Plastic charge pipe: it goes brittle and cracks at the throttle body
Typically above 80,000 km. It does not show up on every car.
cheap repair
severity
above 80,000 km
mileage
100–400 EUR
repair cost
3 sources next to the write-up.
The fault
How you spot it
The maker builds the charge pipe out of plastic, and the coupler at the throttle body is the critical point. The material goes brittle from heat cycles, from boost pressure and from the heat of the engine bay, and then it cracks. Three things coincide here: the moulded coupler carries both pressure and movement, the vibration of the engine arrives here through the throttle body, and the spot gets continuous heat load. The crack starts on the inner radius of the coupler. The symptom is a loss of pressure under load: the engine pulls cleanly at part throttle but flattens out at full throttle, and a hissing noise is audible from the engine bay at the same time. A yellow drivetrain warning comes with it, which often disappears after a restart, and sometimes a brief limp mode. One thing is worth knowing: a clean fault memory does not rule the crack out. The pipe has no sensor of its own, so the control unit can only log a boost pressure fault, and the leak is intermittent, appearing only under load. At a viewing two things are visible without tools. On the inner radius of the coupler the hairline crack sometimes comes with dark staining, because the oil mist in the boost air escapes through it. For the same reason a greasy, dark ring can appear at the joint of the coupler. The crack is reported above 80 000 kilometres, and replacing the pipe costs between 100 and 400 euros, because the part itself is not expensive. The most common misdiagnosis against that is replacing the turbocharger, which costs an order of magnitude more, and a pressure test protects against it. The factory repair is the same plastic part, which can crack again at a similar mileage; replaced with an aluminium pipe this failure mode disappears, and the driveability does not change.
Which model
Who it affects
The card opens the generation, the engine or the transmission.
Engines and transmissions
Engine
B48A20
Engine
B48A20H
Engine
B48A20M0
Engine
B48A20M1
Engine
B48A20O0
Engine
B48A20P
Engine
B48A20T1
Engine
B48A20U1
Engine
B48B16M0
Engine
B48B20
Engine
B48B20A
Engine
B48B20M1
Engine
B48B20O0
Engine
B48B20O1
Engine
B48B20U1
Engine
B58B30
Engine
B58B30M2
Engine
B58B30TU1
Engine
N20B20
Engine
N54B30
Engine
N55B30
Engine
S55B30
Engine page
Az S55-ön dokumentált a vízütésből eredő hajtórúd-törés.
Checklist
Plastic charge pipe: it goes brittle and cracks at the throttle body
What you would check for this fault. Take it to the car.
Before you buy
Checklist
What you tick stays on this device only.
Sources
How we know
motronixBMW Charge Pipe Failure on N20, B48, N55, and B58 EnginesBMW boost loss on N20, B48, N55, and B58 is usually a cracked OE plastic charge pipe — not the turbo. Symptoms, the smoke-test diagnosis, and the upgrade decision.
BMW TuningBMW N55 Charge Pipe Upgrade Guide - Best N55 Charge Pipes?Learn about BMW N55 upgraded charge pipes. N55 charge pipe failure. What are the best N55 charge pipes? ER, VRSF, BMS charge pipes and more.
What BreaksUsed Car Weakness Database46,895+ weaknesses models engines
Information, not an expert opinion
We write the descriptions, and we put the source next to them. A person reviews them before they go out. They are still information, not a technical expert opinion.
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