Timing Belt Service D2 S8

[RICKY D]

I had mine changed in September last year after owning the car about 4 months. It had only done about 48k since the last change but it had been about 7 years prior. I was paranoid so booked it in to get everything changed; belts, pulleys; water pump; thermostat etc which cost me about £1,300 using genuine parts.

Mine was done at an independent who's familiar with these cars and engines and he said before starting he would change based on mileage rather than age but, hey it's your money. Once stripped down he could see no reason why the previous belts & tensioners wouldn't do another 30k. His reason being that these are relatively low stress engines and everything looked in great condition. He reckoned modern belts degrade far less than manufacturers guidelines and nothing like belts of yester year. There's always exceptions though and I didn't want the risk!