[Jklad]

Just replaced my original turbos after 150k beat-to-shit miles, and found a chunk of fin missing from the front turbo.

I have no idea how or when this could have happened, the car seemed to spool fine and hold boost in high gears ok using a mild cobb stage 2+ drive tune that targets 16psi taper to 14psi. They howled a bit upon start up at below freezing temps, but nothing crazy. Waste gates had been replaced twice during the life of these turbos by bmw.

My question is - how long can a turbo last in this condition? And where could the missing fin have ended up? Anything I should worry about lol??

(Bottom fin in pic below)

[Sgop335]

Check the intercooler. Guess its a good filter...

[Bimmer_Engineer]

There was a similar post a few months back...I don’t recall how it turned out. Try the search...

Also...it’s an “impeller” not a “fin”

[Chris@VargasTurboTech]

Performance aside, the big issue is balance is going to be out, which will quickly increase wear on everything. Really depends on how fast you spin them for how long. The little turbos are pretty tolerant to abuse, but it's a very good thing you replaced them with something new.

Chris