[LYTSOUT]

Well, it finally happened...albeit not as I expected it to. The car is a bone stock F30 N55 xDrive 6MT with 60k miles and no mods besides a Stage 1 BM3 on 93 octane (installed maybe 6months ago). I've never tracked the car and rarely even take it to redline. The car is very well-maintained and by no means abused or ragged out.

I was driving my kid to a birthday party this morning in the pouring rain. About 3 blocks from our house, I ran over a huge puddle which splashed water up onto the hood and windshield. I was maybe doing 20-30mph at low revs in 2nd or maybe 3rd gear. A couple of blocks later, I heard/felt a weird click and lost power. At first, I thought the car had popped out of gear, so I engaged the clutch and reseated it in both 2nd and 3rd. Revs were there but power was WAY down. No CELs at first. I immediately fired up my Kiwi 3 with Dashcommand app and there were several codes including p00bd (air flow too high), p0172 (system too rich bank 1). A CEL finally came on the dash after few miles and new codes popped up including p0300 (multiple cyl misfire) along with p0305, p0303, and p0304 (misfires in cyl 5, 3, and 4, respectively).

My first thought was that water had gotten into the intake, but the symptoms didn't improve after driving around for a while. Once I got home, did a quick search here and saw someone had a blown charge pipe with p00bd so I popped the hood and there it was.

Obviously I'll be upgrading to a proper aftermarket CP now (YES, I KNOW THAT I SHOULD'VE DONE THAT ALREADY)...but I guess my question is: can I drive it for a few days until I get around to changing it or will that damage the motor/turbos/etc? My wife drives the SUV during the winter so my other option is to drive the 997, but that's on MPSS. Luckily it's up in the 40-50's right now, but it's getting down into the high-20's to mid-30's overnight all next week which is suboptimal for those tires.

Anyway, I just wanted to share my story as yet another example of a blown CP with a flash.

[Mobster1983]

Bad idea. I have no idea how you even made it home. I've blown my charge pipe 3 times (yes 3!) and everytime my car completely lost power (on the freeway) and it was all I could do to get pulled over in a safe area. Maybe, MAYBE, you could physically drive it, but with the CP pulled open like that you can get something pulled into the engine and cause serious damage.

[Solidjake]

That's why it's recommended to get metal charge pipes as soon as you get one of these cars.

[IK6SPEED]

Originally Posted by LYTSOUT

Well, it finally happened...albeit not as I expected it to. The car is a bone stock F30 N55 xDrive 6MT with 60k miles and no mods besides a Stage 1 BM3 on 93 octane (installed maybe 6months ago). I've never tracked the car and rarely even take it to redline. The car is very well-maintained and by no means abused or ragged out.

I was driving my kid to a birthday party this morning in the pouring rain. About 3 blocks from our house, I ran over a huge puddle which splashed water up onto the hood and windshield. I was maybe doing 20-30mph at low revs in 2nd or maybe 3rd gear. A couple of blocks later, I heard/felt a weird click and lost power. At first, I thought the car had popped out of gear, so I engaged the clutch and reseated it in both 2nd and 3rd. Revs were there but power was WAY down. No CELs at first. I immediately fired up my Kiwi 3 with Dashcommand app and there were several codes including p00bd (air flow too high), p0172 (system too rich bank 1). A CEL finally came on the dash after few miles and new codes popped up including p0300 (multiple cyl misfire) along with p0305, p0303, and p0304 (misfires in cyl 5, 3, and 4, respectively).

My first thought was that water had gotten into the intake, but the symptoms didn't improve after driving around for a while. Once I got home, did a quick search here and saw someone had a blown charge pipe with p00bd so I popped the hood and there it was.

Obviously I'll be upgrading to a proper aftermarket CP now (YES, I KNOW THAT I SHOULD'VE DONE THAT ALREADY)...but I guess my question is: can I drive it for a few days until I get around to changing it or will that damage the motor/turbos/etc? My wife drives the SUV during the winter so my other option is to drive the 997, but that's on MPSS. Luckily it's up in the 40-50's right now, but it's getting down into the high-20's to mid-30's overnight all next week which is suboptimal for those tires.

Anyway, I just wanted to share my story as yet another example of a blown CP with a flash.

Attachment 2216558

No. Do not drive it. Something gets sucked in you will be replacing engine instead of CP.

[WaarrEagle]

I’m curious which charge pipe you plan to buy? My CPO warranty expired last month so I am just now considering a proactive replacement.

[johnung]

Originally Posted by LYTSOUT

Well, it finally happened...albeit not as I expected it to. The car is a bone stock F30 N55 xDrive 6MT with 60k miles and no mods besides a Stage 1 BM3 on 93 octane (installed maybe 6months ago). I've never tracked the car and rarely even take it to redline. The car is very well-maintained and by no means abused or ragged out.

I was driving my kid to a birthday party this morning in the pouring rain. About 3 blocks from our house, I ran over a huge puddle which splashed water up onto the hood and windshield. I was maybe doing 20-30mph at low revs in 2nd or maybe 3rd gear. A couple of blocks later, I heard/felt a weird click and lost power. At first, I thought the car had popped out of gear, so I engaged the clutch and reseated it in both 2nd and 3rd. Revs were there but power was WAY down. No CELs at first. I immediately fired up my Kiwi 3 with Dashcommand app and there were several codes including p00bd (air flow too high), p0172 (system too rich bank 1). A CEL finally came on the dash after few miles and new codes popped up including p0300 (multiple cyl misfire) along with p0305, p0303, and p0304 (misfires in cyl 5, 3, and 4, respectively).

My first thought was that water had gotten into the intake, but the symptoms didn't improve after driving around for a while. Once I got home, did a quick search here and saw someone had a blown charge pipe with p00bd so I popped the hood and there it was.

Obviously I'll be upgrading to a proper aftermarket CP now (YES, I KNOW THAT I SHOULD'VE DONE THAT ALREADY)...but I guess my question is: can I drive it for a few days until I get around to changing it or will that damage the motor/turbos/etc? My wife drives the SUV during the winter so my other option is to drive the 997, but that's on MPSS. Luckily it's up in the 40-50's right now, but it's getting down into the high-20's to mid-30's overnight all next week which is suboptimal for those tires.

Anyway, I just wanted to share my story as yet another example of a blown CP with a flash.

Attachment 2216558

Compare the cost of a cheap car rental from your local Enterprise or taking Uber for a week, to the cost of replacing a blown BMW engine. Math is pretty simple.

[johnung]

Originally Posted by WaarrEagle

I’m curious which charge pipe you plan to buy? My CPO warranty expired last month so I am just now considering a proactive replacement.

Evolution Raceworks makes the highest quality, best fitting Charge Pipe. I've read good things about VSRF too. Don't cheap out on charge pipe. Boost leaks are expensive to troubleshoot and fix.

Replace o-rings on both ends of charge pipe for the same reason. The o-ring near the intercooler connection is actually a square shaped directional o-ring. Install it in the wrong direction and it will leak. See attached diagram.

Hope this helps!

[johnung]

Originally Posted by johnung

Evolution Raceworks makes the highest quality, best fitting Charge Pipe. I've read good things about VSRF too. Don't cheap out on charge pipe. Boost leaks are expensive to troubleshoot and fix.

Replace o-rings on both ends of charge pipe for the same reason. The o-ring near the intercooler connection is actually a square shaped directional o-ring. Install it in the wrong direction and it will leak. See attached diagram.

Hope this helps!

Attached is the Charge Pipe directional o-ring diagram.

[IK6SPEED]

Originally Posted by WaarrEagle

I'm curious which charge pipe you plan to buy? My CPO warranty expired last month so I am just now considering a proactive replacement.

ER

period

You'll notice you never see any fitment issues or other issues online about ER, unlike the others.

[jh_f30]

I agree, don't drive it. Take the 911 out, if you go sideways, all the more fun! In all seriousness, SuperSports below 40 have the potential to be sketchy, but drive carefully and you should be fine...does it happen to be a 4S? In any case, way better than risking engine damage on the Bimmer.

[F30lolz]

I gambled and won. I owned a x1 N55 and on my way to work the stock CP gave up the ghost. Car ran but like crap as expected for about a total of 30 miles until I took it to the dealer that evening.

[1QuikWS6]

Originally Posted by IK6SPEED

ER

period

You'll notice you never see any fitment issues or other issues online about ER, unlike the others.

Agreed
ER only pipes I would use

Yeah, I know, they cost more. In this case it true u get what u pay for

[IK6SPEED]

Originally Posted by 1QuikWS6

Agreed
ER only pipes I would use

Yeah, I know, they cost more. In this case it true u get what u pay for

And they do not develop boost leaks in 6 months either.

[alohasurftoad]

you do get what you pay for with ER, nothing wrong with that...these are also good for a lot less and i've yet to see anything negative about quality or fitment

https://www.ctsturbo.com/product/cts...pe-set-xdrive/

https://www.ftpmotorsport.com.tw/pro...e-pipe-awd-4wd

[esoj37]

Do not drive it until you get a replacement installed.

[KDW4him]

Originally Posted by johnung

Evolution Raceworks makes the highest quality, best fitting Charge Pipe. I've read good things about VSRF too. Don't cheap out on charge pipe. Boost leaks are expensive to troubleshoot and fix.

Replace o-rings on both ends of charge pipe for the same reason. The o-ring near the intercooler connection is actually a square shaped directional o-ring. Install it in the wrong direction and it will leak. See attached diagram.

Hope this helps!

Why does ER say this about the CP?

"CAUTION: This product is intended for OFF ROAD USE ONLY. Not legal for use on pollution controlled vechiles upon public road/highways. THIS PRODUCT IS FOR SALE FOR ALL 49 STATES EXCLUDING CALIFORNIA. "

Does it not have all the smog hook-ups?

[1QuikWS6]

Originally Posted by KDW4him

Why does ER say this about the CP?

"CAUTION: This product is intended for OFF ROAD USE ONLY. Not legal for use on pollution controlled vechiles upon public road/highways. THIS PRODUCT IS FOR SALE FOR ALL 49 STATES EXCLUDING CALIFORNIA. "

Does it not have all the smog hook-ups?

There are no 'smog' hookups on a CP. CP has (2) ports - a MAP sensor flange & a vacuum fitting. Both of these are cnc machined to OEM specs by ER so the OEM sensor & hose fit perfectly as stock.

They also include (2) threaded Meth Bungs in case you ever want to run Meth. If not used they have threaded plugs

Believe me, I have had both ER pipes on my 435 since 2015 and it has passed our yearly regular & emissions inspections here in PA without a problem.

I have the black version so I doubt they even know it's not OEM...


I didn't see that statement in the description on XPH site where I bought mine & wouldn't have worried if I did.

CP not a smog related part at all - hell, half the members on here have installed catless DP's - now that IS smog related

[jh_f30]

Originally Posted by KDW4him

Why does ER say this about the CP?

"CAUTION: This product is intended for OFF ROAD USE ONLY. Not legal for use on pollution controlled vechiles upon public road/highways. THIS PRODUCT IS FOR SALE FOR ALL 49 STATES EXCLUDING CALIFORNIA. "

Does it not have all the smog hook-ups?

Probably a legal liability thing. CP will not affect smog in CA. CARB regulations are just so strict, they probably have to add that so they don't get fined or something like that.

[upsidedownfunnel]

Originally Posted by Solidjake

That's why it's recommended to get metal charge pipes as soon as you get one of these cars.

It's only needed if you are tuned/modified like OP is. (I don't think they know what "bone stock" means). The incidence of charge pipe failure on true stock cars is too low for it to be a proactive maintenance item.

[LYTSOUT]

Originally Posted by upsidedownfunnel

It's only needed if you are tuned/modified like OP is. (I don't think they know what "bone stock" means). The incidence of charge pipe failure on true stock cars is too low for it to be a proactive maintenance item.

HA! Yes, I'm familiar with the term, but I was using it with respect to hardware only, hence why I specifically added that I also have flash just to avoid confusion.

Anyway, thanks for the recs. Apparently I had email notifications turned off so I missed all these responses in the last couple of days. Since then, however, I've already scheduled to have it replaced at my local indy shop which happens to be a VRSF dealer (whatever that means) so it'll be getting a new VRSF CP installed this week. Weather has been fine so the MPSS on the 997 hasn't been an issue.

Btw, I had forgotten about the warranty on the CTS CP, otherwise I may have considered it. Thanks again for the recs.

And to all you guys who find this thread at some point in the future via the search function: YES, YOU ABSOLUTELY NEED TO UPGRADE YOUR CHARGE PIPE WHEN YOU FLASH THE CAR. I'm a 40+ year old professional with a kid's car seat in the back, for crying out loud. I'm lucky to get above 5k RPMs once a week. This car really isn't ragged out, and the damn thing blew anyway.

[IK6SPEED]

Originally Posted by upsidedownfunnel

It's only needed if you are tuned/modified like OP is. (I don't think they know what "bone stock" means). The incidence of charge pipe failure on true stock cars is too low for it to be a proactive maintenance item.

Bull crap.

Plenty of stock cars have blown OEM Charge Pipes.

[upsidedownfunnel]

Originally Posted by IK6SPEED

Bull crap.

Plenty of stock cars have blown OEM Charge Pipes.

Do you have figures? It seems like whenever anyone posts about a blown charge pipe, it almost always eventually comes out that they have a tune.