Timing belt

[Brainless]

When do I know it's time to change the timing belt? Mine is 125k km.

[bmwm3guy]

they say you should change it every 60km, however they commonly go past 100k. Not fun when they break though. Is the four cylinder a non-interference engine?

[Joe Carlson]

yeah the 4cyl is a non interference motor, i've broken a timing belt going down the road, and put it all back together in a few hours and ran great, didn't bend anything, well atleast on my bp, and i've read on here its the same for the b6 SOHC and DOHC.

[guyaverage]

You can take off the upper timing belt cover (the black pastic part) and check the condition if you want to take a good look at it. There only a few small bolts holding it on, you can have it off in 5 minutes.

I changed mine at 80k miles and the original looked almost brand new then. I sold my MX to my nephew and a few weeks ago I did the water pump and timing belt for him at 145K miles and if I hadnt marked the new one I had just bought with the one on there I wouldnt have been able to tell them apart.

I think 60k is way to conservative for many cars. Some cars, yes, its necessary. The early 90's Hyundai's would not get past 68k miles before the belt went bad, and it was ALWAYS 68k miles. I cant begin to tell you how many timing belts at 68k we replaced, it was insane. But every Honda or Mazda belt I did I felt like I was wasting time replacing it. I have done several Hondas with over 200k on the original and they were fine.

Once you pull one off, always replace it though. You've gone that far in the surgery to pull it off it only makes sense to replace it with a new one.