As the title states, in the process of replacing the chain, guides, and tensioner on my 2005 R53 I found the timing marks on the chain to be incorrect. The cam timing mark was off by an entire 5 links! Or 10 teeth on the sprocket! It was an aftermarket chain but not the cheapest by a long shot. I guess I'll be checking prior to install from now on. I got this one fully assembled and noticed the crank sprocket was "clocked" wrong. I originally thought it was my mistake but after checking and re-checking multiple times I pulled it all back apart and laid the new chain next to the old one and found out I wasn't wrong. Thank God I trusted my gut and didn't try starting it like that!



OEM chain on right, new chain on left. Crank timing links are lined up at the top of the pic. Notice the orientation of the cam links near the bottom.

 

If you flipped one of the chains over (installed the new one backwards) it seems as though the timing marks would line up perfectly.

Also, any time I do timing chain/belt work I ALWAYS turn the crank by hand at least 2 full revolutions to make sure there's no binding/interference.

 

I also hand turn motors before closing it back up. Its always a good idea. And I used that chain too. The point in my post was to warn people that the marks are wrong. If you turn the chain around you can no longer see the marks to time it. I just marked the correct link with a paint pen and put it back on the correct way. I've been working on cars for almost 25 years and have never seen such a lack of quality control as I have these last few years. It would have been very easy for someone with less experience to overlook that and bend all their valves by attempting to start the motor with it timed wrong. Honestly if I had never replaced the timing chain on a Mini before idk if I would have picked up on it. The cam is held with a tool, the marks on the crank sprocket is what I noticed. Actually it was the counterweight on the crank thats visible through the bottom....it wasn't visible lol.
Anyway, hopefully this will save someone from destroying their motor with crap parts.

 

Thanks for the heads up. What brand was this timingchain?

Funnily enough I fins doing the timingchain on these Tritec engines easy. You cannot screw up because all the sprockets are keyed and arrowed and, when your chain is correct, you only need to follow the markings!


I did one about a month ago. The brand was Dolz, which is Polish.

 

It was supposed to be a Melling chain. But it arrived in an open box with the rest of the kit and none of it looked like the quality I'm used to with this brand. I honestly should have returned it but I was under a huge time crunch and needed the car back together. My guess is someone bought multiple kits and returned a cheap set in the wrong box and I ended up with it. Either that or Mellings quality has to poo.
I agree that these cars are ridiculously easy to replace the timing set on. Imo these cars are easy to work on in general.

 

Any update?