Power problem, Turbo not working
 

Please help me. I have a 2003 X5 3.0D and for no reason at all, I have no power on the car. It is as if the turbo is not kicking in. There is no smoke to indicate that the turbo has blow either. I had a similar problem before and they had to replace some sensor.

This is a very intersting topic. I drive an 02 X5 3.0d euro and have not encountered thsi problem. Any comments from other X5 diesel owners ?

Even if the seals on the turbo are shot it should still be able to make boost. That is not your problem. It sounds like the wastegate is open when it should be closed.

Can you hear it spinning?

Pieter,
I had a similar problem with my '05 diesel. Turns out that the dealer had screwed up the fitting of the new air filter, and the filter sealing ring was cutting off the airflow to the engine. The airflow sensor (just upstream of the filter) was thus measuring a reduced airflow signal to the computer and the turbo was not spinning up. I fixed the filter myself and the turbo is back in action.
Apart from the airflow sensor and the computer, I believe the turbo is controlled by a vacuum switch which is located adjacent to the turbo. On my engine, the is a vacuum feed going into the valve, an electrical connection (from computer?) and then a vacuum feed from the valve to the turbo control.
Colin.

Thank you for the responce. I am taking my X to a turbo agent this morning to have a look. I will keep you all updated.

Just some feedback. I took my X to BMW and they had it for the whole day. Their recommendation was to replace the Turbo as it is faulty. BMW quoted just over R14000 to get this fixed. I then took my X to Stallion Turbo's. They had a look at it and they resolved the problem. The catilitic converters were blocked and this caused a back boost on the turbo. This also caused on of the boost pipes on the turbo to burst. The turbo actually had no problem on it and R1500 later my X is going like a rocket again.

BMW is ripping off their clients and I am sure they did not investigate the problem I had with the power on the X5, or else they would have seen that the one boost pipe was burst. I am really upset with the bad service from BMW.

Hi,

Glad you saved some money there. Which dealer did you go to? I am also in SA, good to know which dealers to avoid.

I went to Clearwater BMW in Roodepoort.

I will also recommend Stallion Turbo's in Pretoria.

Clogged cat! Darn I should have thought of that. Glad to hear you avoided unecessary repair costs and found a good shop in the process though.

Pieter,
What did they do to the catalytic converters to fix the problem?. Replacement?.
Colin.