# How reliable are the Turbo engines (like 335i) going to be over time?



## Ucla95 (Jul 23, 2004)

I wonder if BMW is sacrificing long term reliability for the sake of a bump in fuel economy vs a normally aspirated engine. Seems to me that over 5-7 years these turbo engines (and I own one) might not stand up to the test of time. Anyone else thought about this?


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## TRS550 (Jan 2, 2010)

My $0.02... I'll qualify my statements in that "long term" for me means at least 200,000 miles. Anything less is "just broken in". 

Your average BMW driver does zero maintenance on his or her vehicle. Zero. Unless they get an email from the dealer stating to bring in the car for service, the car gets none. The 4 year 50K free maintenance on new BMW's, is literally not much more than zero. The occasional oil change and free wipers, not much else. So long term, many of the std engines have problems that would have been entirely avoidable had the owners bothered to be a bit more proactive in maintaining their vehicle. Yes, Mobil 1 ran a BMW in line 6 for a million miles. However they religiously changed the oil every 7500 miles, not 15,000 which is about how often the oil gets changed in an average new BMW today. 

So take 15,000 mile oil changes (a topic that has been beaten to death in itself), now add the higher temps and thus higher oil temperatures that the turbo engine generate and in my opinion, the long term outlook gets even more dim.

As one who will buy a low milage car and run the wheels off before I sell it for $1,500, I avoid turbo's and stay with NA engines. 

I believe BMW has abandoned 2nd and 3rd owners of their product. The marketing weenies have won and the companies only interest is in the car surviving the warranty period.

That said, they are the best ride around.


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## Fast Bob (Jun 4, 2004)

Couldn`t have said it better myself....I`ve often told people that 
"Free Maintainance" is just an express ticket to trouble somewhere down the road...."Lifetime Fluids" *really* means "while the car is under the manufacturer`s warranty"....after that, you`re on your own.
The increasingly incredible complexity of these cars will definitely lead to a painful experience for most out-of-warranty owners.
It would seem that BMWNA has adopted the policy of "Let `em buy or lease a new vehicle every 3 or 4 years, and screw the people who can`t afford to do that...."


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## energetik9 (Sep 9, 2008)

Like it or not, turbo's are just one solution over the long term. People want some level of performance and MPG averages will continue to rise. I do agree that it all comes down to maintaining the car. I do have to believe that BMW uses better materials and engineering in their engines and that has positive effects in the long term. For example, do a little research on the grade of materials of a BMW engine versus a Hyundai engine.


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## pilotman (Feb 2, 2006)

I think BMWs have extremely durable bodies and hardware, but their electronics, engines and drivetrains are not particularly well known for reliability.

I also think the turbo motors are going to have major problems much sooner than their NA counterparts.

I lease BMWs, and on the last two I had I only changed the oil twice in 48k miles, because that is all the computer recommended.

I didn't own the car, didn't plan on buying it and didn't want to waste my money...

I do feel a little sorry for the person that bought those two cars used though...


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## 1love (Nov 10, 2007)

Ucla95 said:


> I wonder if BMW is sacrificing long term reliability for the sake of a bump in fuel economy vs a normally aspirated engine. Seems to me that over 5-7 years these turbo engines (and I own one) might not stand up to the test of time. Anyone else thought about this?


Are you talking about turbocharged cars in general or only BMW's handling of 'their' turbocharged offerings now?

Turbocharged engines have been commonplace for some time. Diesels, performance cars, station wagons, etc. all have them.


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## Fast Bob (Jun 4, 2004)

1love said:


> Are you talking about turbocharged cars in general or only BMW's handling of 'their' turbocharged offerings now?
> 
> Turbocharged engines have been commonplace for some time. Diesels, performance cars, station wagons, etc. all have them.


Hell, even **GM** had turbos nearly fifty years ago (starting with the `62 Corvair Spyder)....they`re nothing new.

Funny thing is, not that long ago, BMW top brass were screaming "Nein, Nein, Nein !!" every time they were asked if turbocharging would ever be implemented at the Roundel....
(it IS a good way to extract some serious horsepower from an engine, though....check out this video)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3Gdm_e_hxs&feature=related


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## 6 Brit (Jan 19, 2009)

One of the highest output/displacement motors EVER was a BMW and was a turbo...
probably not very reliable though lol I think the most they ever got out of that little 4-banger was 1200 bhp
yee haw! car p0rn..totally work safe 
















all in all...turbo's get really really hot, and usually cause more reliability problems due to more than normal wear and tear on the motor. If you take care of your car it should be an almost non -issue, BMW has been making turbo motors for a LONG time! And some will say they were the best of the bunch! Just...take care of it!


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## Ucla95 (Jul 23, 2004)

Something tells me that motor isn't lasting >100,000 miles!


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