A3 8P 2.0tdi Turbo (BKD PD140)

[j22_fsy]

Hi all, I’m new here. I have a 2008 A3 with the PD140 BKD engine in it. I’m starting to have the telltale signs of a dying turbo, so I want to replace it before it’s too late.

I’ve found 4 options so far. Darksides Mellett Turbo for £378, Darksides Garrett Turbo for £570, a hybrid turbo from Falcon Turbo Developments for £400 or a hybrid turbo from TurboTechnics for £600.

What would you use? Taking into account the cost of a remap aswell for the hybrids.

 

[NHN]

Turbo dynamics everyday of the week.

Turbo technics were a joke, however it may have been a rogue salesman who sold me the wrong turbo & wasted my time & money on mapping then finally we realised it wasn't the version I had paid for, albeit they refunded my turbo & gave me a new one to replace my old one I got rid of, but still took months to resolve.

 

[j22_fsy]

Turbo dynamics everyday of the week.

Turbo technics were a joke, however it may have been a rogue salesman who sold me the wrong turbo & wasted my time & money on mapping then finally we realised it wasn't the version I had paid for, albeit they refunded my turbo & gave me a new one to replace my old one I got rid of, but still took months to resolve.

Ahh okay. What do you thinks a better option? A standard OEM or a rebuilt hybrid? Only probables is obviously with a hybrid I’d need a remap after which is more money on top?

car is on 145k for reference

 

[NHN]

Stock & generic map would be fine, its upto you tbh, if you want more power then go hybrid, but yes that requires a different map.

 

[j22_fsy]

Stock & generic map would be fine, its upto you tbh, if you want more power then go hybrid, but yes that requires a different map.

Are the rebuilt hybrids any good? I’ve found one for £400 by Falcon Turbos but not heard much about them before. I just don’t want to but some thing that’s going to blow up and don’t want to put too much strain on the rest of the car

 

[Nessy]

Having owned my A3 BKD for 5 years now I do love it but these cars do seemingly have turbos made out of chocolate.
The previous owner to me (who’d looked after the car very well) fitted a new Genuine turbo fitted at vast expense about a year before I bought the car and I always , always let the car cool down after a run before turning off the engine, as well as only using Genuine oil and filters.
That turbo kept going into limp mode after 90K miles last winter, and despite trying to free up the VNT vanes (without success) I ended up fitting a Darkside Developments Mellett turbo .
So far , and it’s only done about 5K it’s been fine .
It was as cost-effective to fit a replacement turbo as it was to have the old one taken apart and de-sooted as I’m convinced that the old one was suffering from stuck vanes.