. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked outside of a friend's home, her friend received a call from a neighbor that a vehicle outside the home had caught fire. The fire department was called and the fire was extinguished. A fire report was filed and no injuries were reported. The vehicle was completely destroyed but had yet to be towed. The dealer nor the manufacturer had yet to be notified of the failure. The vehicle was a total loss. The failure mileage was approximately 83,000.

- Bluffton, SC, USA

The contact owns a 2013 BMW 328I. The contact stated while driving 40-45 MPH, the vehicle stalled. The drivetrain malfunction message was displayed. The contact was able to pull into a driveway. The vehicle failed to restart after several attempts. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic and diagnosed with a faulty oil pump which caused damage to the camshaft. The independent mechanic diagnosed that the engine needed to be replaced. The dealer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 121,360.

- Wendell, NC, USA

My timing chain is showing symptoms of failing, engine is backfiring while braking or pulling off, I know the was a recall for the N20 engine timing chains. That-??s what I have

- Katy , TX, USA

2013 BMW 328I X Drive. A drive train warning light came on at approx 11300 miles. After dealer inspection the timing chain guides may have caused/or the chain my be loose and is now dropping metal into the engine oil. Repair requires a new engine. Inspection also revealed a waste gate control malfunction on the turbo. Repair new turbo.

- Columbia, MD, USA

The contact owns a 2013 BMW 328I. The contact stated the vehicle was overheating. The contact stated that the high engine temperature warning light was illuminated. The contact had not taken the vehicle to the dealer. The vehicle was undrivable. The contact had the vehicle towed to the residence. The vehicle was not taken to be diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 124,000.

- Daphne, AL, USA