Turbo Whine

[Lambobimmer]

So the notorious turbo whine has finally shown up. I am wondering how bad I should let it get before I ask my dealership to replace the turbos under the extended warranty.

Anyone with experience with replacing the stock turbos under the extended warranty?

[z4z4z4]

Whine? I like hearing my turbo whine or whistle.
Maybe you are referring to our turbo waste gates rattle?
http://www.bmwblog.com/2012/08/16/n5...stegates-only/

[ManiacGT]

I get some whine (4 yrs, 25K miles) when the engine is hot after a long journey. I've given up worrying about noises on these cars and just enjoy it. If it goes bang then I'll get it fixed. Too many people IMHO (including me at first) take the car back for parts to be swapped before they fail and inevitably the workmanship is not as good as when the car was built, never mind what else might need taking apart to get to the part being swapped out. Lesson learned for me. On my next car, whatever goes bang gets replaced, if it makes a whine, it makes a whine.

[Constant.S]

Depends, if you start to see blue smoke from the exhaust its the turbos burning oil so they need replacement. Go tot he dealer anyways.

[ManiacGT]

No blue smoke here, thankfully/yet

[Constant.S]

Originally Posted by ManiacGT

No blue smoke here, thankfully/yet

Lol nice. There's also another "whine" that sometimes needs attention.... It's the HPFP that is dying and it's notorious for problems in the N54 platform...

[Z4-35i]

I get the occasional whine from the passenger side in the interior.

It normal sounds like: 'slow down', 'did you see that car', 'don't think of overtaking here'

[ManiacGT]

lol @ z4-35i...

The whine I get with a hot engine sounds more belt-like than mechanical. I've had it years and nothing has gone bang yet so I just leave it alone rather than start taking bits off to locate it and make it worse.

[nicknaz]

I can't find the thread anymore but apparently for the wastegate rattle the 'fix' was to reflash the car to keep the WG partly open, (i.e. less boost/power and more lag). There was even a dyno run documenting this, where someone had lower power than their baseline after the 'fix'.

Personally, I would be very hesitant to complain about the WG rattle.. Or at least I would do a TON of digging on the forums before hand. I'll take some noises over reduced power any day!

[Lambobimmer]

So let me clarify a bit. I have been driving either a 135i or a Z4 for the past 3 years and I am familiar with normal turbo whine. If you google "N54 Siren" you will see what I am talking about. My car has started making this noise and I believe that I am in the beginning stages of a failing turbo.

[jparnes1]

I had a similar experience with my 2011 Z4 35i. I noticed a whining sound for a while and then when I was out for a drive, it became a very loud screech whenever I accelerated.
Getting these turbos replaced is like open heart surgery for the car. They have to drop the drive train and tranny and remove the engine.
My current Z4 has, after a few months of ownership, had a slight whine but it hasn't changed at all after 22K miles.

[Lambobimmer]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9eAk3vjHjg

This is what my car sounds like, just not as bad.

[Lambobimmer]

Originally Posted by jparnes1

I had a similar experience with my 2011 Z4 35i. I noticed a whining sound for a while and then when I was out for a drive, it became a very loud screech whenever I accelerated.
Getting these turbos replaced is like open heart surgery for the car. They have to drop the drive train and tranny and remove the engine.
My current Z4 has, after a few months of ownership, had a slight whine but it hasn't changed at all after 22K miles.

Not sure who replaced your turbos, but it is not necessary to remove the engine to replace the turbos.

[nicknaz]

Originally Posted by Lambobimmer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9eAk3vjHjg

This is what my car sounds like, just not as bad.

It might just be the video sound quality but that sounded like a normal muted whine? How can you differentiate between normal and failing? Volume?

[Asbjorn]

My friend who installed RBs ran into the same problem and asked me the same question. The dilemma is that you want to wait for as long as possible to save money in the long run, but also you do not want to end up having blown turbos causing damage to other parts of the engine. I also wish someone had a method of determining where the sweet spot is.

I am at 60,000km and don't hear any turbo whine under normal use or regular WOT. But I can hear the turbos "after" spin right after having done a donut or otherwise going from WOT to "silent" very quickly. Like if I do WOT in 1st or 2nd and then let off the throttle very quickly and listen carefully. I guess the sound is always there if the turbos are spinning, and that it is getting worse over time, but is usually just buried in other noises. It's not really a whine on mine yet, but definitely a spinning noise. My DCT also whines a bit at certain rpms when very hot but that is a completely different topic, and something I have just learned to ignore.

What mileage is your car at?
What target boost/tune are you running?
Do the drivers of your car have a habit of ignoring the oil temp gauge because the car is under ext warranty / leased?

I mean do you usually warm up for 30-60s before driving off, and wait to do spirited driving until the oil temp gauge needle has started moving? Or do you live at the bottom of a mountain and the only way to town is going WOT uphill with a cold engine tuned to 20psi?

[ManiacGT]

As I say, for me, these cars are a bit noisy anyhow and I'll leave it until a problem develops rather than worry about the occasional siren or whine whatever. I have extended/insured warranty so if it goes its just the inconvenience.

[jparnes1]

Originally Posted by Lambobimmer

Not sure who replaced your turbos, but it is not necessary to remove the engine to replace the turbos.

Done at the dealership.

[jparnes1]

Originally Posted by Asbjorn

I mean do you usually warm up for 30-60s before driving off, and wait to do spirited driving until the oil temp gauge needle has started moving? Or do you live at the bottom of a mountain and the only way to town is going WOT uphill with a cold engine tuned to 20psi?

One would think that a major engine component like the turbo, if driven properly (letting the oil come up to normal operating temperature), should not fail under, let's say, 100K miles. I think these failures are rare and likely due to either a faulty turbo or consistent WOT with cold oil.

[army_men]

I hear turbo whine after I went FBO stage 2. I was worried about a leak at first since it's quite audible whenever I go near the gas pedal, but now I've gotten used to it. No codes no lose of power. I wonder if you are hearing anything similar.

[Lambobimmer]

Originally Posted by jparnes1

Done at the dealership.

Strange. All that really needs to be done is to remove or lower the subframe, but maybe that is how BMW does it.

[Hujan]

Originally Posted by Lambobimmer

Not sure who replaced your turbos, but it is not necessary to remove the engine to replace the turbos.

The wife has been complaining of issues with the Z4, most notably a sudden shutdown when she goes down the long, spiraling exit ramp in the parking garage at work. The car shudders and goes into limp mode and then she has to struggle to get it started again. She also complained about rough idling especially on startup.

I have been driving the car the past two days and it is definitely jerking and shuddering at idle and even when driving, especially before it's had a chance to warm up. In addition, I detected a faint "whine" from the engine bay that sounds a bit like the noise in that video. I was definitely planning to take it in before, but now it's a no brainer I think.

[nicknaz]

Originally Posted by Hujan

The wife has been complaining of issues with the Z4, most notably a sudden shutdown when she goes down the long, spiraling exit ramp in the parking garage at work. The car shudders and goes into limp mode and then she has to struggle to get it started again. She also complained about rough idling especially on startup.

I have been driving the car the past two days and it is definitely jerking and shuddering at idle and even when driving, especially before it's had a chance to warm up. In addition, I detected a faint "whine" from the engine bay that sounds a bit like the noise in that video. I was definitely planning to take it in before, but now it's a no brainer I think.

Definitely take it in ASAP. My guess based on the other thread is injectors or HPFP. Good luck!!