The subject car was a BMW 218 with engine code B38B15A. On initial scan of the BMW, a fault code 130308 (Exhaust Cam position not reached) was present. This code was indicating a valve timing position error, and the engine was noisy from the timing chain area.

The following steps were carried out during the diagnosis of the problem timing chain.

When inspecting the chain and pulleys, the circlip was missing on one pulley and loose on the other cam pulley. The missing circlip was found in the sump.

The clip is not available from BMW, they will only sell you a complete pulley.   

The clips can be purchased from springfasteners.co.uk

The correct name for the circlip is: Increased Abutment 17mm Internal Circlip D2000-0170

After replacing both circlips, and resetting the adaptions, the engine ran normally.

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