Reconditioned N47 Engine

The N47 engine – BMW and MINI's four-cylinder diesel

The N47 is the four-cylinder diesel that powered the BMW range in the late 2000s and early 2010s, before being replaced by the B47. In 2.0d form, it can be found under the bonnet of the 1 Series, 3 Series, 4 Series and 5 Series, as well as the X1, X3 and X5. MINI also adopted it, in 1.6d and 2.0d guise, on the Cooper, Clubman, Countryman and Paceman.

One family, several codes

The full engine code identifies the variant: N47D20 codes (N47D20A, N47D20B, N47D20C, N47D20D) are fitted to BMW models, while N47C16A and N47C20A go into MINI models. Two N47 engines are therefore not necessarily interchangeable – the full code stamped on the block is what counts. Dedicated pages: N47D20C, N47D20D, N47C16A, N47C20A.

The N47's known weak point

The N47's timing chain is located on the gearbox side, at the rear of the engine, which makes replacement a major job when the chain stretches. Symptoms and solutions are covered in detail in our article N47 engine: why the timing chain fails.