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Fried turbo
Apparently, BMW E46 2.0 litre turbo diesels are prone to turbo trouble. Could you kindly elaborate upon this by stating what these are, how they manifest themselves and under what circumstances they would be aggravated and what could be done to minimise their occurrence? I have a seven-year-old 45,000-mile 320d auto Touring that so far has been trouble free. Oil changes are always on time, the vehicle is driven gently although I don’t hang about needlessly and my last two to three miles home are always at low speed of necessity.
Asked on 29 May 2010 by JD, Exmouth
Answered by
Honest John
Here: www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/bmw/3-series-e46-199...d . The oil seals or the bearings or both can fail, the turbos can seize up or the engine emits black smoke from burning sump oil. You can minimise the chances by changing the engine oil extra frequently, reducing the chance of a blockage to the turbo oil feed. And you should always idle the turbo for a minute or two before switching off the engine whenever it is red hot, which it might be after towing, after a long ascent or (sometimes) after a long run at steady speed on a motorway. Obviously if the end of your journey is through a town or village at relatively low engine speeds then this will have the same beneficial effect as idling the turbo.
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