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      01-16-2018, 11:37 PM   #1
VrooM3
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Throttle Actuator rebuilding services

Hi guys, i had my throttle actuators go bad for the second time since i've owned the car. First time was around 90k km and i had them rebuilt by BBA reman and they went bad within a year or approximately 10k km, and i was too lazy to tear things out again so i just drove on them but BBA did offer free repair on them based on their 2 year non transferable warranty.

Long story short i recently had them act up quite a lot so i ordered the gear set and mosfets from Jason at http://www.rebuild.org.uk/ and proceeded to rebuild both actuators and replace the mosfets. The gears were of high quality, made of carbon fiber reinforced grey plastic, similar to high performance RC car chassis and uprights etc and the tolerances were very good. One worked fine but the second one seemed to have circuitry damage (processors, voltage controllers etc, who knows) and after discussing it with Jason he mentioned how this is quite often the case and that he offers the gears/mosfets just to stay competitive with those who sell bare gear sets. His rebuild service includes replacement of critical surface mount components with apparently upgraded components where possible. He includes a transferable lifetime warranty but you are responsible for shipping.

I sent in the actuators and with his core exchange service he shipped a rebuilt set within 4 days from UK (i am in Canada). I installed them and everything was fine, and currently put about 2k km on the car and they still function perfectly. I thought i'd share my experience with you guys as buying new ones is such a damn ripoff and only gear replacement is insufficient in many cases based on the experience i had and Jason's expert advice. I am writing this to save you guys the same bs i went through and to let you know that his service was excellent. The price, after the rebate he will give me when my old actuators and purchased gearset are received by him (ground shipped cuz of high cost) was circa 1000 CAD, less than half the price of buying new actuators at a discount.

I didn't get a dime or discount to write this, but am very satisfied with the service and wanted to share it with the community. I searched up the forums to see if http://www.rebuild.org.uk/ or Jason were mentioned anywhere but didn't find anything so i thought i'd write this up, he is a good dude doing good work so i think he deserves a mention on the boards, cheers .

p.s. if there are any issues in the future i will post here, so far so good

Last edited by VrooM3; 01-16-2018 at 11:42 PM..
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      01-17-2018, 07:30 AM   #2
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I bought a mosfet set to try replacement on a couple of TA in which I previously replaced gears (one still did not work after changing gears and the other gave me another 2 years before failing). I’ll do this sometime this year — sooner if one of mine fails.

New bmw actuators are down to about $600 now and the same one from vdo is as low as $450 but has not been in stock lately.
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      01-17-2018, 08:23 AM   #3
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Best bet is to buy them from FCP (lifetime warranty)

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw...do-13627838085

Bought two when my Bank 1 went out, figured to do both at the same time to save myself from Bank 2 inevitably failing.

I wouldn't recommend the rebuild kits unless you replace the electronics as well.... The gears and circuit boards both can go bad.
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      01-17-2018, 09:22 AM   #4
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But if this service tests the electronics, replaces what is needed, offers some warranty and is cheaper than new, it is worth considering. For me, it would have to be about 50% cheaper than new to be worth the risk of ending up with a paperweight and having to buy another and doing the job over again.
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      01-17-2018, 07:44 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lat77 View Post
Best bet is to buy them from FCP (lifetime warranty)

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw...do-13627838085

Bought two when my Bank 1 went out, figured to do both at the same time to save myself from Bank 2 inevitably failing.

I wouldn't recommend the rebuild kits unless you replace the electronics as well.... The gears and circuit boards both can go bad.
the price i mentioned was canadian dollars, and as i mentioned, after rebuilding the old actuators with a gear and mosfet set i still experienced issues and so sent them to jason to do a full rebuild on them. he replaces more than just mosfets as most (bba reman for example) rebuilding services do and can't go wrong with a transferable lifetime warranty.

edit: the link you provided is by far the best price i've seen for them though, would cost me about 1400-1500 canadian which is still some 40-50% more than i paid but a steal for new units nonetheless. honestly, if jason didn't include a lifetime warranty i would get new ones at the price you linked, but for 200 bucks of shipping lifetime replacement seems too good to pass for me as i'm planning on keeping this thing for a while.

Last edited by VrooM3; 01-17-2018 at 08:05 PM..
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      01-17-2018, 07:58 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pbonsalb View Post
But if this service tests the electronics, replaces what is needed, offers some warranty and is cheaper than new, it is worth considering. For me, it would have to be about 50% cheaper than new to be worth the risk of ending up with a paperweight and having to buy another and doing the job over again.
You guys in the states have access to greater variety and better pricing, best i could muster in canuckestan was circa a grand a piece canadian (approx 750 usd) shipped from the states, and that includes import fees and whatnot. as such i was looking at about half the price, and for americans it would be about 50-60% difference from new units.

When i took apart the units BBA had remanufactured i was disappointed, the pin they had used to secure the main shaft to the half gear had cracked the delrin gear, the gear was visibly made of lower quality machining processes and the mosfets they had replaced looked like they were soldered in by children and one of the surface mount tabs of the circuit for a mosfet was damaged and so they had bridged to a nearby voltage regulator. it was shoddy at best, and though i haven't opened jason's work (void warranty sticker on it) looking at his instruction vids on his site and the quality of the gearset i initially installed, i'm hopeful this will work out well, time will tell.

the way i look at it, it's a lifetime service with one rebuild since it's a lifetime warranty where only shipping has to be covered by me.

on a side note, as i was researching root causes etc, don't remember what thread or forum, i found a link to a german page detailing that it's well known among ze germans bmw folk that the root cause of the actuator failures is seizing and dirtying throttle linkage actuator shafts. every time i've taken my actuators out i wiggled the linkages and they did noticeably have resistance and had a reduction in lubricity. the article mentioned that to avoid actuator premature damage annually the shaft and their linkage/bearings need lubrication and that the area is prone to heat and dust ridding of the lubricants. makes sense and i instinctively did it when replacing actuators, but now i'll be doing it as a regular service to avoid this ordeal if possible.
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      01-18-2018, 11:00 AM   #7
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+1 for Jason @ Rebuild. I ordered two of his TA's first and paid the core deposit. When I returned my old ones I got the deposit back.

Works great and you can't beat a lifetime warranty for about half the price of new TA's.
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      02-07-2018, 11:11 PM   #8
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So i just got my full deposit back by him without a hitch and am at this point very satisfied with his service and quality of worksmanship.

edit: about 3500km currently and everything is butter smooth, throttle response is crisp, no codes upon throttle actuator self check.
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      04-04-2018, 05:42 PM   #9
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Thumbs up

Just recently worked with Abdul at Mpower Motorsports who is the North American supplier/re-builder for Rebuild UK and it is the way to go. Great price and fantastic service!
Abdul helped me diag and work with me on one of the issues i was having. Sent pics of both actuators being shipped along with the tracking number. Might i add excellent packaging! Nothing but great service and im very glad this option is available.
Highly recommend to anyone in need of replacing their throttle actuators.
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Last edited by E92_TYLER; 04-10-2018 at 10:27 AM..
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      04-04-2018, 08:47 PM   #10
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I was a bit of a naysayer at first on the rebuilts, but after paying $600 for a new one, when I needed another, I talked to Abdul at MPower Motorsports and got one if his. He is rebuilding them right, like Jason in the UK — I think there is an affiliation between them. I tried just replacing the gears and mine still failed. The electronics have to be properly addressed and Abdul and Jason have the electronic circuit board rebuild figured out.
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      04-12-2018, 05:14 AM   #11
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Just to clear this up. Abdul (************************************/) is a reseller of my products. Offering a next day delivery of actuators to the USA.
The only difference is:

1. About 24hours delivery from Abdul to USA clients: myself in the UK to USA is 48hrs delivery.
2. Returning OLD cores from clients in the USA to the UK for deposits refunded costs the client $70 as oppose to local States delivery of $20.

All warranties etc are the same.

NOTE: I need to clarify a few points. I have been reading the threads on here and noticed a few things people have said that need correcting as they’re inaccurate or just completely incorrect.

Fitting a gear kit and a couple of mosfets doesn’t fix the issue. The actuators need to be fully upgraded. Higher power components, higher temperature rated components and better quality parts.

There was a gentleman on here arguing about "lifetime warranty" and just sceptical of refurbishment services. I rebuild these units to outlive the car. What other people on here do not actually know, is I also refurbish the motor at the same time. Nobody ever has mentioned the motor inside the unit anywhere on the internet when talking about these actuators and refurbishing them. I have never mentioned this an extra part I do with my Actuator rebuilds either, until now.

Gears, 80% of the 3rd party gears I have seen fitted on these (I have seen many types) are actually worst then the original worn out BMW ones. They will either lock up, feel really clunky and just don’t open or close right, fall apart, have more play then worn out ones and just in general won’t last. The gears we use will outlive the car.

I also fully rebuild the electrical side, upgrading BMW parts to higher power, higher spec, higher component temperature, changing voltage regulators, mosfets, CAN communication IC’s and memory chips. Also if required the Microprocessor! So yes, they’re built to last and not made to fade.

Jason
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      04-15-2018, 04:59 PM   #12
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My experience with Abdul and Mpower motorsports was nothing short of spectacular. I wasn't sure if it really was my actuators that were faulty. I was hesitant to pay for something I wasn't sure would work for me. Abdul and Paul helped me through the process. Went back and forth numerous times regarding my codes etc. He truly wasn't trying to sell me his product only. Rather he helped me with so many other concerns of mine. He offered to waive my core charge fees and also told me that if the TA's didn't solve my problem, I could return it to him and he would fully refund me. Wow.

I received both my actuators in amazing bubble wrap. Installed them and fortunately, it was my actuators that needed to be replaced! The best $700.00 I've ever spent. I'm sending my cores back tomorrow.
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      04-26-2018, 12:21 AM   #13
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Abdul was very firm and clear on what needed to be done and guided you without a blur. The process of recieving the actuator itself was quite fast .
I’m very pleased from M PowerMotorsport knowing that the TA is covered lifetime. You can definitely count on him being true and really wanting to help the community, Thank you so much!
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      04-28-2018, 06:40 PM   #14
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Actuators from M Power Motorsports have fixed my problem so far less than half of what my indy shop wanted. 2-4 hours start to finish. It's not that hard.
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      04-29-2018, 11:09 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jason Bayliff View Post
Just to clear this up. Abdul (************************************/) is a reseller of my products. Offering a next day delivery of actuators to the USA.
The only difference is:

1. About 24hours delivery from Abdul to USA clients: myself in the UK to USA is 48hrs delivery.
2. Returning OLD cores from clients in the USA to the UK for deposits refunded costs the client $70 as oppose to local States delivery of $20.

All warranties etc are the same.

NOTE: I need to clarify a few points. I have been reading the threads on here and noticed a few things people have said that need correcting as they’re inaccurate or just completely incorrect.

Fitting a gear kit and a couple of mosfets doesn’t fix the issue. The actuators need to be fully upgraded. Higher power components, higher temperature rated components and better quality parts.

There was a gentleman on here arguing about "lifetime warranty" and just sceptical of refurbishment services. I rebuild these units to outlive the car. What other people on here do not actually know, is I also refurbish the motor at the same time. Nobody ever has mentioned the motor inside the unit anywhere on the internet when talking about these actuators and refurbishing them. I have never mentioned this an extra part I do with my Actuator rebuilds either, until now.

Gears, 80% of the 3rd party gears I have seen fitted on these (I have seen many types) are actually worst then the original worn out BMW ones. They will either lock up, feel really clunky and just don’t open or close right, fall apart, have more play then worn out ones and just in general won’t last. The gears we use will outlive the car.

I also fully rebuild the electrical side, upgrading BMW parts to higher power, higher spec, higher component temperature, changing voltage regulators, mosfets, CAN communication IC’s and memory chips. Also if required the Microprocessor! So yes, they’re built to last and not made to fade.

Jason
You're the man Jason, glad you have set up shop on this side of the pond through Abdul. I've been putting plenty of mileage on them and everything is operating perfectly. i allow the car to go through self check every time i start (pressing the start button without depressing the clutch) and not once was there a hickup. Quality through and through, good luck with your business endeavors buddy.
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      04-30-2018, 07:14 PM   #16
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I ordered 2 TAs from Abdul and got them shipped to me within 3 business days.
Abdul was very kind and very easy to work with. For Canadian buyers there is a small increase in price but overall you are still getting a good deal.
I did the install myself and now my car no longer has any error codes and runs perfect.

Thanks again!
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      05-31-2018, 04:50 PM   #17
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What I found to be the sign my throttle actuators were going was a lurching in 1st gear while still cold. Bank 2 soon threw a code. Gear was pretty worn (sharp teeth) and lots of black shavings in the housing. Bank 1 wasn’t that far behind.

I can also vouch for Abdul at M Power Motorsports. He’s eager to help, got them in under 2 days, lifetime warranty, and well priced.
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      06-05-2018, 07:06 PM   #18
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Thumbs up Throttle actuator

Hi guys recently replaced my throttle actuator on my e92 m3
USA based super fast service got new ( rebuild) actuators in 4 days
For the site below
https://www.mpowermotorsports.org
$360 each lifetime warranty $100 core charge
Owner will text you guide you through every step
Very reliable
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      06-10-2018, 09:09 PM   #19
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Recently got my throttle actuators from M power motorsports & have to say that I am pleased with the product and customer service that I received from them. Great price compared to other options including lifetime warranty, can't go wrong. Car's been working perfectly ever since I replaced them.
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      06-16-2018, 02:08 AM   #20
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Thanks for all the great reviews and feedback! I appreciate your kind words. And I'm glad I was able to help bring your beast back on the road where it belongs.
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      06-19-2018, 08:31 PM   #21
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Ordered a rebuilt actuator from Abdul a month ago and has been working perfectly. I had some issues that came up that were unrelated to the actuator and Abdul sent me another one to borrow at no cost to rule out any actuator problems.
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      06-20-2018, 06:42 AM   #22
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Quote:
Originally Posted by svinfinity View Post
Ordered a rebuilt actuator from Abdul a month ago and has been working perfectly. I had some issues that came up that were unrelated to the actuator and Abdul sent me another one to borrow at no cost to rule out any actuator problems.

I'm glad everything worked out for you at the end. I'm here to help in any way. I also let a few other people burrow a unit to test in their cars for free. Unfortunately, they haven't sent them back yet nor are they responding to my phone calls. I just don't understand how people can be so unethical. Nonetheless, thanks for sending my units back.
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