The Lemon Index$5,900 middle bill · most between $5,200 and $7,900
Higher than the $2,500 middle bill owners of all 63 models reported.
Owners who gave their mileage: a middle of 76,000 miles (6 reports).
BMW 3 Series owners reported paying a median of $5,900 for a timing chain replacement, with the middle half of bills between $5,200 and $7,900. That's from 8 owner reports (8 complaints to NHTSA). Costs vary by shop and region.
What owners paid
- Under $5000%
- $500–$1,0000%
- $1,000–$2,5000%
- $2,500–$5,00025%
- $5,000 and up75%
Share of the 8 owner reports in each price band.
By model year
- 2012 BMW 3 Series1too few for a middle
- 2013 BMW 3 Series5$6,300 middle bill
- 2014 BMW 3 Series1too few for a middle
- 2015 BMW 3 Series1too few for a middle
Reports per model year, with the middle bill where there are 3 or more. YouTube amounts count for the generation the video covers.
How often owners report the failure
- 2013 BMW 3 Series42 complaints name it12% of that year's complaints
- 2012 BMW 3 Series20 complaints name it12% of that year's complaints
- 2014 BMW 3 Series17 complaints name it4% of that year's complaints
- 2015 BMW 3 Series8 complaints name it4% of that year's complaints
Owner complaints to NHTSA whose own words name a timing chain. Raw counts: popular years get more complaints. A complaint is a report, not proof of a defect.
Engines in these years
BMW N20 · BMW N52 · BMW N54 · BMW N55 · S55 · S65 4.0 V8
Engines with a page of their own that this model was sold with in the years above. Owners don't always say which engine they had.
Engine codes that can lead here: P0016 P0017 P0008 P0018 P0019. A code is where a shop starts, not proof the part failed.
Keep going
- BMW 3 Series reliability by year
- Timing chain replacement cost on every car
- Car symptoms and what they can mean
Other repairs BMW 3 Series owners reported
Transmission replacement (38) · Steering column repair (16) · Fuel pump replacement (15) · Engine replacement (10) · Water pump replacement (9) · Wiring harness repair (8) · Brake repair (5)
The details
How we count
Every number here is a repair bill an owner reported, never a shop's price list. Two sources: the bills owners wrote in their own complaints to the U.S. government (NHTSA), and the dollar amounts owners said out loud in YouTube repair and ownership videos. A figure counts for a repair when that repair is the part named nearest to it. Left out: purchase prices, payments, rentals, towing, warranties and deductibles, amounts under $50 or over $15,000, parts-only prices ("the part was $80 on Amazon"), bills for two different repairs named together, and money someone else paid. One number per complaint (or video) and repair: the biggest, so it's the bill, not the diagnosis fee.
The range is the middle half of the bills (the 25th to the 75th percentile), so one wild number can't swing it. Owners who complain to the government often had expensive repairs, so a typical bill can be lower. Costs vary by shop and region, by dealer vs independent shop, by parts and by miles. This is what owners reported, not a quote for your car.
Check the bills yourself
NHTSA complaint numbers (search them at nhtsa.gov): 11741411, 11512781, 11383999, 11329467, 11317813, 11309449, 11280287, 10991176.
Quick answers
How much does timing chain replacement cost on a BMW 3 Series?
BMW 3 Series owners reported a median of $5,900, and the middle half paid $5,200 to $7,900, from 8 owner reports. Costs vary by shop and region.
Is a BMW 3 Series timing chain replacement more expensive than on other cars?
The BMW 3 Series middle bill of $5,900 is higher than the $2,500 owners of all 63 models we have reports for paid.
Where do these BMW 3 Series repair costs come from?
From 8 complaints to NHTSA: what owners themselves said they paid. They aren't verified bills or a shop's quote.
Which BMW 3 Series years report this failure most?
In complaints to NHTSA, owners of the 2013 (42), 2012 (20), 2014 (17) BMW 3 Series named it most. Raw counts, not a failure rate.
Sources: NHTSA owner complaints and YouTube videos (amounts said out loud), sorted by The Lemon Index. Owner reports, not a price quote. Costs vary by shop and region.