Turbo services in Sydney + options for upgrade

[PranK]

Hi All,

My 335i has the dreaded wastegate rattle which plagues pretty much every N54 engine BMW produced at some stage in its lifetime. Basically the actuator arm sometimes doesnt close the flapper properly and can cause rattles and eventually boost leak. I have no boost leak yet but the turbos can become unable to be fixed if its left long enough.

The fix is to weld on to the turbos some uprgraded components to make it stronger and adjust the actuator so that the flapper can close properly again. https://vargasturbo.com/product/vtt-n54-waste-gate-repair-kit-rattle-fix/

This generally costs about $900 per set and is a service that GCG offers. https://gcg.com.au/service-details/BMW N54 Wastegate Rattle Repair-news.html

I'm wondering if anybody else in Sydney could do this? 

I have bought a 2nd set of turbos to fix so I can then swap them out in my own time without waiting for the fixes to be done and then I'll sell the ones that come out. 

Also, the N54 turbos are pretty small and I don't know if this is possible but can they be upgraded in any other way? Possibly high flowed? I'm not sure if high flowing OE turbos is a thing anymore. 

[Murray_Calavera]

I see @hypergear do the N55 turbo, I wonder how similar the N54 is?

https://hypergearturbos.com/product/bmwn55/

[PranK]

1 hour ago, Murray_Calavera said:

I see @hypergear do the N55 turbo, I wonder how similar the N54 is?

https://hypergearturbos.com/product/bmwn55/

Wow, thats a lot more expensive than I thought it'd be! There's a lot of off the shelf turbos I can get for around $5k but I'm not looking to replace my inlets, dumps and get a custom tune. I just thought there might be a bit of a basic upgrade to get the most out of them without going too far.

I did shoot an email to GCG the other day and mentioned high flowing in there, we'll see what they say I guess.

That said, I'd like to hear from @hypergear regardless if they have a repair service for the wastegate rattle. 

[joshuaho96]

I still can't believe of all the things BMW managed to screw up on that engine it was a vacuum-driven wastegate actuator.

[PranK]

19 minutes ago, joshuaho96 said:

I still can't believe of all the things BMW managed to screw up on that engine it was a vacuum-driven wastegate actuator.

Yeah the actuators are funny. But so is a lot of the rest of the engine.

[hypergear]

N55 is a single turbo, that high flow service linked above including ball bearing convetion and something similar to a G33-900 wheel set with line kit.

N54 are two little singles like a Rb26DETT. They make good power after high flowing, I usually build them to gtx2860 in specs. Wastegate bushing can be repaired. To machine four housings, two new cores and two wastegate flapper / bushing mods, its not any cheaper however. 

Edited September 12, 2023 by hypergear

[PranK]

25 minutes ago, hypergear said:

N55 is a single turbo, that high flow service linked above including ball bearing convetion and something similar to a G33-900 wheel set with line kit.

N54 are two little singles like a Rb26DETT. They make good power after high flowing, I usually build them to gtx2860 in specs. Wastegate bushing can be repaired. To machine four housings, two new cores and two wastegate flapper / bushing mods, its not any cheaper however. 

Absolutely wasn't suggesting that the cost wasn't worth it. Was more that it was above what I'd be looking to spend and I wasn't sure how much it would be. 

Do you know how much the wastegate repair usually goes for?

[hypergear]

We usually charge 600 to do both including supplying of new flaper valves and busing assembly. Those housing materials are pretty hard, takes a good couple of hours to do.

  

[PranK]

44 minutes ago, hypergear said:

We usually charge 600 to do both including supplying of new flaper valves and busing assembly. Those housing materials are pretty hard, takes a good couple of hours to do.

  

That sounds great. I might be your newest customer.

I bought a 2nd set of turbos so I could get them fixed and then just swap them over. When they arrive I'll get them to you.