Now, i know this will be hard for some to believe but it happened to me. I also state that I have all the data and photos etc to back up my writings.

So, here it goes...

My 2007 MCS bought new in 12/2007.After 17000miles it had a cracked turbo and manifold indeed being stock.
Then, after having fitted some tuning parts (Jcw tuning kit,DP,IC,boost tubes,Ecu tune) and altered the power to higher levels than stock, after exactly 17000miles another cracked manifold and turbo! The crack patterns are exactly the same as before.
After careful observation and comparing the S turbo to the JCW turbo, there seems to be a design error on both turbos that is causing the problem.
This combined with the super hot EGTs is eating up both the manifold and turbo and induces cracks due to flow restrictions inside the turbo! The JCW turbo though it has the same flow restriction as the S's turbo, it has thicker internal walls.
Added to that restriction, both the S and JCW turbo do not have a matching flange with exhaust manifold!
How bad is that together with the hot EGs? It induces gasses swirls and simply cooks the metals to destruction.
The color of the fried metal inside the turbo is snow-white!
This color indicates that it has been heated to a degree out of its designed purpose. But, hell, I just remembered having lower EGTs after the tune.
Both with stock and tuned configuration, the turbo deteriorated very very soon.
So, as far as I am concerned, unless the inner design of the turbos does not change, these turbos will simply explode one after the other. I, personally, will carefully machine the flanges and the inner section of my JCW turbo to match exactly the manifold and run even lower EGTs along with stock JCW boost pressure and hope this JCW turbo and manifold lasts more than 20000miles.

Such a shame...

Pics to follow...

 

It's Christmas!!! Relax and worry about this tomorrow

 

Although I can sympathize on what I can assume was a turbo failure for you... if it was truly a design flaw would we not see a lot more turbo failures reported?

 

Let me get this straight. First, both of my turbos did not fail, nor there was a weird noise, nor the performance was reduced!
The first combo turbo-exhaust manifold was found out to be cracked prior to JCW tuning kit installation.
The second combo, prior JCW turbo installation.
The cracks are internal so, unless you unbolt the turbo and exhaust manifold, no defect can be seen. But if I wouldn't realized that there was a problem with them, the next step was a big chunk of metal going onto the compressor wheel and make the turbo seize...
I always baby-care my cars, doing oil/spark plug changes every 3500miles and never run low on oil. Always wait for the water-oil to reach working temperature before I get hard on it. My engine has minimum blow by gasses after my recent leak-down test and the cylinders compression is very high (arround 180psi). Also,the back of my intake valves is clear and no carbon build-up is noticed.

So, how would anyone know that his/her turbo isn't cracked?

 

These two (turbo and manifold) were fitted to my engine from the factory.

S turbo part number: 11657565912 up to 03/2010

Notice the cracks start from the side where 4-1 cylinders port are.

Again you can see the black surface (leaking gasses) from the 4-1 cylinders port.


S exhaust manifold part number: 11627574366 up to 08/2011

The cracks induced are from the 4-1 cylinders port side.

 

S turbo part number: 11657600890 up today

Again, as you can see the same defective port. Notice the difference in colour between the 4-1 port and 2-3 port. This is caused by the flow restriction in the 4-1 cylinders turbo port.



JCW exhaust manifold part number: 11657568591 up to 09/2009

to be continued...

 

Very curious to hear how this plays out. Surprised I haven't heard more about this with other S and JCW cars.

If I read what you're saying correctly, there could be a lot of this going on in Minis without anyone really knowing it's happening.

How big of a DIY-er job is this to pull out and check ??

 

You haven't heard more about this matter simply cause none has addressed it. It's a slow, "stealthy" damage and unless you experience reduced performance prior turbo seizure you wouldn't imagine this was happening.

I don't think it is a DIY- job unless you have high technical skills. BMW-Mini suggests to dismantle the whole nose of the car (radiators etc) in order to have the appropriate space to work with the heat shields, DP, turbo, exhaust manifold. I managed to unbolt everything without dismantling the nose of the car. It's PITA but a less-hour job. Not to mention less of a mess.

 

Bump

 

Dave

 

I believe I may be in the same boat here. My 07 S had the reduced engine power light come on and I lost the turbo power after a very loud whistling noise when accelerating. I babied it to my mini dealer where they took a quick look at it and said everything looked fine and that they couldn't get it in to do a full checkup until next week but that I'd be fine to drive til then. I got the car home and it sat for an hour. I then tried to start it and it barely started. Once it did, it idled terribly. I couldnt get the revs up over 1500 and couldnt really move the car. I had it towed to a local BMW technician where he determined that the turbo was blown and I was looking at $2000 in just parts. I only have 34k miles on the car and it's always regularly serviced. Unfortunately my warranty ran out 4 months ago. Any suggestions for my next plan of attack??

 

Can the turbo be rebuilt? What part of it was blown? If it's possible to rebuild the turbo, perhaps look into that, but I don't think a shop is going to want to hassle with rebuilding the turbo when they can just bolt on a new one and be done.

 

I'm not sure what part of the turbo blew, but my technician said that the lines going into the turbo were gunked up and clogged which kept oil from getting to the turbo. Has anyone had success dealing with MINI directly for these kind of problems that occur at such low mileage? It's not looking like my dealer wants anything to do with helping me out since the warranty ran out a few months ago.

 

Hi, I wonder if you could give me a little more information about this. I had a problem (see here: http://www.mini2.com/forum/mini-coop...ge-photos.html ) with my turbo charger. It was not anything to do with oil starvation. It was diagnosed as a pre-cat leak, along with an issue related to the turbo itself. However, I wasn't given any specific information on the turbo problem and I would like to understand what happened.

Is the turbocharger on the S model a Garrett unit? I see you've got signs of exhaust leakage. Where was the leak occuring - was it between the turbo and the catalytic converter or between the manifold and turbo? I'd be interested in more details. Thanks.

 

Are turbos covered under emissions warranties like my supercharger was, up to 70,000 miles or longer? Might be worth a look...both state and federal emissions laws....

 

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