"Check Engine" to "Turbos are Gone"

[DSCPLN]

What a nightmare: After a recent spirited drive, the Check Engine light started coming on. Restarting the car would remove the fault momentarily, but it kept returning whenever I pushed the car. I had replaced a faulty fuel injector which was triggering a Check Engine light whenever I pushed the car a few weeks ago too.

So, I dropped the car off at the local BMW and they diagnosed it saying the turbos were done, as the wastegate will not open even by hand.

BMW told me that the "N54" may have the extended 8 year warranty on turbos, but not the "N54-T"

$7,326 USD parts & labor quote from BMW Dealer
$6,150 USD parts & labor quote from local shop for either BMW OEM Turbos or Dinan's N54 Turbo (4-6wk backorder)

I opted to Not extend the factory warranty. The car has about 30k miles on it.

Thoughts? Ideas?

[kikcaffine]

Injectors were under warranty

[DSCPLN]

Originally Posted by kikcaffine

Injectors were under warranty

Yeah I just asked why they charged me on that one.

UPDATE: They're issuing me a refund on the charge. Thank you!

[kprocivic]

damn i thought all n54's were covered. i have the service bulletin for the wastegate warranty.

edit, after looking at the bulletin it did not include the 1m. thats bs.

[kikcaffine]

Originally Posted by kprocivic

damn i thought all n54's were covered. i have the service bulletin for the wastegate warranty.

edit, after looking at the bulletin it did not include the 1m. thats bs.

Yeah i was pretty pissed to learn that.

[css008]

That's a bit concerning as 30k over 5 yrs is not much mileage on the car. What type of bhp are you pushing? Did they give you a reason why the turbos went out?

[kprocivic]

Did they say why the n54t isn't covered by the extended warranty. I would keep climbing up the chain until someone says yes. 30k miles is low.

[DSCPLN]

Originally Posted by css008

What type of bhp are you pushing? Did they give you a reason why the turbos went out?

I don't have much performance-related mods on the car, mostly aesthetics: http://bit.ly/DSCPLN-1M

The dealer said they won't know for sure until they take it all apart.

[bdaddylo]

I would go get a second opinion from an indy shop who's familiar with the N54. If you didn't abuse the turbos (i.e., tune with boost increased >16 psi) 30k miles is way too low for the turbos to die. Also, did they say both turbos are gone? IMO It would be highly unlikely for both to go at the same time. I personally would opt for aftermarket turbos like Pure instead of getting the OEMs again.

BTW - Nice mods!!!

[ayao]

Ugh - very sorry to hear this. Keep us posted ...

[The Wind Breezes]

New turbos are not a $6K-7K venture unless you are forced to have the car serviced at the dealer / don't know any better. Do it yourself / find a reasonable mechanic and it'll be a reasonable repair.

Also, if the turbos themselves are not blown and it's just your wastegate actuators, you know those can be replaced for RETARDEDLY cheap (if you do it yourself / have an inexpensive mechanic), almost all labor.

[DSCPLN]

Originally Posted by The Wind Breezes

New turbos are not a $6K-7K venture unless you are forced to have the car serviced at the dealer / don't know any better. Do it yourself / find a reasonable mechanic and it'll be a reasonable repair.

Also, if the turbos themselves are not blown and it's just your wastegate actuators, you know those can be replaced for RETARDEDLY cheap (if you do it yourself / have an inexpensive mechanic), almost all labor.

Is the labor time for replacing the wastegate actuator, the same as replacing 2x turbos?

The cost of the turbos was $2k for both, $1k for just one. And I was recommended to replace both while they were in there, just-in-case.

The dealer matched the local shop at $6300, but won't budge on sanctioning the warranty as the "4 year" mark has exceeded.

Regret not extending the warranty on this car now.. but what were the odds?

[The Wind Breezes]

Labor's probably the same, I can't imagine you could / would want to replace the actuators without pulling the turbos. It's not super hard to pull the turbos, I mean it's not like the motor has to come out or anything lol. I'm guessing from your replies though that you don't feel mechanically competent enough to attempt this yourself.

As for not extending the warranty, that's on you. Nobody in their right mind who's been around aging BMWs would opt out of any kind of warranty because ALL KINDS of expensive stuff can and will break.

[ayao]

Turner has turbos for $720 a piece.
It seems really illogical that the turbo wastegate warranty doesn't apply to the N54T unless it's a different part number. Seems like there must be a way to escalate.

[The Wind Breezes]

I just read up on this, apparently SOME of the turbos for the N54 are defective, hence the huge extended warranty.

If the N54T has the same turbos as the N54, which I can't imagine it doesn't, you may have a shot at talking your way into some coverage...it really depends on whether you can convince BMW to pay the dealer. The dealer will be happy to do any warranty work AS LONG AS BMW COVERS IT.

[DSCPLN]

Originally Posted by The Wind Breezes

I just read up on this, apparently SOME of the turbos for the N54 are defective, hence the huge extended warranty.

If the N54T has the same turbos as the N54, which I can't imagine it doesn't, you may have a shot at talking your way into some coverage...it really depends on whether you can convince BMW to pay the dealer. The dealer will be happy to do any warranty work AS LONG AS BMW COVERS IT.

BMW contacts anyone? Where's the 1M love?

[SpencerMH]

Originally Posted by DSCPLN

BMW contacts anyone? Where's the 1M love?

I had a similar experience, I have 67k miles and took my car in for rattling wastegates assuming it would be covered by the extended warranty like all other n54's but was informed the 1m doesn't appear on the list. This has to be a typo essentially, the bulk of n54s are 2010 model year and before so our 2011 n54's fall outside that list of cars that are covered but if someone goes the distance I can't imagine BMW won't cave as it's the same turbos with the same faulty design. We need an Atty owner to go the distance here on this issue!

And sorry to hear of your turbos, definitely bizarre they failed at that mileage and it's a prime example of why BMW was sued and then extended the warranty; you're looking at a multi thousand dollar repair because a $20 wastegate failed, a terrible design.

[Ender_]

I wonder if it has anything to do with production date - one's closer to 2010 might not have the fix?
Just hoping because mine was a November production

As other have said I find it hard to believe it wouldn't be covered given the extended warranty if you make enough of a fuss.

[SpencerMH]

Originally Posted by Ender_

I wonder if it has anything to do with production date - one's closer to 2010 might not have the fix?
Just hoping because mine was a November production

As other have said I find it hard to believe it wouldn't be covered given the extended warranty if you make enough of a fuss.

No I don't think any 1m's or 335is's made the list as they were something of a afterthought when BMW switched to the n55 platform.

[DSCPLN]

they said the N54T turbos aren't the same as the N54

Final Quote for repair has been brought down to ~$5500. Thinking of just swallowing the cost

[MDORPHN]

Turbos are identical. Only difference is the DME programming.

Neil

[DSCPLN]

accepted the repair cost. paying $5942 out of pocket >.<

expecting to get it back in 2 days