BMW N47 2.0 diesel: rear timing chain wear and failure
BMW ran a workshop campaign in 2015 (0011540300) fitting a new chain tensioner to N47 2.0 diesels built up to the end of 2008. On the N47 2.0 diesel the timing chain sits at the gearbox end of the engine; sources describe wear of the chain, guide rails or tensioner, a chain that lengthens and rattles and, in extreme cases, engine damage.
Dossier revision 1 · data updated 2026-10-13 · canon release 2026.10.1
At a glance
- Severity
- Critical destruction of the engine or gearbox, a safety risk, or an active safety recall.
Severity follows the worst documented outcome, not the average case. - Safety-relevant
- Not flagged as safety-relevant.
- In the Elgarde checklist
- Critical entry: it caps the verdict of the whole inspection.
- Documented in
- EU
Which cars this covers
Only BMW 2.0 diesels with the N47 engine (N47D20), built from March 2007 to about 2015 (sources give September 2014 or 2015). Petrol engines and the later B47 diesel are outside this entry.
- Models in scope
- BMW 1 Series, BMW 2 Series, BMW 3 Series, BMW 5 Series, BMW X1, BMW X3
- Conditions on top of the model
- All of these must hold:
- Engine: BMW N47 2.0 diesel (N47D20)
- Production date: March 2007 to December 2015
- All of these must hold:
- Notes on scope
- BMW splits production into bands: before 5 January 2009 (the cars that, according to BMW, did not receive later improvements; covered by the 2015 campaign up to the end of 2008), 5 January 2009 to 1 March 2011, and later. Other N47 variants (1.6 N47D16, N47S, N47T) are not confirmed by the sources used here. No official recall specifically for the chain was identified in the sources used here. According to a legal trade report, a German appeal court (OLG Frankfurt am Main, 2017) treated chain noise on its own as a comfort issue, not a substantial defect. The end of production is given as September 2014 by one encyclopedia entry and as 2015 by two magazines.
How to check whether a particular car is affected
Elgarde reads the conditions above and gives one of three answers for a car:
- Applies: every condition is confirmed for the car.
- Possible: at least one condition cannot be confirmed yet. The entry stays on the checklist, with a note on what to find out.
- Not applicable: a condition is clearly not met (for example a manual gearbox on a DSG entry). The entry is left off the checklist.
What to look for, and where
- Model: one of the models listed above
The model name as on the registration document, e.g. Golf, 208, 320d. - Engine code: BMW N47 2.0 diesel (N47D20)
On the engine plate or block, or from a dealer VIN query. Displacement (P.1) and power in kW (P.2) on the registration certificate help narrow it down. - Production month: March 2007 to December 2015
The month the car was built (on the VIN plate or in the registration papers). It only matters when the year alone does not settle it.
When in doubt, treat the car as possible: asking one question too many costs less than missing a defect.
How the fault arises, as reported
A timing chain at the transmission end drives the camshafts. Wear of the chain, the sprockets, the guide rails or the tensioner lets the chain lengthen; early engines had sharp-edged sprockets, and BMW introduced a new crankshaft part number from January 2009. The lengthened chain rattles and the timing can drift; in extreme cases the engine can be severely damaged. Because the chain is at the rear, the replacement is extensive work. According to a BMW workshop note as reported by L'argus, the risk is higher if maintenance was missed or oils of variable quality were used.
Reported symptoms
Early signs
- Metallic rattle at cold start, often for a few seconds
- Scraping or grinding from the rear of the engine around 1,500 rpm
Later signs
- Engine warning light, loss of power or hard starting
What to check when inspecting a car
- Documents and records. Confirm the N47 engine and the build date (door-pillar label or dealer VIN query) and place the car in BMW's bands: before 5 January 2009, up to 1 March 2011, or later.Red flag: Built before 5 January 2009 with no record of chain work.
- Documents and records. Ask for the status of BMW campaign 0011540300 and for invoices of any chain, guide rail, tensioner or crankshaft work.Red flag: No chain work on record for a car built before 2009: price the repair in.
- Listen. Start the engine from fully cold and listen at the rear of the engine for rattle, then for scraping around 1,500 rpm.Red flag: Rattle or scraping: have a specialist check the chain before buying.
- Documents and records. Check the oil-change history: changes every 10,000–15,000 km rather than long-life intervals only.Red flag: No oil history, or long-life intervals only.
Repair and cost
- Usual remedy
- Replacement of both timing chains with guide rails, tensioners and seals; the work is extensive because the chain sits at the gearbox end of the engine.
- Reported cost
- EUR 1,500–2,500 (as of 2026-03)
Basis: Germany: magazine range; a published workshop offer for the full chain job is about 1,850 EUR (about 550 EUR more on X models / all-wheel drive). Sources: [5], [4]
What the manufacturer and regulators have said
Manufacturer programme
BMW workshop campaign 0011540300 (network notified on 23 January 2015) fits a newly developed chain tensioner to cars built up to the end of 2008. In France, BMW's after-sales service told L'argus in 2015 that repair costs were covered close to 100% where maintenance had followed the manufacturer's recommendations. Sources: [1]
Official records and rulings
- Court ruling · IWW Institut (Autorecht aktuell) · OLG Frankfurt a.M. 24 U 26/15; 24 U 85/15 · 2018-01-02
Legal trade report of OLG Frankfurt am Main judgments of 21 April 2017 (24 U 26/15, 24 U 85/15): chain noise on N47 BMWs was held to be an acoustic comfort issue, not a substantial defect. The judgments themselves were not consulted. [3] iww.de
A recall or campaign record describes the vehicles in its scope, not a confirmed failure in any given car.
How common is it?
No reliable figure
No reliable figure for how many cars are affected is recorded for this entry. This is stated on purpose: a missing number is not a low number.
No verified share of N47 engines with chain failure has been published. A '20%' figure attributed online to auto motor und sport does not appear in two of its N47 articles. Sources: [5], [6]
Evidence and sources
Each statement above traces to the sources below. Review status is shown for every source.
| Publisher | Title | Date | Type | Tier | Confidence | Links | Review |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| L'argus | [1] Fiabilité BMW : problèmes de chaîne de distribution sur le 2.0 diesel BMW workshop campaign 0011540300 (network notified 23 January 2015) with a new chain tensioner for 1, 3, 5 Series and X3 with the N47 built up to the end of 2008; BMW's production bands 1 March 2007–5 January 2009, 5 January 2009–1 March 2011 and later; new crankshaft reference from January 2009; cover close to 100% with maintenance history. | 2015-06-18 | Specialist press | 2 · press or analysis | medium | largus.fr opened 2026-10-13 Archive copy | automated source check 2026-10-13 |
| Wikipedia | [2] BMW N47 (English) Encyclopedia entry: N47 production March 2007 to September 2014. Used only for the production window, alongside the academic source. | Specialist press | 3 · signal only | medium | en.wikipedia.org opened 2026-10-13 Archive copy | automated source check 2026-10-13 | |
| IWW Institut (Autorecht aktuell) | [3] NW-Handel Rechtsprechungsreport 2017 OLG Frankfurt a.M. 24 U 26/15; 24 U 85/15 Legal trade report of OLG Frankfurt am Main judgments of 21 April 2017 (24 U 26/15, 24 U 85/15): chain noise on N47 BMWs was held to be an acoustic comfort issue, not a substantial defect. The judgments themselves were not consulted. | 2018-01-02 | Court ruling | 2 · press or analysis | medium | iww.de opened 2026-10-13 Archive copy | automated source check 2026-10-13 |
| repareo.de | [4] N47 Motor: Motorschaden — Anzeichen, Probleme, Kostenbeispiele Workshop booking platform: chain replacement offer of about 1,850 EUR (both chains, guide rails, tensioners, seals, oil and coolant), plus about 550 EUR on X models / all-wheel drive; cold-start rattle and warning light as symptoms. | Specialist press | 2 · press or analysis | medium | repareo.de opened 2026-10-13 Archive copy | automated source check 2026-10-13 | |
| auto motor und sport | [5] Steuerkettenprobleme bei BMW N47-Motoren: Symptome, Kosten, Lösungen Magazine: N47 built 2007–2015; metallic rattle at cold start; chain repair typically 1,500–2,500 EUR; The magazine states that later engine generations largely resolved the issue (no BMW statement is quoted). No failure percentage is given. | 2026-03-26 | Specialist press | 2 · press or analysis | medium | auto-motor-und-sport.de opened 2026-10-13 Archive copy | automated source check 2026-10-13 |
| auto motor und sport | [6] Steuerkettenprobleme beim BMW N47: Ursachen und Lösungen Second article from the same magazine: no failure percentage. Cited because a '20%' figure attributed online to this magazine does not appear in it. | 2026-08-04 | Specialist press | 2 · press or analysis | medium | auto-motor-und-sport.de opened 2026-10-13 Archive copy | automated source check 2026-10-13 |
| Gebrauchtwagenberater.de | [7] BMW N47 Probleme und Haltbarkeit Most affected are the first production years, which had sharp-edged sprockets; model years 2014–2015 the least affected. | 2024-09-14 | Specialist press | 2 · press or analysis | medium | gebrauchtwagenberater.de opened 2026-10-13 Archive copy | automated source check 2026-10-13 |
| University of Miskolc | [8] T. Fekete, 'Maintenance of the N47 internal-combustion diesel engine', Design of Machines and Structures 12(2), 64–72 doi:10.32972/dms.2022.015 Academic maintenance paper giving the early N47 codes N47D20U0 (105 kW), N47D20O0 (130 kW) and N47D20T0 (150 kW, twin turbo). Its statement about a recall cites a secondary source and is not used. | 2022 | Technical analysis | 2 · press or analysis | medium | doi.org opened 2026-10-13 no archive copy yet | automated source check 2026-10-13 |
Automated source check: the source was opened and its claims, dates and figures were compared with this dossier by an automated check. It is not a human sign-off.
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Elgarde, “BMW N47 2.0 diesel: rear timing chain wear and failure”, known-defect dossier n47.chain, canon release 2026.10.1, CC-BY-4.0, https://elgarde.com/defects/n47.chain/
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