Blew out charge pipes (jb4 or not?)

[(H)]

Ha, I've owned the F80 now for over for weeks and I only had it for three days.
Took it out for the first measure spin on Sunday night. All fine, great night, jb4 installed, car pulls hard and I'm happy. Then I switch back to 100% stock psi and bypass if jb4. Another hard pull and at 6500 rpm in 3rd gear *¥BAM$* the exit pipe from the intercooler blows off. Immediate drivetrain malfunction and complete turbo power loss of course. Not a bad fix, I first thought the pipe actually burst but it turned out that the clamp wasn't that tight and the pile just slipped off.
Has this happened to anybody before? I have seen many posts of the incoming charge pipes coming off or bursting but not the one that goes out from the intercooler (what's that pipe called btw?).
Should I replace any parts with stronger aftermarket parts?
Of course I am also getting worried about the safety of the jb4. I had it on my F10 ///M5 and drive the car hard for two full years without any issues at up to 4.5psi over stock. Should I be more concerned with the S55 and jb4?

Will load pictures as soon as I am back stationary.

[qspring]

What map were you running before? Anything else i.e. e85 gas?

Did you run hard, then switched tunes, then did another immediately after?

[tom @ eas]

Boost is boost, tune type doesn't matter. We've been documenting these since the beginning:

S55 Intake Charge Pipe Failure
http://f80.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho....php?t=1113212

Upgrade to a set of ER Charge Pipes and the problem is history.

[qspring]

Originally Posted by tom @ eas

Boost is boost, tune type doesn't matter.

Upgrade to a set of ER Charge Pipes and the problem is history.

So you're saying that if that if he ran map 7 instead of map 0 that wouldn't have caused an issue?

[CaryTheLabelGuy]

Originally Posted by tom @ eas

Boost is boost, tune type doesn't matter.

Upgrade to a set of ER Charge Pipes and the problem is history.

I believe he is saying he blew the charge pipe off, post intercooler. Which may have been because of a loose connection.

OP, can you clarify what charge pipe you blew off exactly?

[tom @ eas]

Originally Posted by qspring

So you're saying that if that if he ran map 7 instead of map 0 that wouldn't have caused an issue?

We've seen failures on both stock and tuned vehicles. If you're modded, you should always consider upgrading as it's a known failure point.

If not modding, let dealer warranty take care of it.

Originally Posted by CaryTheLabelGuy

I believe he is saying he blew the charge pipe off, post intercooler. Which may have been because of a loose connection.

Correct, if it's the exit portion (aft) - it's not a known issue.

[(H)]

Originally Posted by qspring

What map were you running before? Anything else i.e. e85 gas?

Did you run hard, then switched tunes, then did another immediately after?

I ran map 2 on 93 octane short and hard but not extreme. Then I switched to map 0 and shortly after did another hard but not extreme pull and at about 6-6500 rpm the pipe came off with a nice pop and swishhhh.

[qspring]

Originally Posted by tom @ eas

We've seen failures on both stock and tuned vehicles. If you're modded, you should always consider upgrading as it's a known failure point.

If not modding, let dealer warranty take care of it.

I agree with what you are saying, and we should also consider user error before concluding that it was stock component failure.

It would be great to know a little more about the OPs issues before saying the ultimate solution is replacing the charge pipes.

[330cibimmer]

Did this happen because it isn't past proper break in period yet and was pulled hard?

[mike@x-ph.com]

Originally Posted by (H)

Ha, I've owned the F80 now for over for weeks and I only had it for three days.
Took it out for the first measure spin on Sunday night. All fine, great night, jb4 installed, car pulls hard and I'm happy. Then I switch back to 100% stock psi and bypass if jb4. Another hard pull and at 6500 rpm in 3rd gear *¥BAM$* the exit pipe from the intercooler blows off. Immediate drivetrain malfunction and complete turbo power loss of course. Not a bad fix, I first thought the pipe actually burst but it turned out that the clamp wasn't that tight and the pile just slipped off.
Has this happened to anybody before? I have seen many posts of the incoming charge pipes coming off or bursting but not the one that goes out from the intercooler (what's that pipe called btw?).
Should I replace any parts with stronger aftermarket parts?
Of course I am also getting worried about the safety of the jb4. I had it on my F10 ///M5 and drive the car hard for two full years without any issues at up to 4.5psi over stock. Should I be more concerned with the S55 and jb4?

Will load pictures as soon as I am back stationary.

Make sure the clamp is tight this time, if you have more issues with it i recommend you upgrade to a Burger Tuning CP or Evolution Racewerks

[Jeff@TopGearSolutions]

Well just because it happened on stock boost doesn't mean the elevated boost didn't cause it to start to slip off first in the first place.

Eitherway, a better charge pipe would help. ER or BMS.

[CaryTheLabelGuy]

Again OP, please verify. Which charge pipe blew off? One of the two pre-intercooler charge pipes or the single charge pipe post-intercooler??

[Mike@N54Tuning.com]

Originally Posted by CaryTheLabelGuy

Again OP, please verify. Which charge pipe blew off? One of the two pre-intercooler charge pipes or the single charge pipe post-intercooler??

+1

Did it just blow off or did it crack and then come off?

Mike

[tom @ eas]

Originally Posted by CaryTheLabelGuy

Again OP, please verify. Which charge pipe blew off? One of the two pre-intercooler charge pipes or the single charge pipe post-intercooler??

+1. Here's a diagram for reference:

[A Frankfurt]

Install the ER charge pipes and call it a day.
Happens on stock engines as well.
Its a factory weak point unfortunately.

[(H)]

What a great input everybody. Thanks so much for the diagram, @tom@eas

Car had proper break-in and is well passed initial check-up, 330cibimmer

The pipe that came off was the single exit pipe (no. 20 in the diagram) and it just popped off but didn't break. The no. 18 clamp felt loose but I don't know if that was now after the fact or before, in that case it would be a clear and simple explanation.

My understanding is that upgraded charge pipes will not lead to improved performance per se, just to better reliability. I will tighten all the clamps and run with stock pipes for a while to see if they hold up. Should it happen again, I will install upgrades.

One point that makes me wonder: All the upgrade kits only provide for the two pre-intercooler pipes but not for the single pipe exiting the intercooler. How come?

[(H)]

Last pix shows the smoke test that the dealer ran to fin the leak. Strange, now in hindsight, I wonder if they are not very ///M savvy as they should have been aware of this issue and looked at all the charge pipes right away instead of performing such a test. Does a smoke test like this cause harm?

[tom @ eas]

Originally Posted by (H)

What a great input everybody. Thanks so much for the diagram, @tom@eas

Car had proper break-in and is well passed initial check-up, 330cibimmer

The pipe that came off was the single exit pipe (no. 20 in the diagram) and it just popped off but didn't break. The no. 18 clamp felt loose but I don't know if that was now after the fact or before, in that case it would be a clear and simple explanation.

My understanding is that upgraded charge pipes will not lead to improved performance per se, just to better reliability. I will tighten all the clamps and run with stock pipes for a while to see if they hold up. Should it happen again, I will install upgrades.

One point that makes me wonder: All the upgrade kits only provide for the two pre-intercooler pipes but not for the single pipe exiting the intercooler. How come?

Charge pipes will not provide any performance gains, just added durability. No one has really reported any issues with the other side, BMW calls this a "Charge air induction tract".

Originally Posted by (H)

Last pix shows the smoke test that the dealer ran to fin the leak. Strange, now in hindsight, I wonder if they are not very ///M savvy as they should have been aware of this issue and looked at all the charge pipes right away instead of performing such a test. Does a smoke test like this cause harm?

Smoke test is fine. Make sure there is no oil/residue on the surfaces (both plastic and rubber hose coupler) and re-torque clamps.

[Mike@N54Tuning.com]

ER is working on an upgraded pipe for the one that popped off for you (#20 in the Diagram Tom posted). I think release is in a couple months.

Mike

[Carrera16M3]

Reviving an old post, hopefully someone can help.

My M3 is doing the exact same thing. Some background info - my car is stock and was tuned on stage 1 map BM3. I was doing some hard driving and heard a loud pop at like 6k rpm and lost all power. I get home and find out it was exactly as OP stated, the cold side j pipe popped out of the silicone coupler from the IC.

I tried just tightening everything up, flashed back the stock tune, went for a drive, and it popped again. So I just ordered VRSF charge pipes and the cold side j pipe, installed everything, went for a drive, and like 3rd pull in, *pop*. Same exact failure point.

Should I be hulking those clamps down to make sure they don't pop again? Is there something else that could be causing this problem? I just wanna drive my car

[Fuel-It!]

With an aftermarket should not have any issues. No issues with my BMS J pipe coming off using OEM clamping system at 35psi.

[tom @ eas]

Originally Posted by Carrera16M3

Reviving an old post, hopefully someone can help.

My M3 is doing the exact same thing. Some background info - my car is stock and was tuned on stage 1 map BM3. I was doing some hard driving and heard a loud pop at like 6k rpm and lost all power. I get home and find out it was exactly as OP stated, the cold side j pipe popped out of the silicone coupler from the IC.

I tried just tightening everything up, flashed back the stock tune, went for a drive, and it popped again. So I just ordered VRSF charge pipes and the cold side j pipe, installed everything, went for a drive, and like 3rd pull in, *pop*. Same exact failure point.

Should I be hulking those clamps down to make sure they don't pop again? Is there something else that could be causing this problem? I just wanna drive my car

Don't overtighten. Check the inside of the coupler and make sure there is no oil or release agent on either surface as this will prevent the coupler from staying in place.