320d or 330d - risk of turbo failure?

[Hell27]

I have been considering a BMW oil burner for a while now - think I've narrowed the choice down to a 320d or 330d e46 touring, but keep reading comments regarding blown turbos - I'm wondering how commonplace this actually is?

BMW are renowned as one of the best engine manufacturers around, and I've never heard of anyone I know with a turbo diesel anything ever have a blown turbo, so why do these comments keep cropping up?

Is this a serious issue to consider, or is it really a very small possibility?
Also, are certain models more prone to turbo failure?

Thanks,

Rick.

[MattOz]

Rick,

The 320d is more prone to it, but in the grand scheme of things, neither car has more than their fair share. Regular oil changes, oil separator changes and allowing the turbo to spool down will extend the life of the turbo.

I've done about 250k miles in 5 330d's of all ages and haven't managed to blow one up yet!

Cheers
Matt

[Welshbeef]

Hi MattOZ

Just noticed the large number of 330d's you have had.

Have you had all 3 power outputs? 184/204/231? Did you keep them Std OR did you remap?

Which is the best all rounder (I'm assuming it will be the newest 231bhp however if your adding in the fact that a 204bhp will be £11k and the 231bhp will be nearer/over £20k then is it really worth the extra?

Any problems of any kind with them?

Finally - what is the MPG of each one you have had?

[Vee]

MattOz said:

I've done about 250k miles in 5 330d's of all ages and haven't managed to blow one up yet!

Cheers
Matt

Whereas mine went at 141k after being replaced at 100k by a BMW dealer.
I'd say if you buy one, budget approx £1k to change it if it goes, unless its just been done and is under warranty.

[Methane Bloke]

We've also had 5 BMW diesels without turbo problems. What you have to remember is that BMW make more 2.0 diesels than any other engine in their range so the sheer numbers make hearing off a turbo failure more likely. I don't what the % failure is but it's likely to be very small due to the numbers produced.

Regards

Chris

[Liam79]

I have a 184bhp 330d and remapped to approx 225bhp and had no problems with mine. My mate also has the same and no probs with his either. Mine has 58k on and his has 78k.

[Welshbeef]

Liam79 said:

I have a 184bhp 330d and remapped to approx 225bhp and had no problems with mine. My mate also has the same and no probs with his either. Mine has 58k on and his has 78k.

58k on a 184bhp is very low - the newest it could be is a 53plate thats a mere 12k on the big 3ltr TDI...

Have you tried the new 231bhp?

[Hell27]

Interesting replies - thanks to all contributers.
There seems to be an undercurrent of a connection though - I'll bet the majority of blown turbo cases have a higher proportion of engine BHP remaps?

[RMac]

I'm trying to sell one at the moment with 170k on it. had a loss of power & whistle from the turbo - sent the turbo to turbo technics who rebuilt it for me - they said they couldn;t believe it had done that mileage and said it was in great condition - put it all back together - the whistle had gone but performance still down - turned out to be MAF failure.

I wouldn't worry about it - cost less than £500 including all labour to essentially have a new turbo fitted to the car. And it wasn;t that buggered in the first place!

[MattOz]

Welshbeef said:

Hi MattOZ

Just noticed the large number of 330d's you have had.

Have you had all 3 power outputs? 184/204/231? Did you keep them Std OR did you remap?

Which is the best all rounder (I'm assuming it will be the newest 231bhp however if your adding in the fact that a 204bhp will be £11k and the 231bhp will be nearer/over £20k then is it really worth the extra?

Any problems of any kind with them?

Finally - what is the MPG of each one you have had?

Hi WB,

Yup, I've had all 3 variants, and all with manual 'boxes. Currently on another 204bhp E46. The E90 was the quickest and most refined. The 3rd and 4th gear acceleration in the E90 was great. I believe that they can be chipped to circa 270bhp. All my cars have been standard.

MPG wise, well the averages range from 41mpg to 47mpg. 41 for the earlier car and 42/43 for the E90. I'm currently averaging just over 47mpg because I'm doing an awful lot of motorway driving and not much round town. It's a little unfair to expect that much on a day to day basis. I'd say that 42/43mpg is more normal.

Cheers
Matt

[Liam79]

I went to see quite a few before a bought my 51 plate. None where in anywhere near the condition as i was hoping. Yeah another friend has the new 330d 231bhp model, not much difference between his and my remapped one.

Welshbeef said:

Liam79 said:

I have a 184bhp 330d and remapped to approx 225bhp and had no problems with mine. My mate also has the same and no probs with his either. Mine has 58k on and his has 78k.

58k on a 184bhp is very low - the newest it could be is a 53plate thats a mere 12k on the big 3ltr TDI...

Have you tried the new 231bhp?

[Welshbeef]

All the 184bhp's have the 5 spped box? What rpm does that = @70mph?

[Liam79]

Yeah, all have 5 speed. Mine is the auto sport box. I'll have a look re rpm next time im out.

[Ranger 6]

It's worth looking at www.bmwland.co.uk for info on this.

Turbo failure was more common on the 2.0d 150 engine made between 2001 and 2003 when they added the 6 speed gearbox. Having said that I've had 3 cars with that engine without any turbo issues.

One thing to look at is the 'swirl flap' issue on 2.0d and 3.0d of the same era. they are flaps in the inlet manifold and from one thread on that forum there's been about 35 failures I think. As has been said when you compare that to the number of cars on the road with those engines it must be a tiny percentage. Worth knowing about all the same, basically IMHO you're fine on both counts if buying one of these as 2004 or younger.

[11jhw]

MattOz said:

Rick,

The 320d is more prone to it, but in the grand scheme of things, neither car has more than their fair share. Regular oil changes, oil separator changes and allowing the turbo to spool down will extend the life of the turbo.

I've done about 250k miles in 5 330d's of all ages and haven't managed to blow one up yet!

Cheers
Matt

[11jhw]

I blew the turbo on my 330d after two weeks of ownership. At seven years old my face lift 53plate touring with 67000miles on the clock with a full history decided to fill the road with smoke and made a horrid metallic grinding noise. The only reason I brought the car rather than a E90 with a BMW warrenty, was due to its pay monthly BMW comprehensive warranty @ only £32 a month which I inherited from the previous owner making it a cheep motor with full peace of mind. It was recovered to Sytner BMW and with £100 excess and no questions asked and I had a new turbo rather than a £3000 bill! so do watch out they do go!

The 320d is more prone to it, but in the grand scheme of things, neither car has more than their fair share. Regular oil changes, oil separator changes and allowing the turbo to spool down will extend the life of the turbo.

I've done about 250k miles in 5 330d's of all ages and haven't managed to blow one up yet!

Cheers
Matt
[/quote]

[Patrick Bateman]

I think the issue was mainly caused by the old-style oil separator.

Before I bought mine it'd had the turbo replaced at about 77,000 miles.