320d Turbo Failure - Info / Poll / Help pls

Genco

Recently had the misfortune of experiencing Turbo Failure after 63000 kms on a Aug 2002 Build 320d.

I have read through all of the excellent posts here with respect to this issue and have also collated information from France, Spain, Italy, New Zealand and South Africa.


I would also be very appreciative if anyone has the time to copy and complete the following short form on this thread so I can back position with BMW Ireland:


For the record my info is

Model: 320d
Engine: E46 150
Year and month of Build: August 2002
Mileage at Turbo Fail: 63,000 km
Did BMW/Dealer accept this without question: No
Did BMW/Dealer claim this was not a common issue: Evasive and non committal
Did BMW pay for labour to repair: o/s
Did BMW pay for parts to repair: o/s
Other significant issues: Had to replace Catalytic Converter in 2003/2004 at cost of €600


I would also appreciate any information as to whether anyone is aware of:

1. Any public comment from BMW or media articles where BMW officially declined to comment
2. Any legal action taken that proceeded or was settled before proceeding (other than Spain as I have this info)
3. Any reports made to Director of Consumer Affairs or equivalent
4. Any reports / grounds for reporting to Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement or equivalent




User friendly copy of form to cut, paste and complete


Model:
Engine:
Year and month of Build:
Mileage at Turbo Fail:
Did BMW/Dealer accept this without question:
Did BMW/Dealer claim this was not a common issue:
Did BMW pay for labour to repair:
Did BMW pay for parts to repair:
Other significant issues:




Really appreciate any help at all

JohnCleary

My 320d:

Registered May 2002
Turbo blew 2004

BMW replaced turbo & engine under warranty in 2004

Owen

BMW 320d's spit turbo's out. They also spit oxygen sensors out too. It's normal for every single one of them.

HashSlinging

FMI (for my information)

Is it the 00 - 01 320's that "dont" suffer from this problem.

JohnCleary

HashSlinging wrote:

FMI (for my information)

Is it the 00 - 01 320's that "dont" suffer from this problem.

I was led to believe that only the 2002 suffered from these problems, it was rectified after that

junkyard

I heard of a few 530d's doing it but never a 320d. Well none of mine did it anyway.:)

prospect

junkyard wrote:

I heard of a few 530d's doing it but never a 320d. Well none of mine did it anyway.:)

Jeepers, I have a turbo diesel Alfa. It is perfectly fine. Guess that speaks for itself.

astraboy

A guy I knew with a 320D of the same model blew a turbo a few years after buying it. I was talking to him one night and he is an old guy, retired and he said it was mainly short drives he used the car for. By rights you should let your car tick over for a few minutes after a drive to allow the turbo to cool, otherwise the oil pump used to send the oil through the turbo to cool it will stop, and the oil will not be able to dissiapate(spelling) the heat and cause turbo failure over time.

maidhc

astraboy wrote:

By rights you should let your car tick over for a few minutes after a drive to allow the turbo to cool, otherwise the oil pump used to send the oil through the turbo to cool it will stop, and the oil will not be able to dissiapate(spelling) the heat and cause turbo failure over time.

Absolutely. Very few people do it though.

Genco

Its a well known phenomonen with the pre 2003 BMW 320d. Numerous examples from Ireland, UK, Spain, France, Germany, NZ, S Africa .... and those are only the ones I have found after 24-48 hours.

So far as I can reasonably guesstimate at this stage the failure rate in 150 bhp 320d E46 mtu47 pre Nov-02 builds appears to be in the range of 28-30%.

See comment from BMW below for example. Shocking to see an admission of there being an issue that can cost up to €2500-€3500 to put right and to their own admission effected the sale and resale value yet no effort was made to address this; instead a new engine was developed yet no retrospective action or recall was undertaken.


Failure headache solved, says executive

By Bob Kernohan

AN assurance that problems with BMW 3 Series two-litre turbo diesel engines had been solved was given by company public affairs and communications boss Richard Carter at the launch of the uprated 3 Series last week.

Carter conceded that there had been failures of the turbos on the two-litre models.

He attributed these to a combination of “sonic vibrations” within a particular rev range “destroying” the turbo impellers.

Extensive tests in South Africa and in Germany had eventually traced the problems to a chain of circumstances occurring within “milliseconds” and in which air pressure and altitude played critical roles, rather than temperatures.

Style of driving and clutch use could also have been factors in the failures, said Carter. But various changes had been made and a new “blackdot” turbocharger and a new Software 4 programme seemed to have solved the problem.

Carter said the 320d had experienced a “zero failure rate” using the new turbo and software over the past three to four months.

“We are confident the problem is under control,” added Carter, who said 320d sales and resale values had suffered because of the turbo failures.

junkyard

prospect wrote:

Jeepers, I have a turbo diesel Alfa. It is perfectly fine. Guess that speaks for itself.

If any vacancies come up with Alfa Romeo in PR I'll be sure to let you know prospect.;)

JohnCleary

In fairness, when the turbo blew on the car I own (Before I owned it), the whole engine and turbo was replaced under warranty, presumably no questions asked. Have here in the Service History. I even rang the place that did the work before I bought it, said everything was done and it left the workshop pefect... So I own a BMW with a 2004 2ltr turbo with 35k miles on it

junkyard

JohnCleary wrote:

In fairness, when the turbo blew on the car I own (Before I owned it), the whole engine and turbo was replaced under warranty, presumably no questions asked. Have here in the Service History. I even rang the place that did the work before I bought it, said everything was done and it left the workshop pefect... So I own a BMW with a 2004 2ltr turbo with 35k miles on it

You'd be waiting a long time for Fiat or Alfa to do that I'd say?:)

JohnCleary

junkyard wrote:

You'd be waiting a long time for Fiat or Alfa to do that I'd say?:)

A Fiat or an Alfa... What do you take me for?

E92

63,000 km is very early, but yes its not unknown that 320d has a habit of its turbo failing. Earlier models in particular, I believe. OP how come your car's mileage is in kms rather than in mls if its an Irish car? Did you get the clocks changed or is there a button on the dash for changing the mileage from mls to km? The reason I ask is because if the answer is yes to the clocks being changed, how are we supposed to believe that your car really has 63,000 km? (I'm not saying or implying that you changed the clocks and its been 63,000 km since then, but surley thats the type of thing that BMW could say if they felt like it)
Personally, they should pay for it.Surley BMW fixed the Cat for you free gratus, or did I imagine that you said the didn't?

Genco

Missed the error that I had typed kms .... it is 63,000 miles so apols for the type.

As for the Cat I had to fork out for that myself as the car was purchased as an approved second hand car and was about 1 year old when puchased. 14 months later .... Cat = Kaboom (also had to replace a couple of tyres despite only having added about 7-10k MILES in that time.

I n f u r i a t i n g !