120D - Turbo blew on the motorway today! Replacements?

[anonymous-user]

Hi all,

Driving on the motorway today the car suddenly lost a lot of power and started making a loud whining noise like an air raid siren whenever it 'came onto boost' (although there was no boost!).

Pulled into the services which were luckily about 2 miles further on and called the AA.

I suspected major turbo failure and AA guy confirmed this so I was trailered home.

Prior to the incident there was no smoke or nothing out of the ordinary. Even after it failed there was no smoke or anything like that. Just the total lack of power and bad noise!

I now need need a new turbo obviously so does anyone have any recommendations for suppliers of reconditioned or reasonably priced new turbos?

As an aside, I am pretty surprised at this major breakdown to say the least, this is a bog standard 2006 120D M-Sport with 80k on the clock and a full BMW service history. The car was bought from a BMW main dealer at only 11 months old.

Always maintained and driven normally for work/commuting and I certainly wouldn't expect a major failure of the turbo at this kind of age, but I presume BMW won't even consider offering any money towards a replacement seen as the car is well out of warranty?

Thanks

[Mister3man]

I would imagine it will be extremely difficult to get any goodwill from BMW, given the fact it's over 3 years old and has done 80k.

A polite letter to HQ wouldn't hurt though, you've nothing to lose.

[CarsOrBikes]

80k is about right for a turbo, in fact you are probably fortunate it lasted that long

ECP do Garret turbo's for less than new BMW

I would flush the engine oil before you renew it, renew the breather valve, you'll have to renew engine oil & air filters anyway to keep the warranty, and in future change the oil every 10k not the ridiculous 20k the CBS suggests.

You'll be well advised to renew any oil feed or return pipes which will have been blocked possibly

[jas xjr]

Do not rely on the Aa man for diagnosis .

My last call out Aa man diagnosed supercharger failure , it was a fuel pump

In the past engine failure diagnosed and it was coil failure

[CarsOrBikes]

The the noise you describe after sudden power loss sounds like the turbo seizing at a certain temp suddenly. Now it is moving the noise is because the shaft is bent or has excess play and blades fouling, i'd go with bent.

The bronze bush (bearing) has about six tiny oil holes at each end which will be mostly blocked, about 1mm dia. There will probably be congealed oil in the feed pipe and central hole in the bearing, the return line too poss. Was the breather valve renewed at the third oil change? I think BMW recommend it, and turbo remanufacturers name it as the cause of premature failures, and when stripped it is all there to see.

Correct, the emergency guys can be wrong, but thay also see a lot and can be pretty close to the mark from that experience. They may ask dealers what was wrong with whatever car, when they take the next one in.

It'd be nice to think it's something else

[Defcon5]

Was it on longlife servicing?

[anonymous-user]

Defcon5 said:

Was it on longlife servicing?

Yes.

Standard longlife service intervals.

[yozzer]

CarsOrBikes said:

80k is about right for a turbo, in fact you are probably fortunate it lasted that long

Is that right? I have a 2007 120D M Sport on nearly 85k.

What can be done to prolong the life of the turbo or isnt it as straight forward as that? It is due a service in the next few thousand miles so is there anything you can do to help this?

Thanks

[Defcon5]

yozzer said:

Is that right? I have a 2007 120D M Sport on nearly 85k.

What can be done to prolong the life of the turbo or isnt it as straight forward as that? It is due a service in the next few thousand miles so is there anything you can do to help this?

Thanks

Add an extra oil and filter change inbetween the standard ones. Use good oil, that meets the VAG 507 standard - Castrol EDGE is popular and is probably what BMW use.

[tr7v8]

yozzer said:

CarsOrBikes said:

80k is about right for a turbo, in fact you are probably fortunate it lasted that long

Is that right? I have a 2007 120D M Sport on nearly 85k.

What can be done to prolong the life of the turbo or isnt it as straight forward as that? It is due a service in the next few thousand miles so is there anything you can do to help this?

Thanks

Common problem. Very long service intervals are the main cause. When mine went on the Alfa 156 JTD I spoke to Turbo Technics & they said 12K too long between oil changes. I believe on the Beemer you can push 16-18K between services, this is the result.
I remember waiting at Dover for a relay wagon, with a guy whose turbo had blown on his 320D. He'd been relayed from southern france & his Mrs & the 2 kids were very miserable. Even more peed off when my relay wagon arrived first!

[yajeed]

tr7v8 said:

Common problem. Very long service intervals are the main cause. When mine went on the Alfa 156 JTD I spoke to Turbo Technics & they said 12K too long between oil changes. I believe on the Beemer you can push 16-18K between services, this is the result.
I remember waiting at Dover for a relay wagon, with a guy whose turbo had blown on his 320D. He'd been relayed from southern france & his Mrs & the 2 kids were very miserable. Even more peed off when my relay wagon arrived first!

In the history of my 530d is a turbo replacement. I think it was at around 40k miles (and 6-7 years old). BMW paid for the part and the owner a couple of hundred quid for labour.

[E30M3SE]

Before you go buying a new turbo, check for split boost hoses.

[mrmr96]

http://www.turbotechnics.com/
http://www.turborepairs.com/
http://www.universal-turbos.com/

[anonymous-user]

E30M3SE said:

Before you go buying a new turbo, check for split boost hoses.

Thanks, I've asked my mechanic to check that this afternoon now that the car has arrived by AA transporter!

[anonymous-user]

mrmr96 said:

http://www.turbotechnics.com/
http://www.turborepairs.com/
http://www.universal-turbos.com/

Thanks for those.

I'm unsure what to do after a chat with my local VAG/BMW specialist.

He said only fit original equipment turbos as he has fitted loads of cheap ones for people from Euro car parts and suchlike, plus various reconditioned ones and they don't last 2 minutes apparently.

One guy went through 3 turbos in 3 months! He returned them all under warranty and fitted an original Garrett and didn't have any more problems.

Slightly worrying!

[mrmr96]

The cheaper options are to buy a reconditioned one (removed as broken and mended), or a 2nd hand one (removed as working and not reconditioned), or have yours sent away to be fixed.

The more expensive option is to buy a brand new one, either a generic make or a pukka one.

Most expensive option is buying a pukka one from a main dealer.

Best option would probably be to get the proper Garrett turbo from one of the UK distributors, rather than from BMW.

In which case you want to call these guys:
http://www.btnturbo.com/

[BoraBora]

CarsOrBikes said:

80k is about right for a turbo, in fact you are probably fortunate it lasted that long

this is bs, it is not common for turbos to fail before 100k

if treated right id say it would be good for 200k +
when you get a replacement, renew the oil feed lines, check for boost leaks and as has been said replace the breather valve


remember to treat the turbo properly, 20k oil service intervals are fine unless your booting it all the time, then cut to 10k, when you start the car wait a minuite or so before driving off to make sure oil is around the system, try not to hard accelerate/full throttle till your car is up to temperature

and after a journey when you pull up, wait a minuite or so till you turn off the engine, this lets the turbo spool down and lets some of the heat out of it, oh and you have to boot it now and again as the Variable vanes can get sooted up if you dont,

[CarsOrBikes]

BoraBora said:

this is bs, it is not common for turbos to fail before 100k

if treated right id say it would be good for 200k +
when you get a replacement, renew the oil feed lines, check for boost leaks and as has been said replace the breather valve


remember to treat the turbo properly, 20k oil service intervals are fine unless your booting it all the time, then cut to 10k, when you start the car wait a minuite or so before driving off to make sure oil is around the system, try not to hard accelerate/full throttle till your car is up to temperature

and after a journey when you pull up, wait a minuite or so till you turn off the engine, this lets the turbo spool down and lets some of the heat out of it, oh and you have to boot it now and again as the Variable vanes can get sooted up if you dont,

Not BS at all, it is fact, and we have to repair them, although we don't like using recon ones, or recon them, we strip them and all have one side of the bearing worn elliptical, the oil holes blocked and mostl due to the breather not being renewed regularly in conjunction with stupid oil change intervals.

Your reply details ways to reduce failures but not any significant explanation for your claim they don't commonly fail, a number of other contributors concur it is a regular failure.

So if everybody knew they could last 200k by doing this, the OP wouln't have had a problem would he. It is as posted, and yes you can do stuff to prolong the longevity of them

The chap asked how the failures can be reduced, yes by halving change intervals and possibly the use of a top quality oil flush also

For the 50 quid a breather costs approx, just renew it at the third change or before if you wish, yes leaving the engine running will help take heat out of the oil around the turbo, but if the congealing process is already affecting it you are still delaying the inevitable only a little

If you hear a significant turbo wheeze, especially from cold it is an early sign. At this point you could do work to restore oil flow, but it's all money nobody wants to spend. Also if off and on the gas the car when hot occasionally bogs down, and there is some wheeze present, it could be a turbo related. Sometime an eml will come on but not all the time.

There will be other symptoms too, ie if the egr is removed, at the joint the diameter will be reduced by serious carbon biuld up sometimes, and a charge pressure sensor at the rear of the manifold blocked up, not every time, but pretty obvious as egr removed. Get it checked at the time of turbo repair, and cleaned or a new manifold as you won't get all the crud out.

I would just flush the oil several times every 5k or something to do your best to help, LL04 is the grade requirement, I think 0-30? no need to spend 200 quid on silly oil, just the right oil and change it way more often. Then every 10k.

The cbs system gives a 2 year 20k interval, and that doesn't account fot the cheaper oils used, or low oil levels cars are subjected to from poor checks or plain ignorance.

If you change the breather, hand wrie it in the book so other know when.

Thats all

[Fox-]

BoraBora said:

this is bs, it is not common for turbos to fail before 100k

It is on the M47B20 engine.

[tgr]

Motormec in Lowestoft has OEM replacement turbos