XSeries-forum

Hi people...
Driving along today and noticed a ticking/rattling sound from the engine, this only seemed to happen when the engine was under load.......... so pulled over to the side of the road and gently revved the engine while not in gear and the sound noise got worse??????
I was only a mile from my destination so reluctantly carried carried on ........ the engine was loosing power and seemed to be surging as if the turbo was trying to work ???????????
Got to my destination and switched off...........just started her up again and i can only just hear a ticking/rattling sound but if i apply very very light revs the noise becomes more .........sounds like a bearing gone ??????????
Im 80 miles from home and got the rac coming out soon ish..............any help would be brilliant......oh..its a 2005 x5 diesel....

Could be torque converter? Mine made nasty rattling noises at idle. Apparent from underneath rather than the engine bay. Can you locate the rattle at all? Any hesitation in gear selection, or reluctance to move- especially in reverse, or up a slope?

If you can get the turbo inlet pipe off see if the impeller moves laterally at all (it should not!). Otherwise check belts and vacuum hoses. If the RAC are en route then you probably won't have time to pull that apart.

How to is here - Turbo

If the turbo bearing goes, the car will tend to smoke as there's quite high pressure oil flow through the bearings to keep them cool.

The rattling seems to be from the left hand side of the engine but i couldnt swear to this........ i didnt notice any smoke when driving but wasnt really looking for it ......it doesnt smoke on tick over or with light revs.......
Hopefully the rac man may know more than me when he turns up........
Sorry to be vague but im parked up on a caravan site 80 miles from home and pulling my hair out.......lol
Obviously its broke ........im just sweating if its the turbo as a big bill will megga...

Turbo is on the left front of the engine as you face the car.

I do feel for you, especially when away from home, on holiday and really not wanting hassle with the car!

If it is the turbo, then get it looked at by an Indy to save a lot of money. Get a remanufactured one for further savings. Not sure where your home base part of the UK is. Someone may be able to point you at an Indy close to home though..

RAC man has been out and looked at it.........upon closer inspection the is a bit of smoke coming from the exhausts...
He seem to think its the turbo as theres a slight over run on the rattling as the revs drop down on the engine........ maybe the bearing in the turbo???? nowt he can do...
Gotta wait for the recovery truck now!!!!!!!!
Any ideas what a replacement turbo would cost genuine/recon ?????????

Really sorry to read this. I don't know if anyone on the board has actually had a replacement on theirs. Prices vary widely I suspect. Lots of suppliers - but few prices. However this is on line at £500 for a remanfctd unit. BMW supplied and fitted will be quite likely north of £1,000 or more plus VAT.

Definitely avoid driving it unfortunately. Although rare, diesel engines can run on when the engine is shut down if the oil leak gets too bad because the oil is just a very heavy fuel effectively and you can get 'runaway' which is very bad news as they are difficult to stop unless you can block the air inlet.