My 2008 E60 535i has developed the dreaded wastegate rattle. You can hear it clearly on deceleration and when shutting off the engine. No boost loss yet but its getting louder.
Is it worth repairing the wastegate actuators or should I just replace the turbos entirely? The car has 155k km. Also considering going aftermarket turbos since im already stage 1 with MHD.
Whats the best approach here?
If you have no boost loss and no codes, the wastegate rattle is mostly cosmetic at this point. The actuator bushings are worn but still functional.
That said, it WILL eventually lead to boost control issues. You have a few options:
Since youre already stage 1, I'd lean toward option 3 if budget allows. Pure turbos or Vargas make good options for the N54.
I went with the repair kit route on my 335i. Lasted about 20k km before the rattle came back. In hindsight I should have just done turbos.
If youre planning to go stage 2 eventually, just do aftermarket turbos now and be done with it. The stock turbos are the weak link on the N54 anyway.
running pure stage 2 turbos on my 535i. best mod I ever did. the wastegate rattle is gone obviously and the power delivery is so much better. went from stage 1 to stage 2+ tune and the car pulls like a freight train now.
cost me about 4500 all in with install. worth every penny imo
Leaning towards the Pure turbos route. Might as well do it right. Anyone know a good shop in Germany that does N54 turbo swaps? Preferably someone who knows these engines well.
Check out KP Engineering in Munich or Schmiedmann in Denmark (they ship). Both are very experienced with N54 builds. KP did my turbo swap and the quality of work was excellent.
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