BMW 118d engine

[Roboticarm]

Hello all, being a car guy a friend has asked for advice on buying the above, looking 2006 ish and the 118ds seem to be the cheapest route into a 1 series convertible and the tax is only £30
I don't know much about these but did have a 2004 320d and the swirl flaps were a known area or concern

I'd be checking for rust etc due to the age and doing general checks but mainly Wondering if there is anything to be concerned about on a 118d please ?

[joropug]

Is that an M47 or N47 engine at that year?

M47 is more reliable, N47 is more economical - however they suffer with timing chains (a quick google of N47 timing chain will tell you all you need to know)

[Roboticarm]

Thank you, is there a visual way to tell the engines apart, a code number on the tags etc or is it a "only buy one made after x date" ?

[joropug]

Roboticarm said:

Thank you, is there a visual way to tell the engines apart, a code number on the tags etc or is it a "only buy one made after x date" ?

I think the BHP listed in auto trader is the easiest way to tell, from memory M47 is 157 and N47 is 163 - might be slightly off.

On the E60 5 series it was 2007 and they facelifted the car at the same time, there were some crossover models which were facelift with the older engine though.

Edited by joropug on Monday 24th October 11:22

[ScoobyChris]

joropug said:

Is that an M47 or N47 engine at that year?

M47 is more reliable, N47 is more economical - however they suffer with timing chains (a quick google of N47 timing chain will tell you all you need to know)

Pretty sure the N47 was launched with the 2007 facelift and so these will be M47 (M47TU2D20). Swirl flaps were an issue with M47, but apparently cars built from 2006 onwards had this addressed with stronger versions.

Chris

[georgeyboy12345]

Should be the 120 bhp M47 in that car which is more reliable than the later 140 bhp N47 that had timing chain failure issues.

[joropug]

georgeyboy12345 said:

Should be the 120 bhp M47 in that car which is more reliable than the later 140 bhp N47 that had timing chain failure issues.

Ah yes I was thinking of 20d on the bhp figures

[Roboticarm]

Thanks all, much appreciated

[757]

Ran a 118d 2008 N47, worried about the chain being lunched all the way up to 180,000, sold it and it's now on 250,000 miles (I know the owner) still original chains....

They ain't all bad, and much nicer modern engine personally than the old M47 ones.

[bodhi]

I'm pretty sure the 1 Series Convertible was only available with the N47. Easy way to check is to look at the exhaust pipe - if the exit is pointing at the floor its the older M47, if not it's the N47.

If so timing chains are a concern, however I also know of 3 or 4 N47s on over 200k, so not not guaranteed to grenade themselves.

[Mr Tidy]

I think with £30 a year tax that must be the N47 with the potential cam-chain issues, but as others have said they don't all do it - there are way more that haven't than have.

Other than that the N47 is a decent engine. I did 81K miles in my 123d and really liked it, but bottled out of cam-chain roulette and sold it, although after over 6 years I fancied a change anyway.

[Richard-D]

The earlier N47 (N47D20A) also have issues with the block/liners cracking through to the water jacket. I bought one that did this.