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My 335d Nox sensor/DEF nightmare
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03-25-2016, 06:28 AM | #1 |
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My 335d Nox sensor/DEF nightmare
Well, a report on my current repair situation with my 2011 335d M Sport, 74K miles.
So last week I was on the way back from Alabama to DFW, about 650 miles from home, when I got a message on my display: "Incorrect Exhaust Fluid detected. 200 miles to No Start" Imagine my horror, with two teenage girls in the car, driving home, realizing that we would not be able to stop the car for the next 10 hours. I knew DEF had not been added, so I knew there was a sensor broken of some sort. We managed to drive the car until about 35 miles to No Start and filled up, meaning we had enough fuel to get home without needing to turn off the car. It was a very worrisome trip !! I did buy an extended warranty with the used car 2 months ago, so I felt OK about getting the repair done in a costly manner. I am a member of AAA, so I got the car towed to the dealership for free. Well, yesterday I heard from my SA that the NOx sensor and DEF-related issues are NOT covered by my warranty !!! ( I have started the process of cancelling that warranty and getting my money back, if it is not going to cover expensive repairs on this car. ) "replace both nox sensors, metering module and retest (top off def and retest, Removing incorrect fluid, diesel exhaust fluid faults, top off def and retest, Removing incorrect fluid, diesel exhaust fluid faults)" - $2,071.29 There is also an oil leak near the turbos ($370) and a seeping leak in a lower radiator hose ($162), so this repair is going to cost me $2,700 with tax. I was so sick that I did not even eat lunch yesterday, as my appetite had gone away with the stress and worry of dealing with this issue. As a 52-year old man, driving since age 16, I have never spent more than $1,400 on a single car repair. I have mostly driven Japanese cars before my two BMW 335ds I just bought. So spending almost double that on my first repair is like a traumatic experience. I love the CRAP out of the torque and fun of my 335d, but I need to decide if these incredibly costly repairs (I am not a wealthy man) are worth it to me. Decisions. This just effin blows. |
03-25-2016, 07:18 AM | #2 |
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soory to hear your plight to avoid this ISSUE again best get rid of everything at a tune of $2k approximately and TRUST ME you wont have any more issue follow the steps most of us have gone thru and you will say goodbye to your woes
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03-25-2016, 07:41 AM | #4 |
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Have your SA see if BMWNA will goodwill the DEF tank replacement. If it is the original DEF tank, this could be a design problem because last year the redesigned the DEF tank to make it more robust. Then you will have a 2 year warranty for the part.
get the abc delete. One time cost to upgrade the car and never have any of these worries again. I plan on getting this done this summer. I bought a cpo car because I was worried about bad injectors. Turns out that emissions is the biggest piece of crap on this car. I have had about $8k-$10k worth of emission repair done to this car. Replaced SCR twice, NOx probes twice, metering device, and DEF tank was the latest part to be replaced. As well as other warranty repairs such as AC belt twice, warped front rotors twice, front right wheel bearing, replaced the rear speed sensor, snapped the rear lower controller arm bolts. So far, out of pocket costs to me is $50. With the emissions on this car, it is a matter of "when" it fails and not "if" it fails. |
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03-25-2016, 07:42 AM | #5 |
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I doubt it, because I had driven the car for about 3500 miles since ownership. To me, if the fluid was incorrect, it would have been reported before now. I think the NOx sensor is involved with whatever system is determining that the fluid is incorrect, and it failed and was reporting falsely.
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03-25-2016, 07:45 AM | #6 | |
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03-25-2016, 08:00 AM | #7 |
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03-25-2016, 09:34 AM | #8 | |
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03-25-2016, 10:01 AM | #9 | |
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Seems to me they are saying that because "you" put the wrong fluid in you are at fault and that is why it's not covered by the warranty. You need to find your warranty papers and read them carefully and be ready to dispute their conclusion that it's not covered. You are the only person in this deal that has your best interests in mind. |
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03-25-2016, 01:13 PM | #10 |
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I wouldn't be surprised if the warranty deny is based on assumption wrong DEF fluid really was at fault. That being the case, don't just push back - get a lawyer to go jump up and down on somebody's desk!
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03-25-2016, 01:15 PM | #11 |
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03-25-2016, 01:50 PM | #12 | |
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Seriously considering the ABC delete, however. Doing my research on that now. I can't own a car that has frequent multi-thousand-dollar repairs. My budget is not built for that. |
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03-25-2016, 02:02 PM | #13 | |
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03-25-2016, 02:09 PM | #14 |
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03-26-2016, 05:55 AM | #15 |
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Oh the horror!!
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03-28-2016, 08:50 PM | #16 | |
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I've had the oil leak problem; about the same price. 70K is a bit early for NOx sensors and catalyst to fail, BTW. Poor consolation. |
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03-28-2016, 09:50 PM | #17 |
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There are other advantages to the ABC delete....1) improved mileage due to removing the restrictions, 2) the ability to use better oil for engine longevity. I'm sure there are several others that apply to a daily driver as well.
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03-29-2016, 12:56 AM | #18 |
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Larrysing, your situation is strange. 200mi warning does indeed come one as a result of an incorrect fluid. This is designed to assure no one pumps water into the tanks. However, I also wonder if it is possible to get this warning due to an old urea in the tanks. I do not think that anyone ever reported this. For both NOx sensors to go off at the same time, it is very unlikely. I feel that BMW just throws parts instead of properly diagnosing the issues. First thing to do would be to flush the tank, purge the lines and clean off the nozzle. All easy to do. Fill with fresh urea and see if code disappears. You also need to remember, that as long as you do not shut off the car (or less than 3 min) you can restart or keep driving. I know this is very stressing, but still.
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03-29-2016, 01:52 AM | #19 | |
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Why do you guys start with the difficult and expensive, where the urea tank flush along with a nozzle rinse should be the first to try. I bet your SCR is fine as well. The only thing that can affect it is contamination, and unless you are blowing soot through it, you can only have crystallized urea in it. Water dissolves the urea, btw. Urea is funny, it has a 6 mos shelf life, so past that, expect to have issues, shorter in hotter climates. Please clean your urea nozzle and see what changes... |
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03-29-2016, 04:05 AM | #20 | |
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There are other codes for DEF fluid being bad; as you know that is tested for by the DDE after every Regen of the DPF. |
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03-29-2016, 05:47 AM | #21 | |
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1) Swap NOx probe positions 2) Replace NOx probes 3) Replace SCR unit I had to wait 3 months for a new SCR due to QA failures, and when they replaced the SCR, the DTC was still there. The last thing they did was to replace the metering device, test the spray pattern and confirm it was pumping out so many mL of urea. I drive enough miles so that the urea is never in the tank longer than 4 months. |
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03-29-2016, 06:48 AM | #22 | |
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You make a valid point about "both" NOx sensors going out at the same time. I'm going to call my SA and ask him about that today. Seems very odd... |
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