Hi Wpoll,

Nope, I didnt have that small fan/swirl vane in the pipe, I dont have the swirl flaps either on the other side, as I have the M57tu engine and this didnt come with those or a DPF on my Year/Month of UK spec X5 d sport. Which is 04/04 according to the plate on the engine bay.

Really strangely I did have the 'Toilet Roll' oil breather! So that was one of the first things I switched out. I think the vortex is a much better design but worries me slightly about filtering the oil, as it is less friction but... where does the rubbish in the breather go? So I am pretty fastidious when it comes to an oil change, every 8,000 to 10,000 mile and I only use Castrol Edge Titanium 0w30 - I know this might send the internet into melt down... :D but this is just my experience, I used Castrol since I was 21 and I blew a Peugeot 205 GTi running running Mobil Super. Anyway.. it's another story.

The "infamous" inlet swirl flaps were never fitted to any E53, as far as I can tell. Never found any evidence of an E53 with them (and I've looked a LOT). They were fitted to a lot of M57TU engine in other models, inc. the E83 X3 but never the E53 for some reason.

DPF seems to be rare (at least, from the factory). A few folk have fitted the retro DPF kit from BMW, in order to pass local emission laws etc. (Germany?).

The engine breather with the loo roll filter was factory fitted to all M57TU engines until around mid-2005, when BMW changed the production line to the vortex design. This is the same time as they released a TSB/TIB indicating the need to service (i.e. replace) the (loo roll) breather about every 60,000km. Seems they wanted to reduce service intervals (costs) and turbo failures under warranty.

The loo roll is a better filter, no question. The vortex unit requires less servicing, no question. Long term, I think the vortex design will lead to more inlet fouling but only time will tell. Ideally, I'd use the loo roll unit but change it regularly. It costs NZ$170 here though.. ouch.

Both design are designed to trap oil vapour precipitate and allow it to run back down into the engine.

Where did you get your refurbished GT2260V from? :popcorn:

My turbo just went a week ago too;
Happened at the worst moment where I was sitting between carriageways on the Princess Highway with traffic heading straight for me at 100 kmh...
Had to just floor the accelerator to get across with clouds of smoke behind me...:(
I should have put a new turbo in when I changed the manifold to cast iron a couple of years ago; as oil got everywhere...

I just put in a second hand turbo as a temporary fix;

I had the vortex breather in, and now have just changed the oil and breather to the roll filter type to try it out, I’ll see what it’s like in a month.

Yikes, deepblonde. :yikes:

Any indicators or warnings signs before it went south on you? :dunno:

No warning at all;
I had just been through Kentucky drive through, motor was thoroughly warmed up, mild day;
It happened with as I was pulling away gently from rest as I waited for traffic between the lanes ;
There was a pop and my turbo was completely destroyed; shafts, I should have taken photos but it was just an oily broken mess...
I guess it was pretty old, I should have just changed it beforehand, as I got oil throughout all the pipes, intercooler, intake;
I’ll take off intake manifold again soon to clean it properly, when I’ve got more time, also oil got onto my alternator causing overcharging, but I cleaned it with brake cleaner and it seems to have fixed it, but I bought a spare just in case it explodes...
:explode:

Ouch, the fact that the turbo gave way when the engine was relatively low on load and stress does tend me to think the CHRA could have been wobbling and oil was letting by on the seals, once this seal let go, the turbo would have hit the casing and smashed itself to bits.

Wpoll, I got my Turbo on a exchange basis from Turbo Technics, https://www.turbotechnics.com/ these guys are really reputable. There are other Turbo shops around that are cheaper and probably do the same sort of job, after all, they have the same equipment to balance and use the same parts, etc... just if I am going to spend 2 days doing a tear down and turbo install, I am going to do it with a turbo from guys with the best reputation although there demands on the warranty installation are a little steep! I will just confirm they have all been correctly processed and I will drop my oil in 5,000 for new oil and filter just to be sure.