2003 x5 turbo diesel sm oke everywhere ?turbo any ideas

[sean j g]

hi all some advice needed please i have a 2003 pre facelift x5 diesel turbo driving car all of a sudden smoke everywhere from exhaust pulled over got car relayed home could it really be a turbo failure as the oil level was fine but is now showing empty on the dip stick or is there something else it could be thanks in advance for your replies

cheers sean

[sniff diesel]

Could be a head gasket if the oil gallery is split letting oil into a combustion chamber but the turbo is the most likely fault.

[sean j g]

hi guys i have been told that turbo failure is a common fault and that it is caused by the ecu sending wrong signals and causing the turbo to overboost which sounds like rubbish to me and also that it causes the inlet manifold to crack and other problems the thing is i sold my x5 a week ago to a guy and this is what he is telling has happened to the car myself and my wife owned the car for 12 months with no problems whatsoever and it was driving like a dream when we sold it,to me i think the guy who bought it has either thrashed it or could have put petrol in the tank by mistake causing this? either way surely if it is the turbo a simple exchange of turbo and flush of the system would do the trick and the car should be fine whats your thoughts please

[Simond001]

Surely if you sold the car in good faith, and the car was "tried and tested" you have no liability at all.

You cannot be held responsible for anything that has happened to the car since it left your control.

My personal opinion would be to advise the buyer of the same thing (unless you are a trader in which case put it in the hands of your warranty guys).

[sean j g]

yes thats what i thought the car was perfect when he had it also can anyone tell me please do they have an intercooler thanks sean

[jamoor]

Turbos are common, estimate £800 to fix.

Personally I would tell the guy you sold it to to go away.

[sean j g]

thanks for all your input guys anyone know what sort of job it is to change the turbo time and ease wise cheers again sean

[jamoor]

sean j g said:

thanks for all your input guys anyone know what sort of job it is to change the turbo time and ease wise cheers again sean

Should take a decent indy a couple of hours.