[Cozy]

Hi all! I've searched and I think it's lead me to diagnose my issue as wastegate rattle. Do you agree?

The sound I am getting is excatly like this:

It is pronounced on cold start and deceleration. I purchased my car from a BMW dealership a week back so therefore have warranty in place, it's booked in tomorrow to be inspected.

I also got my EML on, it was an orange symbol with the engine half coloured in, if that makes sense. Would this be linked to the rattle or something else perhaps? I turned the car off and back on and the EML didn't come back however I have a small yellow warning triangle above the mileometer now.

Any info much appreciated .

[fastloop]

Originally Posted by JamJay

Hi all! I've searched and I think it's lead me to diagnose my issue as wastegate rattle. Do you agree?

The sound I am getting is excatly like this:

It is pronounced on cold start and deceleration. I purchased my car from a BMW dealership a week back so therefore have warranty in place, it's booked in tomorrow to be inspected.

I also got my EML on, it was an orange symbol with the engine half coloured in, if that makes sense. Would this be linked to the rattle or something else perhaps? I turned the car off and back on and the EML didn't come back however I have a small yellow warning triangle above the mileometer now.

Any info much appreciated .

If it sounds like that then yes it's definitely wastegate rattle. It will only get worse over time and you'll start to loose performance as well. The drop in performance happens over time so you don't necessarily notice it, but when it's fixed you'll be surprised how big a difference it makes.

There are two types of fixes to this problem: (Both expensive so it's good you got warranty)
- New wastegate actuators if the valve flap is still in spec. Book time on this is around a 6 hours as the front one is a pain to get to.
- New turbos's with new actuators. Book time on this is around 11 hours.

Typically they'll measure the wear on the wastegate actuatuator flap and if it's out of spec you should really get new turbos. It kind of makes sense to swap the turbos to avoid doing double the work if the actuators doesn't fix it. Parts wise it's only a ~£1000 difference, but that will quickly be eaten up in labour if the first one doesn't fix it.

See what you dealer says, but if they not interested in doing anything then send it to Battersea (Stewarts Road). They are a lot more understanding of this problem and will take good care of you. It's well worth the hassle of dropping it off in London and since you are in Surrey then it's not that far away.

In regards to the yellow triangle, then check your service items and any errors using the indicator stalk. If you have iDrive you can check if you have any things that needs to be sorted soon. Typically you get this yellow triangle if you have and error that you okay'ed. E.g. fuel reserve.

[335iLondon]

Good advice. ^^^^
My only addition would be, keep the old turbo units if they replace, as they are worth a few quid.
Lucky you have warranty!

[m1bjr]

I would never have bought a car that sounded like that!

If its suddenly occurred I doubt its a wastegate, in fact that vid sounds more like a leaking exhaust downpipe.

[Cozy]

Thank you for the replies, very helpful and really appreciated. I bought the car without hearing the rattle so perhaps it's just gotten worse or I've picked up on it now I'm more in tune with the car. In truth I had the top down for the first time today so this I when I noticed it. I'm not so concerned as I have the warranty and the car us otherwise fantastic . I'll update you tomorrow with their findings but I'll push for turbo replacement, I can then have peace if mind or rather less off the road time. I'll make a request for sure to keep the old TCs, if they aren't needed for reconditioning or the like.

The yellow triangle has since vanished so I can't see what it was. Odd but I guess the dealer may be able to figure that. No symptoms of HPFP or injectors thus far.

[m1bjr]

I may be tempting fate here, or just very lucky.
I'm up around the 73k mark now and the engine is all original and all silent.

Steve

[fastloop]

Originally Posted by JamJay

Thank you for the replies, very helpful and really appreciated. I bought the car without hearing the rattle so perhaps it's just gotten worse or I've picked up on it now I'm more in tune with the car. In truth I had the top down for the first time today so this I when I noticed it. I'm not so concerned as I have the warranty and the car us otherwise fantastic . I'll update you tomorrow with their findings but I'll push for turbo replacement, I can then have peace if mind or rather less off the road time. I'll make a request for sure to keep the old TCs, if they aren't needed for reconditioning or the like.

The yellow triangle has since vanished so I can't see what it was. Odd but I guess the dealer may be able to figure that. No symptoms of HPFP or injectors thus far.

You won't get to keep the old turbos if it's a warranty job and there is also a core charge for the turbos. Basically if you don't return the old ones you pay the core charge. I think it's around £100 a turbo. So even if you were to pay for this job yourself, you would still loose some money by keeping them.

Given that new turbo's are £550+VAT a turbo, I don't think it's worth even asking. Short of fitting the turbo's yourself, the risk of a refurbed turbo rattling would put me off going down this route. An indy would set you back around £1000+VAT in labour to take them off and put them back on again, so you may end up with some really expensive book ends!


Normally the stock DPs are pretty good at masking the WG rattle as the CATs dampen the sound a lot. So if it's that audible with with stock DPs, then you don't want to hear it with catless DPs. The dealer may try to give you the software fix first. That will open the wastegates a little under certain conditions to prevent them from rattling. It may work, but will most likely come at a cost of a slight increase in turbo lag.

[seanblee]

I inadvertently had the software fix applied when they installed an update for a different issue - it's most obvious from a cold start, where the exhaust note is much boomier than it was previously. Mine went back in the next day to have the 'fix' disabled, as it killed the responsiveness at low engine speeds with small throttle openings.

[Cozy]

I hope the software update isn't the 'fix', the car is very nippy low down right now and I like that about it. We'll see what happens, I've just got home from dropping her off.

[Cozy]

Wahey, I'm part of the official 335i fault club . Ok, so that's not a good thing but hey, at least it's on the road to being fixed and buying from a BMW dealer has paid off for that warranty. I just got a call to say that the ECU needs to be reprogrammed or something along those lines as there is a distinct lack of power, I'm guessing that if that doesn't fix it then they can look down other avenue's....HPFP, injectors I guess but I have no idea as I am an N54 newbie right now. Secondly the rattle IS coming from the wastegates so they're looking deeper into that issue also & I'll be advised on that later on.

Oh well, here's to another week without my own car.

[m1bjr]

Yup, that will be the software to fudge the gate position.
Unfortunately the slop still remains in the linkages

[Cozy]

Bummer. So realistically I can expect to drive down the road, hear the sound and turn back around to the dealer?

[Cozy]

Off to pick it up tonight, apparently the software has fixed it but I guess at a compromise in turbo lag...I'll report back on that later. Also the HPFP was on its way out.

[zltm089]

keep us posted mate....

[zltm089]

which dealership did you use OP?

[Cozy]

Originally Posted by zltm089

which dealership did you use OP?

Will do buddy.

I'm using Vines Group Gatwick, so far so good...

[Cozy]

Muchos crapness, car back and rattling like a goodun still, I honestly don't think they know what I'm talking about. Tomorrow I am going to get a little angry at these guys!

[zltm089]

mate, I would take it to Battersea....with the N54 engine, you need people that know their sh*t to help you!....

[Cozy]

How does warranty work when taking it to a garage other than that which you bought it from? Will my reg come up on their PCs showing that it has warranty? I take it that they'll be happy to do the work even though I'm not technically a paying customer?

Sorry for questions.

[m1bjr]

You can go where you like

And yes they claim back from BMW so they are always happy to make some money.

HPFP normally begins to show itself with long cranks during starting. Followed by a couple of error codes in the log.



Im sure it will be fixed for you, at least all the serious work is done and you have an 'as new' car after

[Cozy]

That's great to know. I called Vines again yesterday and politelty expressed my disappointment, told them what the issue was and they booked me in next week with courtesy car. The salesman said it was odd to have a customer tell them what was wrong with the car but then again I am armed with years of mechanical experience, a mechanic for a Dad & this forum of course . Thursday is the day so I'll update this when I know more.

[335iLondon]

My only advice mate, just go to another garage,
you have the safeguard of warranty behind you.
Most garages are geared up for boggo 2.0 or 3.0 ltr they probably have never even serviced the 335.
If i was going through this again, i would prob go battersea as they have closer connection to BMW uk or Birds.