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06-03-2017, 11:35 PM | #1 |
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New Turbos: OEM vs Aftermarket
Fun story: After looking for maybe 6 months, I bought a nice used 2009 135i MSport from out of state. Price was on the high side, but I had it inspected beforehand by a BMW specialist: passed inspection. Car arrives at my door, and magically, suddenly has wastegate rattle that neither the dealer nor the PPI mechanic noticed...
Sooooo, that blows. Or rather, it doesn't necessarily blow. But it does rattle. Anyway, it's the rear turbo. My local mechanic confirmed it. TL;DR: I need to replace the turbos. If going beyond 400hp isn't a big deal for me, and my top priority is simply replacing them with something that won't ever have this problem again, and will last a long time with proper car care, what is the smart choice? Here's what my research has learnt me so far: 1) New OEM turbos ($1500/pair, +/-) are supposedly "upgraded" with a more heavy duty wastegate actuator (8mm instead of 6mm or something). Is this kind of a band-aid fix to a fundamentally flawed design? Or a legitimate fix? 2) Dinan also offers upgraded OEM turbos for around $2000/pair. Same question here: is the wastegate issue fundamentally addressed, or just given some minor tweak? 3) Pure Stage 1 (~$2000/pair): Not listed on Pure's site, but they confirmed it exists. Same question. How is longevity compared to OEM? Anyone with any knowledge on which option will be the most reliable? I don't want to replace a flaky turbo with another flaky turbo. The cost is too high, especially after installation. Please be gentle. Thanks! |
06-05-2017, 09:25 PM | #3 |
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Really appreciate the reply, thanks! So your guess is that the current crop of OEM turbos will be equivalent or better than the Dinan "upgraded" refurbs in terms of reliability?
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06-06-2017, 05:02 AM | #4 |
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Depending on how old your current turbos are, you can swap out just the wastegate arm for the newer 8mm piece.. If the turbos aren't leaking etc, and its just rattle.. further info here
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06-06-2017, 08:58 AM | #5 | |
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Quote:
Also, how many miles on the car? Any signs of abuse/service neglect?
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"Tobias" 2013 135i ///M-Sport 6MT • Pure Stage 1 • XDI 35 HPFP • 404whp/440wtq |
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06-06-2017, 10:08 AM | #6 |
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Are you under the extended warranty of 8 years/82K? If so, see attached SI B01 02 12. Many folks here got new turbos under the extended warranty (myself included).
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06-06-2017, 11:44 AM | #7 |
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I'm not a fan of Dinan, but that's beside the point. I think a new pair of factory turbos will be fine for pretty much as long as you own the car provided you maintain it, and don't start the turbos dry when you install them. No need to make things more complicated, since you aren't looking for 400+ hp.
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06-06-2017, 04:29 PM | #8 |
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Thanks everyone for the replies. I will try to contact BMW about the extended warranty. I am well under the 82k miles, but MAY be over the 8 years. IDK if that goes by manufacture date, sale date, or what. Anyone?
If anyone has a recommendation for which dealer in the SF Bay Area to approach about that, I'd love to hear it. Car appears to be very well taken care of as far as anyone else can tell. The link about replacing the wastegate arm didn't seem to have too much definitive info. People were speculating about whether that was even the issue, as opposed to the wastegate bushing (?), etc. And as it will probably entail even more downtime and labor cost to fix parts rather than replace the turbos, seems unlikely it's worth the trouble. I guess my plan for now will be to pursue BMW about warranty. But I'm assuming I'll be SOL on that. Plan B will be to replace the turbos with new OEM units. |
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06-07-2017, 05:54 AM | #9 |
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it goes by sale date. If you happen to be slightly outside the time period, call BMWNA and express your disappointment in the product. Usually they'll at least split the cost with you. Its a known problem
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06-14-2017, 04:06 PM | #11 |
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After another $200 in diagnostics from the stealership, BMWNA told me to go fuck myself. Message received.
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06-14-2017, 05:11 PM | #12 |
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that is sad to hear....usually manufacturers will help a client out just to save face, but I'm use to dealing with MB corporate, since I work at one of their dealers (and ironically drive a bmw). Well, buy a pair of turbos or try repairing yours and move on with life...I'm sure they just lost a customer, no matter how enjoyable their product is.
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06-14-2017, 06:46 PM | #13 |
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Yeah, unfortunate situation. But regardless, the price the dealer wanted to repair the turbos was obscene. Even 50% off would have still been about $1000 more than replacing them at a reputable indie shop nearby. So eff them all. Onward and upward.
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dinan, pure, turbo, wastegate rattle |
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