Kahnfucious
I am not trying to do a diagnosis, I am just saying my opinion, as obviously something tricky is going on with that engine, especially after they serviced it. I am just discussing the possibilities, until we finally know what exactly happened.

Correct if I am wrong, but isn't the shaft what would fail if oil supply is blocked? Just checking the impeller, doesn't mean that the turbo's still good, right?

You know it is easy to check if the turbo is blocked: remove the air supply hose from the impeller side of the turbocharger and try to spin it with your hand. It should rotate smoothly.

As DneprDave said, it is possible that debris fell into the intercooler and is blocking the air supply. That could explain some of the stuttering you are seeing, assuming that the fuel supply is good.

 

Speaking of fuel, I'm in Jersey and I had to put about 1.5 gallons of regular gas in the car because I was completely out and that's all I was able to get my hands on because of the shortage. Could this be adding insult to injury? I never use regular gas but this was an emergency situation.

 

1.5 gal of regular gas wouldn't do anything like this. Just a very small drop in power as
the knock sensor and ecu retards the timing to counter the lower octane.
1.5 gal of water contaminated gas could cause sputtering, misfires, jerky idle, etc., but not that horrible sound!

 

The manual says that regular gas can be used, but premium is prefered.

The Engine Control Unit will retard the ignition to compensate for the lower octane, the engine will feel like it has less pep, but it won't hurt anything.

Dave

 

ok thanks.

 

Yardley..is the car fixed? Willing to scan in the repair bill? You can mask the cost..I'm just interested in what they actually removed and replaced. Thanks

 

Just picked it up last night! It was pretty costly but I'm glad nothing else was wrong with the engine. I'll take a look at the repair bill tomorrow.

 

Yikes that sounded to me like a bearing had gone south in a big way. Metal on metal grindage IMO.

 

I bought my car at Prestige MINI and have had it serviced there over the past 4 years.
I have had my ups and downs with them. They took care of me when the clutch on my JCW died at 28,000 miles. Carolyn is the best. She is the only reason I continue to go to Prestige MINI.
They are an honest dealership.

 

You could have it rebuilt? I did that with my old turbo...

 

I checked, there isn't much there just the turbo and random small parts like the gasket, o-rings, etc.