[prepster]

Hi everyone, im a noob here on the this forum and was wondering how long is the life expectancy of the twin turbos on the 335i if well taken care off (frequent oil changes, not driving hard all the time, etc) i ask because my car is approaching the 100k miles mark (i bought it used and it had 2 previous owners) and i was wondering if i should sell and look for a newer (lesser milage 335i) or keep it and replace them down the line. If it wise to keep, is it difficult to change the turbos out yourself or is it a must have done dealer shop replacement? thanks alot in advance for your help.

[centexE9x]

They should last the Life of the motor if you do services right. Most of them are replaced because of noises(waste gate) more than any actual failure of the bearings/turbo. Believe me when I tell you. Replacing them is a large job and is very involved. So many water/oil lines going everywhere, and they are stuffed right down there by the frame rail.

[robc1976]

Originally Posted by centexE9x

They should last the Life of the motor if you do services right. Most of them are replaced because of noises(waste gate) more than any actual failure of the bearings/turbo. Believe me when I tell you. Replacing them is a large job and is very involved. So many water/oil lines going everywhere, and they are stuffed right down there by the frame rail.

It is a big job, can be one on jack stands...my seals where shot at 85,000..replace with RB's because they got real bad. With that said I wouldn't say they will last the life of the motor. Wastegate's will be shot way before the motor goes out, they last well into the 125-175,000 mile range.....some reported longer and I do not see a turbo on this car lasting that long even if no mods are used.

[themyst]

I'd say 50-75k miles tuned with reasonable wear and tear.

[robc1976]

Originally Posted by themyst

I'd say 50-75k miles tuned with reasonable wear and tear.

+1

[ign335i]

No tune and properly adjusted wastegates = life of the motor. Over 15psi 50-75k.

[roadkillrob]

Originally Posted by ign335i

No tune and properly adjusted wastegates = life of the motor. Over 15psi 50-75k.

+1 there are lots of over 100k n54's now all going strong.

[robc1976]

Originally Posted by roadkillrob

+1 there are lots of over 100k n54's now all going strong.

I agree with that, but the turbos likely won't last that long...motor easily over 125,000 if not 150,000. I believe thereis a 335i with a recorded 200,000+ miles on it.

[vantage_coupe]

Originally Posted by robc1976

I agree with that, but the turbos likely won't last that long...motor easily over 125,000 if not 150,000. I believe thereis a 335i with a recorded 200,000+ miles on it.

I've heard of a few as well.

Here are a bunch of 335s for sale with over 100k miles

http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-s...rch=true&Log=0

Do regular maintenance and you shouldn't have to worry too much.

[robc1976]

Originally Posted by vantage_coupe

I've heard of a few as well.

Here are a bunch of 335s for sale with over 100k miles

http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-s...rch=true&Log=0

Do regular maintenance and you shouldn't have to worry too much.

mine has 107,00 FBO, 12,000 miles of E85 use and still going strong.

[5soko]

Im at 30K FBO.. never any meth.. And never much over 16psi.

My turbos making a lot of noises and whine.. but still not any smoke or a lot of waste gate rattle.

BUT, with all the whining, and lil smoke that comes out the exhausts at stop lights, im not too confident it will last a lot longer.
Def a $2,000 job if not more with the job all done.

[AK 335i]

Mine went out at 33K

[rdeterman]

id push the stockers till they let go... its a good excuse to upgrade to RB's or maybe the Vargas S2 when they come out

[Fully_Bolted]

Mine started burning coolant at 40k, 20k tuned. Turbo reliability is shit IMO.

[SfValley335i]

mine also went out at 40k but I was pushing 18-19 psi for a month before the went

[robc1976]

Originally Posted by rdeterman

id push the stockers till they let go... its a good excuse to upgrade to RB's or maybe the Vargas S2 when they come out

Exactly what I did

[robc1976]

Originally Posted by Fully_Bolted

Mine started burning coolant at 40k, 20k tuned. Turbo reliability is shit IMO.

agreed

[Fendamonky]

Originally Posted by Fully_Bolted

Mine started burning coolant at 40k, 20k tuned. Turbo reliability is shit IMO.

What is the max efficiency range for the stock turbos, and what were you running them at?



My car is at 117,000 miles and I've not noticed any significant problems with mine.

[335xi Kevo]

With procede you can change the waste gate adjustments to help combat the rattle. For instance the new maps moved the waste gates to 50% and rattled for me. Back to 30% and in stock mode zero rattle. Just things to consider.

[Fully_Bolted]

Originally Posted by Fendamonky

What is the max efficiency range for the stock turbos, and what were you running them at?



My car is at 117,000 miles and I've not noticed any significant problems with mine.

I was running Cobb stage 2 aggressive during that time, which basically follows the efficiency plateau of the factory twins. I should also note that I didn't notice the smoke until after deleting the secondary cats, so I suspect many others have the same issue but don't notice because it is masked by the catalytic converters.

[fireline43]

What kind of driving are people doing that the turbos are breaking like this? Is it all aggressive or even just random people driving normal?

[ign335i]

Originally Posted by fireline43

What kind of driving are people doing that the turbos are breaking like this? Is it all aggressive or even just random people driving normal?

Double the boost through stock snails.