In reply to Hoondavan :
I don't mean the tensioner, I mean the chain itself. They're prone to stretching beyond the tensioner's ability to do it's job, leading to a bunch of bent valves. The tensioner design between the older and newer EA888s is different, but the rest of the timing chain assembly is identical to earlier iterations of the engine going all the way back to the mk5 GTIs (I checked the part numbers to verify).
It's unfortunate that Volkswagen didn't just stick to a belt with a defined service interval, because their chain design doesn't last much longer in terms of overall mileage and costs a good bit more to service. On top of that I have to openly wonder how many EA888s have died due to chain stretch and mechanically totalled the cars they were installed in.
I'm informed on this because I poke around on the forums, but the average CC or Tiguan owner probably has no idea. Those folks probably also follow the factory recommended oil change interval of 10k miles, making the issue even worse.
