Intercooler pipe failure

[jwirlatx]

Newly acquired 135 'vert with 80K - at purchase - now 81K. One long trip (300 miles).

Intercooler pipe broke last week. Got engine malfunction and limped to service. Replaced and did a fuel injection service at same time as mechanic said throttle body wasn't clean. ($1K+ total).

Anybody know how common this is? And, since I still have temp plates, should I consider moving on before it's at the shop more than my 3-series I got with only 40K which I traded for this? Feels a little like out of the frying pan, and into the fire. I'm familiar with BMW reliability, and since I live in Texas, plastic parts can be problematic. Maybe I expect too much?

Can I assume babying it is not the answer?

Jason

[dtla1]

Hmmm... It sounds like this intercooler pipe that you're talking about is the commonly referred to Charge Pipe. Very common for it to fail, plastic as you mentioned. Most common fix is to replace with metal one, personally I went with ER, but many options out there.

And yes, it's also common to see some oil get through all the way to the throttle body.

[khoa@x-ph.com]

Originally Posted by dtla1

Hmmm... It sounds like this intercooler pipe that you're talking about is the commonly referred to Charge Pipe. Very common for it to fail, plastic as you mentioned. Most common fix is to replace with metal one, personally I went with ER, but many options out there.

And yes, it's also common to see some oil get through all the way to the throttle body.

It does sound like a charge pipe failure issue.

[Gangplank]

If you search on the forum you'll find that there are a few common issues with the e82 135i. In reality most are very reliable when maintained and not tuned to the limit.

Common problems:

Water Pump - it's a BMW thing. The electric water pumps go out typically between 65-75,000 miles. Some of us changed them out around that mileage for piece of mind so we do t get stuck on the road. Others wait.

Oil Filter Housing Gasket - it's a rubber gasket at the oil filter housing. It eventually fails and when it does you'll see seepage there. It's on the front drivers side of the engine. No need to replace it unless it's leaking.

Valve cover/valve cover gasket/oil pan gasket - same here, some times they fail. Less common it seems. It's a BMW it's likely going to have an oil leak at some point.

Charge Pipe - it's plastic and gets brittle over time. Especially in high heat environments. If it was just replaced I'd just leave it and run the stock one for a few years. If it breaks again replace it with a metal one from VSRF or Evolution Racing (ER).