New Car Day!

Axe_meister

I thought BMWs all had timing chains rather than rubber cam belts

stickyfiddle

Axe_meister said:

I thought BMWs all had timing chains rather than rubber cam belts

They do now but my Dad's E30 definitely had a belt. I was in it when it went "ping"! Thankfully didn't smash the engine but that's rare apparently, hence the change to chains ever since.

GuitarMonkey

I had a petrol M40-engined '89 E30 from new in which I drove 250 000 miles but it did break two cam belts on the way, one in the first year, trashing a few valves and a couple of pistons.

The first time it was being serviced by BMW and they omitted to tell me that the replacement interval for the belt had changed.

The second time it was changed by a cowboy garage who either didn't change it or fitted it wrongly as it snapped very soon afterwards,