Help! belt or chain?

[ChrisO]

I have a 93 E36 320i Coupe. As far as I was aware my car is chain driven. However, I was talking to a BMW stealer (oops - dealer ) this morning who said it might be belt driven as they changed engines at about this point. Is there anyway I can tell without taking the timing cover off the engine?

Many thanks in advance...

>>> Edited by ChrisO on Saturday 12th June 13:00

[liquidken]

Does your engine have VANOS?

[mustard]

take the oil cap of and see if you can see a chain to the side of the engine

[ScoobyZoom]

Hi,

M50 engine's were chains not belts

from your local BMW stealer

[ChrisO]

Cheers folks, it's put my mind at rest Re servicing etc - I had visions of the belt snapping and valves flying everywhere! Not getting at you personally Scooby (being our friendly beemer guru), just franchised dealers in general - my car's due an inspection II soon and my local dealer was gonna charge me £600

>> Edited by ChrisO on Saturday 12th June 16:23

[ScoobyZoom]

£600 is a bit steep i agree...

[dons cape and mask]

[PatHeald]

ChrisO said:

my car's due an inspection II soon and my local dealer was gonna charge me £600

Strewth.

I'm giving my '95 328 a full service this weekend for the princely sum of £71.54 inc VAT. This includes a pair of front pads. A mechanic friend is resetting the pesky service display in the car.

Providing you keep the receipts to prove that the works has been done, then I don't think that home servicing makes a great difference to the residual value of a nine year old car, even if it is a BMW.

Certainly not after you take into account the costs of having a dealer do the work...

[liquidken]

JESUS!

You should be looking at £220 for that car.