Chinese Turbos! Who wants to volunteer to run some shrapnell through their engine?
 

OMG. Can you imagine putting one of these on your car? Any guesses as to how long it would last before the impeller blades shear off and your engine ingests them for lunch?
Mmmmmm... crunchy!

This link is for a CDI - but don't feel left out... they are available for different models too.

(I'm seeing an opportunity for a whole new product line from URO. :rolleyes:)

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Auto-turbolader-rebuild-parts-GT2056V-turbo-charger-core-CHRA-765155-765156-turbine-cartridge-for-Mercedes-E280/32570485860.html?ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_5_10152_10065_10151_10068_10130_10136_10137 _10060_10138_10155_10062_10156_10154_10056_10055_10054_10059_10099_10103_10102_10096_10148_10147_100 52_10053_10142_10107_10050_10051_10084_10083_10080_10082_10081_10178_10110_10111_10112_10113_10114_1 0181_10078_10079_10073_10070_10123_10124,searchweb201603_10,afswitch_1,ppcSwitch_2&btsid=9f2f59de-4937-4e78-9767-67b4ae4b1a0c&algo_expid=1270cfa4-f479-4532-9963-2f8e6b7fb6a8-6&algo_pvid=1270cfa4-f479-4532-9963-2f8e6b7fb6a8

Where do you think new parts for old cars come from?

The (to me) really annoying part of the Chinese stuff is that some of it is just fine and some is absolute trash (poor machining, bad metallugry, etc) and I know of no reliable way to tell the stuff apart by looking at the ad or even holding the part in your hand (though sometimes you can see crappy machine work). So I've taken to counting on good vendors that I can fall back on if the stuff is truly crap. Tim's Turbos does my turbos for Mutt the Race Truck and I trust Tim to sell me the good stuff - so far so good.

Dan

You do realize that Mercedes has been building new cars in China for over a decade with Chinese made parts and even (gasp!) Chinese turbos?
http://www.bbac.com.cn/Portals/6/C_I...2015-08/21.jpg
http://www.bbac.com.cn/en/tabid/352/InfoID/2880/frtid/324/Default.aspx

Chinese made items can sometimes be of good quality, but only when the most stringent of quality control is relentlessly forced upon the (contracted) manufacturing companies. Otherwise, it is well known that Chinese manufacturers will take every possible shortcut to cut costs. EVERY short cut, including poor material specs, rudimentary machining tolerances, and incorrect processes such as rubber that’s improperly vulcanized, incorrect metal alloys… or metals not being properly heat treated or stress relieved. And that’s assuming the raw materials were correct to begin with.

What would you allow on your car? Like Dan said, there’s usually no way to differentiate the good from the bad. Even products from the exact same factory contracted to do production work for big-name companies are suspect. Those parts are not necessarily the same quality. For non-contracted production runs, they can (and oftentimes do) use inferior materials and processes to save every possible cent / yuan.

How about Chinese tires? Many big-name tire manufacturers are making tires in China now. But they watch things like a hawk; they are involved in every possible step in the process, from raw material procurement all the way to the final product. So while I may trust a Chinese tire from Goodyear for example, I would not trust some off brand private label tire produced by the “Sum-Rownd-Ting” tire factory.

Would you trust a Chinese no-name turbo on your car? Not me. Maybe if it was a TRW or KKK brand (etc.), with faith in the company putting their branding on the item and their reputation on the line. But then again, that’s no guarantee either. One only has to look at the Indian-made Bosch injector nozzles for the 617’s. The less said the better.

Putting some types of cheap Chinese crap on older cars is a surefire way to make them not get any older… because they’ll end up in the scrapyard.

You'd be surprised with how poorly parts can come back from China, even when you keep your boot on their neck about specifications.

I'd try a Chinese turbo given the opportunity, but not on my OM603. On a high mileage engine, sure. I might put some type of screen between the turbo outlet and the intake to stop the large chunks. There are lots of people that have documented installing them and some blowing to bits within several hundred miles, and some lasting for a long time.

I've manufactured parts in China, and I can attest both to the pitfalls and advantages. But then, I've had cr_p come back from US producers as well. Your only protection is the integrity of the brand.

There's a guy in Austria who used a Chinese knockoff HX35 for 15000 miles with no issue, but the shaft play was awful. Dyno'd 330 hp on a 603.
I have a genuine HX30 that was made at the Holset factory in China, it is fine.
I would steer clear of alibaba or Ali express, eBay can be hit or miss but don't even look at a new turbo for less than $300 in my opinion

our engines are low boost and low rpm, the ebay turbos would be fine. They would wear out axially long before a blade let loose. Also precision turbo and turbonetics made their turbos in china and misrepresent their COO, so more people are running Chinese made parts than they realize.

I won't buy anything with a turbo!

Happy Motoring, Mark