Reliable twin turbo

[1nVasiv3]

I'm sure in some way this has been beat to death. But I think i'm looking at this from a different end so humor me if y'all don't mind. I don't claim to know everything so please correct me if I'm wrong.

I think I have a turbo seal going out (this may not have anything to do with the oil loss). I am loosing oil at what seems to be a rapid rate but I don't see anything on the ground. I think its only loosing the oil significantly when I put my foot down. I've kept a close eye on my oil level as to not burn my motor up.

Due to this I am thinking about if the turbo is the problem then I want to replace them with something reliable. I know the ST is far more reliable but the cost is the bigger problem for me. I want to do the work myself. I'm mainly looking for the most reliable twins that are around stock or maybe slightly elevated power. I'm not trying to go over 500hp this is my DD and I love this car and just want to fix it and make it more reliable.

To be clear the turbo may not be the issue at all. I still plan on taking the car to someone just to have them confirm what the problem is. But if the turbo is the problem I want to know where I need to start looking for a reliable OEM/stage1 turbo kit.

 

[tisdrew]

VTT and RB have OEM+ and Stage 1 offerings. If you have the money, you can go with Pures. If the turbo seals are going, you'll be getting smoke clouds on deceleration. If oil is going missing, check the engine for leaking gaskets. Probably also worth looking over your pcv/occ setups.

 

[MattGu40]

Pull your downpipes out to confirm where the oil is comming from.

Before upgrading turbos i suggest upgrading PCV system and some hard work on General N54 maintenance... OFHG, leaks, Serpentine, pulley, valve cover injectors.....

I am very happy with my VTT GC 1.0 Did not let me down on my Daily Driver Xdrive.

 

[1nVasiv3]

Pull your downpipes out to confirm where the oil is comming from.

Before upgrading turbos i suggest upgrading PCV system and some hard work on General N54 maintenance... OFHG, leaks, Serpentine, pulley, valve cover injectors.....

I am very happy with my VTT GC 1.0 Did not let me down on my Daily Driver Xdrive.

Forgive me I'm still new to this platform

When you say upgrade the PC what exactly are you referring to?

OFHG?

Which pulley?

 

[MattGu40]

Forgive me I'm still new to this platform

When you say upgrade the PC what exactly are you referring to?

OFHG?

Which pulley?

Rb External PCV is what i used... ended up making my own dual catch can setup. https://www.rbturbo.com/rb-n54-external-pcv-kit

Oil filter housing gasket,,

If your Serpentine belt Gets damaged by Any oil leak or bad pulley bearing... The odds for a very bad day are pretty high.

 

[1nVasiv3]

Rb External PCV is what i used... ended up making my own dual catch can setup. https://www.rbturbo.com/rb-n54-external-pcv-kit

Oil filter housing gasket,,

If your Serpentine belt Gets damaged by Any oil leak or bad pulley bearing... The odds for a very bad day are pretty high.

Educate me. If my serpentine belt get damaged by an oil leak? How does a leak damage the belt. Is something being implied that I am missing? I dont see how an oil leak would damage the belt itself.

 

[MattGu40]

https://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1305990

 

[1nVasiv3]

https://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1305990

Ok I understand. Thank you, you have been very helpful!

 

[1nVasiv3]

Pull your downpipes out to confirm where the oil is comming from.

Before upgrading turbos i suggest upgrading PCV system and some hard work on General N54 maintenance... OFHG, leaks, Serpentine, pulley, valve cover injectors.....

I am very happy with my VTT GC 1.0 Did not let me down on my Daily Driver Xdrive.

What's the main difference between the VTT GC and just the regular stage 1? There is a cost difference that I dont want to have to spend since I'm not trying to make 700 hp

 

[Torgus]

If you want reliability stay stock. Just buy a set of stock turbos from someone like FCPEuro with a lifetime warranty. Maybe upgrade the wastegates while you have them out of the car.

RB & Pure have the best reliability history it seems on this platform if you want more whp.

The speedtech single turbo bottom mount seems to be the best bang for your buck on this platform right now. https://www.speedtech.com/bmw-n54/ Starts at $2,900. I would go with that before any of the upgraded twins.

 

[fmorelli]

If you want reliability stay stock. Just buy a set of stock turbos from someone like FCPEuro with a lifetime warranty. Maybe upgrade the wastegates while you have them out of the car.

RB & Pure have the best reliability history it seems on this platform if you want more whp.

The speedtech single turbo bottom mount seems to be the best bang for your buck on this platform right now. https://www.speedtech.com/bmw-n54/ Starts at $2,900. I would go with that before any of the upgraded twins.

Pretty sound logic. Since the "start at $2,900" was dangled, would you run the turbo that comes with that? Just curious ...

Filippo

 

[tisdrew]

Pretty sound logic. Since the "start at $2,900" was dangled, would you run the turbo that comes with that? Just curious ...

Filippo

It comes with the biggest three names in turbochargers: garret/BW/PTE units? Absolutely I would run it.

 

[Torgus]

Pretty sound logic. Since the "start at $2,900" was dangled, would you run the turbo that comes with that? Just curious ...

Filippo

That turbo would be a bit small for my goals and my octane. But it would pull to redline and be more fun to drive that stock turbos imo. Yes, you would lose the gobs of low end rod bending tq but you gain being able to pull to redline which is what I would prefer. The car is much more fun in that configuration imo. Maybe fun is the wrong word, more predictable & reliable and will pull to redline and make decent HP depending on your fuel.

$300 more gets you any SX-E turbo you want. The SX brand of BW turbos have a good rep. Lots of power for the cost. You don't have to spend 2k on a precision 6466 or 2.5k on a Garret.

 

[ShocknAwe]

It's only ~500-900 more for Garrett though. One of those grand scheme of things issues I think.

Unless someone can convince me of the awesomeness of BW sxe turbos compared to the gen2 GTX line.