Split in exhaust manifold (diesel)

[Moments]

Gradually the racket from the engine compartment got really bad, along with the exhaust smell, and the tedium of having to wind up the revs to keep this car moving... I took a look at the work schedule and thought better to inflict the problem on a Bristol (England) BMW specialist. They did a transformative job to get the 16 year old manifold out, having confirmed my diagnosis that there was a perforation in it.

The split is about two and a half inches along a weld seam. Replaced with a non-BMW manifold. Power band has moved back to where it used to be, noise gone, odour in the cabin gone. Amazingly the turbo was declared serviceable - despite near 180,000 miles on this vehicle - I was expecting that it would need overhaul but apparently not. (As a rough estimate, that turbo has spun 14 billion times. These are well made!)

Very happy with this outcome!

[vbelsky]

Did you get a cast replacement manifold?

[Clavurion]

These all fail sooner or later. Changed mine for cast one as preventative measure when I installed upgraded hybrid turbo.

[Moments]

Originally Posted by vbelsky

Did you get a cast replacement manifold?

Yes - the garage strongly recommended this approach.

[wpoll]

BTDT too - as Clavurion has stated, they will all fail sooner or later.

Probably sooner...

I used the X8R cast replacement from the UK. Pretty good quality and not very expensive.

I think there's a couple of different versions of these available (from various vendors) and it pays to check you get one with the correct sized exhaust ports - the M57N has slightly larger exhaust ports on the head than the earlier M57 engine.