[leftoverture]

Question for the N20/N26 owners.... how many miles have you gotten without a timing chain guide or turbo issue? I have a 2016 N26 at 77,485 miles. No issues so far at all. And supposedly I have the updated design, but my mechanic (an indie shop that specializes in BMW) tells me that they all eventually have issues with the timing chain guide and turbo. It's not a matter of "if" you have problems but "when". He quotes repairs at roughly $6500 for timing chain guide and $4000 for a turbo. I'm trying to decide if I'm keeping this thing long term or should I trade it before issues arise. I love my 228i convertible, but will be retiring in a couple years and won't be able to afford major repairs like those. So what have others experienced?

[Serc.]

Originally Posted by leftoverture

Question for the N20/N26 owners.... how many miles have you gotten without a timing chain guide or turbo issue? I have a 2016 N26 at 77,485 miles. No issues so far at all. And supposedly I have the updated design, but my mechanic (an indie shop that specializes in BMW) tells me that they all eventually have issues with the timing chain guide and turbo. It's not a matter of "if" you have problems but "when". He quotes repairs at roughly $6500 for timing chain guide and $4000 for a turbo. I'm trying to decide if I'm keeping this thing long term or should I trade it before issues arise. I love my 228i convertible, but will be retiring in a couple years and won't be able to afford major repairs like those. So what have others experienced?

Here in germany we dont differ from newer or older n20 models when it comes to the timing chain. Most people recommend having the timing chain done at around 100-120k KM and people say Turbos tend to fail beyond 100k KM. Im not planing on replacing my timing chain until i notice any rattleling noise, ive seen F22's with N20s with far over 150k KMs running well on the original stock parts.
I honestly think it depends how you maintain your car and how you ride it.
If you constantly ride pedal to the floor and kickdown the car on every stoplight then you might experience those components to fail earlier.
Mine is at 107k KM and runs fine so far. the previous owners drove the car moderately. 6500 USD sounds quite steep for me for a timing chain replacement, here in germany its around 2-2.5k euros and a turbo can cost 1-1.5k€, i dont know what your mechanic charges you over there but it shouldnt be 4 times the price than here.

keep your oil change intervals as low as possible, avoid tuning and constantly pushing the car to its limits and it should be fine, Mechanics here recommend to disable Start/Stop function to preserve turbo life.

[leftoverture]

Thank you, Serc. Mine is about 125K km now. I change the oil every 8000 km using quality Liqui Moly oil. I never use the start stop. I maintain it really well. I do drive it a bit hard, but that is what makes it so fun. But no tune and I'm not racing it. I really like this car.

[Dom147]

my 228i is at 126,000 miles and the timing guide hasn't been done. a 2014 model n20.

[leftoverture]

Originally Posted by Dom147

my 228i is at 126,000 miles and the timing guide hasn't been done. a 2014 model n20.

That is awesome too hear, Dom. That helps to know because I'm definitely leaning towards keeping this thing for the long haul. I enjoy driving it quite a bit. And now that the weather is getting warmer and I've had the chance to put the top down again, I want to keep it all the more.