My wife’s BMW X3 just got a drivetrain malfunction a couple days ago. The car still drives, we took it to the dealership, and they confirmed the timing chain issue. Needs to be replaced. Apparently it’s out of extended warranty and the class action lawsuit discount expired. The car has about 97,000 miles.
Looking online, it seems to be a not-uncommon issue that can be fixed for $2-3K. But $7.7K??!? Seriously? This is a screen cap of the dealership estimate. We’re in New Jersey.
Is this a fair estimate? Any insights would be appreciated as I get the feeling were being taken for a ride to force us to buy a new car. This 11-year-old car probably isn’t worth that much anymore, even though it’s in excellent condition otherwise. Thanks.
Go to an indy.
I did. Our local garage first diagnosed the issue but he said he doesn’t do these kinds of jobs and recommended we go to the dealership. He also thought the class action lawsuit discount would still apply.
Wtf, there’s no way man . I had a 2012 328i x drive and it only costed me a grand to replace the timing belt ( and local German auto shop) even tho my car had horrendously other problems especially at the age of 19, that car gave me ptsd even though I loved it, worked minimum wage and poured thousands into it. But 7 grand for a timing chain is beyond ridiculous, even obv considering costs are gonna be different for different models.
So unfortunately timing chains on BMWs are getting harder and harder to do. For the B/S58 they moved all the vanos hardware to the back so if you need to do a timing chain its an engine out service. I would say this is a lot for that year X3 but for a modern car this isn’t out of the world price wise considering how much labor it is just to get to the chain, maybe they are going off that and quoting you what it would cost for a much newer car.
A few years ago, this job ran $4500 at a dealer in MD.
Yes, I had a F01 (N63) I did the valve seals on myself and replaced some of the timing chain rails whilst everything was apart. Dealership wanted ~$25k for the job and I believe the estimate is around 40 labor hours. It was worth it for me to do the job myself, but I sold the car a year or so after.
Depending on the engine, you can check if there’s a recall or “customer car package,” but it may be unlikely you’re still covered.