[Gizm0]

The wastegate on my rear turbo is stuck open, my car has 100k miles so I bought two used turbos from a junkyard in SC with 15k miles on them, out of an 09 335i for $300 each.

The thing is the turbos look really dirty. My 100k miles turbos look much cleaner than those... It looks like they have more than 15k miles on them, and also the rod between the actuator and the wastegate is bent on both of them.

There is no abnormal play in the turbine shaft, and the wastegate seems to move normally on both turbos.

Is there a way to verify with the serial number, the year an mileage of the car these turbos came out of?

[NGEE]

Use the rods from your old turbos? But yeah, it seems unlikely those have only 15k miles on them.

[135Pats]

Maybe they were underwater rusting for 15K miles. But they are not tied to VIN so far as I know, the turbo and the motor are not registered together.

[Gizm0]

Originally Posted by NGEE

Use the rods from your old turbos? But yeah, it seems unlikely those have only 15k miles on them.

Yeah, that's what I'll do.

I'll have to take these turbos apart to clean them up. The wheel on the air side of the rear turbo looks pretty dirty too. Is it okay to use carb cleaner to clean the turbos? Or do I run the risk of having the carb cleaner eating up the bearings/gaskets material?

[Gizm0]

Originally Posted by 135Pats

Maybe they were underwater rusting for 15K miles. But they are not tied to VIN so far as I know, the turbo and the motor are not registered together.

Looking at the rust and dried gunk on them, it looks like they were taken out of the car a long time ago and left on the shelf with grease/oil residue drying on them. Maybe they do have 15k miles but these junkyards aren't exactly the cleanest places around, and the mechanic who took them out didn't take the time to wipe them off before shelving them.

[135Pats]

Yep. For all you know, the hood of the car was left open for 18 months or something. If the core is in good shape you should be OK if you clean them and replace the actuator rods.

[liang]

Damn thats unfortunate.... $600 for used turbos is robbery. I bought new uninstalled ones for $1000 with gaskets from a forum member. New unused turbos always pop up on the FS section for anyone else interested.

[Augster]

I was burned many, many moons ago on used turbos sight unseen for my 1991 300XZ TT. Hard lesson learned for me never to invest in used turbos unless it's from someone completely trustworthy and you are absolutely positive of the history and condition of the turbos.

$600 for a pair of used turbos may at first blush seem like a great deal, until they fail sooner than expected or seem to have other issues like what you are beginning to find. Then it becomes another nightmare having to replace your turbos yet again so soon as you go through the lengthy and laborious task of ripping your car apart and second time.

But the deed is done, so just cross your fingers that they are truly as described by the seller...

[335NJ]

Maybe find a good speed/performance shop that has a good connection for a shop to clean/rebuild them. Send them off and have them back in a week or so.

Especially if they're mechanically "not 100%", maybe a couple hundred bucks and they're back to full-op through a decent rebuild shop. Especially if you have donor parts.

[Slow_335i]

Was the previous car sitting at the bottom of a lake for a couple years? Da Faq!?!

[NGEE]

Really bad VCG leak?

[Gizm0]

Originally Posted by NGEE

Really bad VCG leak?

That's what I thought too... I've never seen used turbos for this car so filthy. I'm gonna clean them up today...

[LQQKOUT]

I would not waste the time and $$$ to get those turbos installed. For starter they are damaged. You have at least one bent wastegate rod, and they look like they have allot more miles on them, or something went terribly wrong with that engine.

[Blackhawk36]

Originally Posted by NGEE

Really bad VCG leak?

Not on a 15k mile motor.

[techmaster05]

dam I have 91k miles on my e90 and my turbos look super clean. hopefully there is no issues once u put those on. I know it may seem like your saving money but yoi can very much so loose it all with all the time wasted and if they dnt work properly. would have been a nice down payment on some rb turbos.

[NGEE]

Originally Posted by Blackhawk36

Not on a 15k mile motor.

lol, that's the question isn't it?

[Gizm0]

Originally Posted by Blackhawk36

Not on a 15k mile motor.

Well these turbos come from a junkyard, so for all I know the car may have been in a wreck with oil and or coolant sprayed all over the engine at the time of crash.

[Blackhawk36]

Originally Posted by Gizm0

Well these turbos come from a junkyard, so for all I know the car may have been in a wreck with oil and or coolant sprayed all over the engine at the time of crash.

That turbo replacement is so labor intensive, I couldn't imagine not replacing them with new. What are we talking in price difference? They are $633 each for new on getbmwparts.com with warranty. Depends on what peace of mind is worth.

[Riick]

You got ripped off

[Gizm0]

The place I bought the turbos from is going to send me a $60 credit for the damaged actuator rods and they sent me documents to prove the mileage on the turbos. They're really dirty because oil was sprayed on them during a front end crash.