[Geo248]

HI all,

2007 E91 325D 137k (UK Based)

Moved this from the general thread on advise.

Looks like to DPF on my car might have died a death. Tried the usual fixes (Thermostats and no codes other than DPF showing) and nothing seems to work!

With this in mind, preparing myself for the fact I might need to buy a new one. Looking around, plenty of brands do after market ones, at a price that is more affordable than the £1200 a BMW one looks to be! Does anyone have any good/bad experiences with certain companies, or does any one stand out?

Cheers all!

[Captain Buumer]

There was a video on yt where one mechanic compared the backpressure of new aftermarket vs OEM DPF.

Difference was quite big.

On idle almost nonexistant(for oem) vs about 50mbar (aftermarket).

Not sure if it was mbar but was enough to trigger fault code.

Ppl have cleaned them with success. Its work principle is to collect all unburnt exhaust gases and burn them to ashes. Ashes will not leave the DPF and eventually it clogs up.

So if you get rid of the ashes without damaging inside materials then it is as good as new. Most of shops pour some chemical inside and and use pressurised water.

I would definitely pay for someone to clean it or diy before shelling out thousands for new one (if MOT still checks for DPF precence with ODB at UK for euro4 cars). If not then strongly consider getting rid of it because it pollutes engine oil by diesel dilution. This always happens when regeneration is active. With worn cylinder seals it becomes problem by wearing out engine faster by mixing oil with diesel.

Actually genius method to reduce engine life and force owner(that's us) to buy new car. No wonder car manufacturers still use it.

Fuel is quite garbage nowdays. If it was 100% pure without any mixed junk, combustion cycle would produce almost no residues and there would be no need for DPF.
Couple stations in Germany sell good fuel, more expensive of course. With that fuel car did not do regeneration for over 2000 km while at there.

Additives are a must with diesel nowdays when they add biocrap into it.

[richard_tricky]

Are you having any issues other than the dpf icon on the dash?

If not the your dpf is probably ok.

I know that bmw will put the icon up at 150k or so regardless the condition of the dpf.

If your sure you have no other issues that could contribute to the dpf blocking up then I would get itsa-d and tell the car a new dpf is installed and see if that helps

Also look at this video on DPf cleaning. There's machines that will clean the unit for you if it is full of ash

[Geo248]

Originally Posted by richard_tricky

Are you having any issues other than the dpf icon on the dash?

If not the your dpf is probably ok.

I know that bmw will put the icon up at 150k or so regardless the condition of the dpf.

If your sure you have no other issues that could contribute to the dpf blocking up then I would get itsa-d and tell the car a new dpf is installed and see if that helps

Also look at this video on DPf cleaning. There's machines that will clean the unit for you if it is full of ash

So a couple of weeks on and I'm still having issues!

Took it to a BMW specialist near where I work, who found the pressure readings were way off. Doing a smoke test, they found the turbo gasket had failed, and exhaust fumes were leaking out past it. Replaced the gasket, but the car will not regen (even when requested via OBD computer).

The car is going on the rolling road, and they're going to run a regen program, so hopefully this will clear the issue. If it all works, I'll ask them to set it up as a new dpf though, as I'm at 138k already.