Engine swap options 125TDI Passat (BMR)

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Seeing you are in Brisbane, id be giving Alba European a call. He has a very good reputation for all things VW/Audi.

He might have a contact for sourcing the part and can no doubt give you info and/or a quote on the installation side of things:
Alba European - Home

Thanks, I left a message.

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After speaking with Alba European, it appears the oil pump module consists of separate parts with their own part numbers (oil pump, balancing shaft, hex carrier etc) - some are available genuine and others aftermarket. VW only wanted to replace the whole (very expensive) module.

I've ordered ~$200-300 in parts from the UK, which are due to arrive next week. I'll update this thread with details in case anyone else finds themselves in the same situation.

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Parts have arrived. Ordered a replacement pump, but also a "balance shaft repair kit" just in case.

Went to VW to check the worn parts and it turned out that the pump is fine, but the hex carrier pin and hex key/hole in the balance-shaft itself are rounded out (so just free spins). Wish I had the presence of mind to take a photo while talking to th engineer.

Luckily, I ordered the repair kit as these ~$10 worth of parts are what should solve the issue... the new hex key/hole needs to be precision machine tapped into the worn balance shaft and the worn key removed with the new one.

Should only be a few hundred for the machining and up to 4 hours labour to fit everything back together. Should hopefully have it up and running again this week. Crank bearings etc all still looking good - only limped it briefly after the alarm came on.

Here's a photo of the repair kit (14mm hex bolt and hex carrier pin that slides inside):

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The repair kit seems to be working with good oil pressure now. Only problem is that the turbo is cooked due to running briefly without oil pressure. Ordered an aftermarket replacement turbo and waiting for it to arrive. It's a new one with upgraded internals for ~$900

I just hope it's the right part, the turbo shop looked up the car's rego, but it seems to be for the CBBB engine (rather than BMR) so hopefully that's compatible - exhaust manifold looks the same, but the intake fitting(s) may need adaption (or a silicon replacement perhaps).

Plenty of turbo options from Europe if it doesn't work out, will just take some extra time to arrive.

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Ok, just to close this thread out - the car is back on the road!

So, the turbo was indeed incorrect (I now have a spare CBB* turbo with upgraded internals to try get rid of).. Fortunately, I was able to pick a used one for $600 (has 100K kms on it and is working well). The alternate option was to source a new one from Europe for a little extra, but would have taken weeks to arrive.

All up, costed under $1K in parts, plus ~$2.5K in labour, including the original diagnostic tear-down and precision machining required for the balancer shaft repair.

OEM parts replacement quote was ~$11K (balancer shaft module ~$6.5K and turbo ~$4.5K), which was pretty extreme, and more than the car is worth.

Big thanks to Jimmy at Alba European for his help and advice in finding a repair pathway. Also, the VW dealership was very helpful and patient in trying options (and storing my car for weeks/months!), and they also took very good care of me on the labour side of things .

Shame on VW AU (parts) for committing extortion by over-charging on parts to fix the VW engineering flaw - idealistically, they would have fixed/recalled (or at least notified of) this in the first place.

I hope this helps someone out in the future.