[bimmerwith335]

The story begins when my stock rear turbo failed, so I decided to upgrade to Viv 17T turbos. I specifically asked them for TD04 turbos, not ones with mixed internals, but they didn’t seem to care—they sent turbos with a TD03 cartridge and mixed internals instead.

The first time I installed them on the car, it ran horribly. After just a 15-second pull, the front turbo shaft broke, and the car started smoking badly. I replaced the turbo cartridge and fixed the issue, then reinstalled the turbos, but the car still ran terribly. It was barely able to reach 20 mph, jerking, stalling, and misfiring badly.

At that point, I didn’t think the turbos were the issue and assumed that the broken turbo shaft had caused another problem. I started troubleshooting, replacing the solenoids, MAP sensor, and O2 sensors. I even tried two different DMEs, thinking it was a DME issue since the car was only throwing misfire codes. Then I removed the engine head, suspecting a blown head gasket, and even replaced both camshafts and ledges, installed a new timing chain, replaced the valve seals, replaced fuel rail, replaced intake manifold(since it had rough sound, because of backfire) and reset the timing—but nothing made a difference. The exhaust even started making a strange, "fart-like" sound.

Finally, my mechanic decided to remove the turbos, and we discovered the problem: the turbo exhaust housing was blocked internally, with barely any airflow getting through. It was clogged with cast iron, which came from the poor-quality material Viv uses. This entire issue was due to their poor design and low-quality materials.

So, after six months of frustration, we finally found the root of the problem. Both Viv 17T turbo manifolds were blocked from the inside with cast iron material. Their customer service is also terrible; they wouldn’t even listen to my concerns. U can see the pictures of how they looked, I specifically cut open the turbos to see what was happening.

Take my advice—avoid Viv turbos. They’re trash. Good luck with your builds, everyone!

[Brandoch]

Stop buying eBay turbos.

[iqraceworks]

Originally Posted by Brandoch

Stop buying eBay turbos.

This right here. If you want something that's going to last, that's machined, balanced, and handle assembled here in the USA......get a set of RB Turbos.

Ebay/Viv turbos are hit and miss. Some people have good luck with them, some don't. That's what happens when your goal is to assemble as many as you can in the shorted time possible, and keep the price to a minimum.

Good/Fast/Cheap........you get to pick two

[whyzee125]

I genuinely don't mean to sound un-empathetic, but what did you expect?

There is literally COPIOUS amounts of info out there about this platform. This isn't the first time someone's tried a new turbo. Every single person who runs off brand turbos has this experience and for all the crap turbos out there, which there are tons, I've never even heard of this particular flavor of junk.

OEM, RB, Hydra, and Pure turbos are the only stock location turbos that will last. Period. It's not worth that much labor to save a few hundred bucks on garbage from a company who makes garbage and inevitably won't stand by their products.

[oVeRdOsE.]

Originally Posted by Brandoch

Stop buying eBay turbos.

well, have you go online lately, tons of people saying good stuff about unbranded turbos. Mainly those stupid youtubers that do a review after 2 miles .

I dont see a lot of negativity about those turbos, other than they will have same issues as OEM after few thousand miles, which is OK for many people.

Not surprised to see this post, we should thanks OP to report.

Cheapest good turbo is the CTS one, even a shop owner reported here he sold 100s and no returns.

[Brandoch]

Originally Posted by oVeRdOsE.

well, have you go online lately, tons of people saying good stuff about unbranded turbos. Mainly those stupid youtubers that do a review after 2 miles .

I dont see a lot of negativity about those turbos, other than they will have same issues as OEM after few thousand miles, which is OK for many people.

Cheapest good turbo is the CTS one, even a shop owner reported here he sold 100s and no returns.

Considering this person has gone through a bunch of cheap turbos........

[oVeRdOsE.]

Originally Posted by Brandoch

Considering this person has gone through a bunch of cheap turbos........

I would agree to go good brand once !

This job is sooo a p-i-t-a, that I wouldn't even try unkown brand


thus the reason why I mostly recommend to go single turbo when TT fails ; less heat, less vacuum line, no more boost solenoid, no intakes, 2 less O2, less low end torque (easier on the engine), takes minutes to swap if turbo fails.

yes more expensive, but on long run pretty sure this is cheaper