[torrque]

I know I have been recommending these guys before, they did good by fixing my car once.... but hey, almost 10k dollars quotation for changing turbo's, cmon, let's be serious:

[torrque]

The car is worth about 7k now... I have 2 new RB turbos on the way. After much less skin on my knuckles and 2 sets of clothes thrown away due to oil and dirt from under the car, I have the turbos down...
If anyone is looking to do this job and wants some tricks or tips, ping me. Mine is a XI by the way, so this is the hardest car to do turbo's on.

[relative4]

Just did mine. Like you, I first got a quote from a good indy Kraut shop. Theirs was $6K. $10K is pretty extreme, even if they replace all lines and the engine mounts.

[torrque]

Yeah, I could swallow up to 3000, maybe 3500 in labor only. But these guys would not quote me on turbo replacement until I left the car there, paid 167 for an inspection/assessment, then I got the bad news

I had a very hard time to remove them; everything that could rust was extremely rusted, and a couple of turbo to engine block bolts were pretty much welded together by rust; I have 2 broken studs into the engine...
Removing the water lines without doing any damage to them was impossible:

[eyelobes]

I also got bad news recently after my turbos stated to howl. My indy quoted me $5500 for VTT OEM replacements. They wanted to pull the entire engine and trans, would only order parts from ETS (expensive) and still wanted $3500 for parts, on $1000 turbos and 20 hours of labor at 4100/hr.

Needless to say, I have Dynamic Autowerx stage 2+, inlets, outlets, oil feed and drain lines, install kit, exhaust gaskets, oil pan gasket and bolts, and new engine and trans mounts...for a total of around $2600.

I will be tackling this in my garage as soon as everything trickles in. My biggest concern is the car falling on me, I have harbor freight 3ton stands, but was thinking of getting 6ton for added insurance.

Did you put your car on 4 stands or 2 and chock the back wheels?

I'm down in GA so i don't think the rust will be as bad as up there in MA on a 106k car

[relative4]

That's really cheap. Coolant lines in there too? How much were those turbos?
2 jackstands, 3 ton are fine. Hockey pucks on the jack points.
I wrote a very detailed procedure, PM if you want it.

[torrque]

I got my turbos from Rob for 1300 (300 is core charge, so it will cost me 1000 in the end), and they just arrived this morning. Look like brand spanking new, and it has the balancing sheet attached for each (up to 210k rpms, yes that is 210,000 ).
I needed 5 lines, all water lines and one oil line changed. They were so rusted in that I do not trust them anymore, so I am getting 5 new. Reusing the return oil lines, they are easy to remove and not stuck. Lines cost me 350 shipped from Pelican parts...
New oil pan gasket, 50 bucks from rockauto.. some more bolts seals for the diff and what not, another 100. All up it will be under 1600 dollars when done.

I used 2 jack stands on front square supports. They are smashed anyway, so I used the jacks on them, car is not going anywhere. Yours is a RWD, so it will be much easier to drop the subframe and what not, no axles to mess with.
Do the oil pan seal since you are there, for another 2 hours of work and 100 bucks it's worth it...

[Jeef]

wow that is some high prices!! where do you guys live?

[torrque]

You can see my suburb under my avatar.. I did not even attempt to go to BMW for a quote... Car is not worth that much; I am in process of doing it myself, waiting for new oil and coolant lines (decided to change them all, they don't look too good). Turbo's are down and I have the RB's in the boxes waiting ...

[Chris@VargasTurboTech]

That quote is impressively high. Good on you going DIY!

Originally Posted by torrque

cmon, let's be serious:

Yeah, exactly...you can't put these guys on blast while only providing half the story.

What turbos are they quoting? What is the labor charge? Other parts involved?

The above variables obviously make a difference.

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

Originally Posted by eyelobes

I also got bad news recently after my turbos stated to howl. My indy quoted me $5500 for VTT OEM replacements. They wanted to pull the entire engine and trans, would only order parts from ETS (expensive) and still wanted $3500 for parts, on $1000 turbos and 20 hours of labor at 4100/hr.

Needless to say, I have Dynamic Autowerx stage 2+, inlets, outlets, oil feed and drain lines, install kit, exhaust gaskets, oil pan gasket and bolts, and new engine and trans mounts...for a total of around $2600.

I will be tackling this in my garage as soon as everything trickles in. My biggest concern is the car falling on me, I have harbor freight 3ton stands, but was thinking of getting 6ton for added insurance.

Did you put your car on 4 stands or 2 and chock the back wheels?

I'm down in GA so i don't think the rust will be as bad as up there in MA on a 106k car

Personally when I will do the job I would put the car on 4 stands. I usually also add 1 or 2 stand under the subframe as a backup safety plus the jack is I have space to do so. But after being under the car and my full body under it I don't feel scared anymore. Just look at your stands and if there is no rust or the welds look fine I don't think anything will happen. And in the turbo job the subframe backups can't be used once you will remove it.

You could pony up and get ESCO stands instead if you want, they fit nice with the pad adapters.

[eyelobes]

Originally Posted by TheMidnightNarwhal

Personally when I will do the job I would put the car on 4 stands. I usually also add 1 or 2 stand under the subframe as a backup safety plus the jack is I have space to do so. But after being under the car and my full body under it I don't feel scared anymore. Just look at your stands and if there is no rust or the welds look fine I don't think anything will happen. And in the turbo job the subframe backups can't be used once you will remove it.

You could pony up and get ESCO stands instead if you want, they fit nice with the pad adapters.

yeah the stands I have are harbor frieght 3 tons, and I have 4 of them, they are practically brand new. I've had it up on two about 5 times with chocks on the back and everything seemed pretty solid. I have an engine brace already sitting new in the box. I was thinking of maybe picking up some 6tons just for added security. Just waiting on all my stuff from dynamicautowerx now and my oil feed and drain lines from ECS, hopefully all be here by mid-month

[Delta0311]

I would be trading the fucker in ASAP and putting the 10k towards my next ride, either a M240 or M340.

[eyelobes]

Originally Posted by Delta0311

I would be trading the fucker in ASAP and putting the 10k towards my next ride, either a M240 or M340.

But that 10k isn't even a factor. The shop is ripping him off. May already have another car payment (i have a minivan). and to just replace oem turbos with some nice oem VTT+ for a max of about $1700 if you do the labor yourself.

That includes:
Turbos
install kit
oil drain and feed lines
oil and filter
coolant

Hell, i've spent so far a total of $2500 for:
dynamic autowerx stage2+ that will do 500whp on 93pump
install kit
2" vrsf oem inlets and outlets
all 4 oil lines
oil pan gasket and bolts
oem engine and trans mount kit
oil and filter
coolant
led angel eyes
frm2 retrofit with coding (coded myself)

for 1/4 the price and if you aren't afraid to crawl under your car and watch tons of youtube videos you can have a sleeper that will stomp 99% of the cars you see on the road.....unless you live in Dubai

just to top it off i'm planning on:
new jack pads and adapters
ESCO 3ton stands
index 12 injectors - fear i have a leaky one
eldor coils
95770 plugs

for less than $2k

so for half the price that shop wants you can turn your bmw into an absolute unit, and those are parts that would take you probably the same time or less than the shop is quoting you

[eyelobes]

or you can take that $10k and spend and additional $44k for a slower car with a warranty and 300 more pounds

[Torgus]

Never heard of that shop but F that price. The shop probably just did not want to job hence the price. There are plenty of good shops in MA if you ever want any recommendations or need any work done.

Tell Chris to F off and he lost your business for ever.

Also, GO PATIOTS!

[Kevin39]

Buying 6 ton jack stands doesn't make any sense. The risk isn't from a jack stand failing from weight.. The risk is you not placing them properly and the car falling off the jack stands when you're down there moving stuff around. I placed two 3 ton jack stands under the front jack pads to drop the subframe and install my turbos with no issues at all. There's definitely not 12,000lbs in the front of the car let alone 24,000.

Just trying to save you some money

[924er]

Wow, that quote is insane.

My guy charges $1000 for labor. He used to work at bmw and done hundreds of them so maybe that's why he's so cheap.

[type-dRew]

My buddy quoted $1500 for engine out, new clutch and turbos replaced with any other maintenance it needs at the same time and then back together.

Find a new shop or a make a new friend.

[Oliv]

14 hours, 1000 Euros (roughly the same in dollars) here in Europe (indy) - I provided the new Mitsu Turbos for an additionnal 1500
And that's on an xDrive

That quote is out of this world -Even BMW would take less

[4 Doors]

Originally Posted by type-dRew

My buddy quoted $1500 for engine out, new clutch and turbos replaced with any other maintenance it needs at the same time and then back together.

Find a new shop or a make a new friend.

Who's your buddy? Is he in Michigan?