[uhcoug2011]

Just because they state that there is no shaft play and the wheels spin freely does that mean the turbo is problem free?

I have 70,000 miles on my 335i and I am looking to purchase some used turbos for precautionary reasons... can anyone help?

[ajvee]

Usually free spinning turbine wheels and no shaft play are good indications that the turbos are in good condition.

However, I would also take a look at the blades themselves. If the edges of the blades seem rounded or ground down, then that is a cause for concern, as it may indicate that unwanted particles have been getting into the turbo housing. I used to own a used MR2 turbo and though it only had about 20k miles on it, when I removed the turbo, the edges of the blades were rounded/ground down. I think a main reason for this was the fact that the previous owner was using a really crappy air filter on the car with basically no filtering element.

I would also look for any signs of oil on the turbine wheels to ensure that there are no oil leaks.

To this end, I might request close up pictures of the wheels.

Good Luck.

[uhcoug2011]

Thank you very much for the response!

[Tee212]

Originally Posted by ajvee

Usually free spinning turbine wheels and no shaft play are good indications that the turbos are in good condition.

However, I would also take a look at the blades themselves. If the edges of the blades seem rounded or ground down, then that is a cause for concern, as it may indicate that unwanted particles have been getting into the turbo housing. I used to own a used MR2 turbo and though it only had about 20k miles on it, when I removed the turbo, the edges of the blades were rounded/ground down. I think a main reason for this was the fact that the previous owner was using a really crappy air filter on the car with basically no filtering element.

I would also look for any signs of oil on the turbine wheels to ensure that there are no oil leaks.

To this end, I might request close up pictures of the wheels.

Good Luck.

+1 from an ex mr2 owner

also inspect the turbine housing side for oily residue and get all the history from the previous owner like oil change intervals/modified engine/ basically if it was abused.

[Patrys@BimmerTech]

Originally Posted by uhcoug2011

Just because they state that there is no shaft play and the wheels spin freely does that mean the turbo is problem free?

I have 70,000 miles on my 335i and I am looking to purchase some used turbos for precautionary reasons... can anyone help?

No shaft play doesn't really mean too much.
If you are looking for a set of used turbos and you do not want to upgrade them I will also ask the seller for pictures to see if there are any signs of oil inside.
It would also be good if they are not too old. There is the production date on each turbo, so you can ask the seller for it.