E90 330d - DPF
Discussion
Hi guys
So I’ve had the dreaded ‘Particle Filter’ warning on the iDrive since last week. Tried to force a regen myself with no luck. I then gave my car to a mechanic who does DPF Regens. The mechanic advised he was unable to get it to regen as the back pressure sensor will need to be replaced as it is throwing up an error. To be fair to him he didn’t charge me at all even though he spent nearly 2 hours trying to do a regen.
He advised I could get the back pressure sensor replaced for about £100 (part and labour) and then he can do a regen for £110 or alternatively he could do a DPF delete with remap for around £350. I’m thinking is it just worth paying the extra £140 to get rid of the issue and prevent any future issues with the DPF?
My only issues are how much smoke does it throw up after a DPF delete as I don’t want a ton of smoke every time I accelerate and could this be controlled via a remap? And I’m guessing this will just be a generic map given the low cost of the DPF delete and map compared to the more accomplished companies who charge around £500/£600 for this service.
Also, if I’m not mistaken, the MOT guidelines are changing in May in which a DPF will be required to pass?
Any advice much appreciated.
So I’ve had the dreaded ‘Particle Filter’ warning on the iDrive since last week. Tried to force a regen myself with no luck. I then gave my car to a mechanic who does DPF Regens. The mechanic advised he was unable to get it to regen as the back pressure sensor will need to be replaced as it is throwing up an error. To be fair to him he didn’t charge me at all even though he spent nearly 2 hours trying to do a regen.
He advised I could get the back pressure sensor replaced for about £100 (part and labour) and then he can do a regen for £110 or alternatively he could do a DPF delete with remap for around £350. I’m thinking is it just worth paying the extra £140 to get rid of the issue and prevent any future issues with the DPF?
My only issues are how much smoke does it throw up after a DPF delete as I don’t want a ton of smoke every time I accelerate and could this be controlled via a remap? And I’m guessing this will just be a generic map given the low cost of the DPF delete and map compared to the more accomplished companies who charge around £500/£600 for this service.
Also, if I’m not mistaken, the MOT guidelines are changing in May in which a DPF will be required to pass?
Any advice much appreciated.
My experience of a E90 335d that I ran to 140k is that bits rely on each other to work correctly. ie Sensors, vacuum pipes, thermostats, etc.
I also had the back pressure sensor issue (car was reading 3 bar at idle !).
Once replaced it was evident the thermostats were not working correctly and there was hot oil leaking onto the glow plug controller.
Most decent indies will recommend getting the sensors replaced and then the DPF cleaned (depending on how much mileage your car has done).
Deleting the DPF is an MOT failure as you know. I do know someone with it deleted and their car smokes often.
I also had the back pressure sensor issue (car was reading 3 bar at idle !).
Once replaced it was evident the thermostats were not working correctly and there was hot oil leaking onto the glow plug controller.
Most decent indies will recommend getting the sensors replaced and then the DPF cleaned (depending on how much mileage your car has done).
Deleting the DPF is an MOT failure as you know. I do know someone with it deleted and their car smokes often.
Vee said:
My experience of a E90 335d that I ran to 140k is that bits rely on each other to work correctly. ie Sensors, vacuum pipes, thermostats, etc.
I also had the back pressure sensor issue (car was reading 3 bar at idle !).
Once replaced it was evident the thermostats were not working correctly and there was hot oil leaking onto the glow plug controller.
Most decent indies will recommend getting the sensors replaced and then the DPF cleaned (depending on how much mileage your car has done).
Deleting the DPF is an MOT failure as you know. I do know someone with it deleted and their car smokes often.
Exactly this.I also had the back pressure sensor issue (car was reading 3 bar at idle !).
Once replaced it was evident the thermostats were not working correctly and there was hot oil leaking onto the glow plug controller.
Most decent indies will recommend getting the sensors replaced and then the DPF cleaned (depending on how much mileage your car has done).
Deleting the DPF is an MOT failure as you know. I do know someone with it deleted and their car smokes often.
How did the mechanic diagnose the daulty pressure sensor ? Does it give any reading or is he just blaming it for not regening ?
A good indy will investigate whether the car has been trying to regen - fault codes should be stored.
The car regens constantly subject to certain conditions, so when you refer to a regen 20k miles ago you must mean forced regen ?
You need to find out if the pressure sensors are actually faulty.
Then if the thermostats and glow plugs are ok, otherwise it will not regen.
I would get the above done before getting the dpf cleaned, as it may not be necessary once the car is able to regen itself.
Most importantly, it will just block again if the car isn’t able to regen by itself.
A good indy will investigate whether the car has been trying to regen - fault codes should be stored.
The car regens constantly subject to certain conditions, so when you refer to a regen 20k miles ago you must mean forced regen ?
You need to find out if the pressure sensors are actually faulty.
Then if the thermostats and glow plugs are ok, otherwise it will not regen.
I would get the above done before getting the dpf cleaned, as it may not be necessary once the car is able to regen itself.
Most importantly, it will just block again if the car isn’t able to regen by itself.
Edited by Vee on Monday 8th January 10:08
Vee said:
How did the mechanic diagnose the daulty pressure sensor ? Does it give any reading or is he just blaming it for not regening ?
A good indy will investigate whether the car has been trying to regen - fault codes should be stored.
The car regens constantly subject to certain conditions, so when you refer to a regen 20k miles ago you must mean forced regen ?
You need to find out if the pressure sensors are actually faulty.
Then if the thermostats and glow plugs are ok, otherwise it will not regen.
I would get the above done before getting the dpf cleaned, as it may not be necessary once the car is able to regen itself.
Most importantly, it will just block again if the car isn’t able to regen by itself.
Yes there was a fault code regarding the back pressure sensor. I will get this looked into and then see if the car regens itself.A good indy will investigate whether the car has been trying to regen - fault codes should be stored.
The car regens constantly subject to certain conditions, so when you refer to a regen 20k miles ago you must mean forced regen ?
You need to find out if the pressure sensors are actually faulty.
Then if the thermostats and glow plugs are ok, otherwise it will not regen.
I would get the above done before getting the dpf cleaned, as it may not be necessary once the car is able to regen itself.
Most importantly, it will just block again if the car isn’t able to regen by itself.
Edited by Vee on Monday 8th January 10:08
And yes there was a forced regen around 20k miles ago.
I have a 535d E60 LCI 2007. Car has 238k miles and is on original DPF.
It currently regens once a full tank of fuel or thereabouts. I’ve had to change both front thermostats ie the main one and the egr. It sounds like you are aware of the criteria to allow a regen but just in case check your running temperature is above 75C (it should be around 90C). There are a lot of suggestions that the glow plugs need to be operational but that’s not the case for mine.
The older E60s had a countdown on the iDrive for DPF replacement. Mine doesn’t but at about 180k I got a service message informing me that DPF required changing. I procured some software and a lead and informed the computer that it did indeed have a new DPF and it happily accepted that and reset the DPF countdown clock to 225k km IIRC.
A sparkly new DPF for mine is circa £2k last time I checked.
If yours hasn’t regened in 20k I’m surprised you are not in limp mode or worse. I wouldn’t advise a delete as going on my previous 530d with no DPF it produced lots of smoke on WOT if it had been driven gently for a while.
It currently regens once a full tank of fuel or thereabouts. I’ve had to change both front thermostats ie the main one and the egr. It sounds like you are aware of the criteria to allow a regen but just in case check your running temperature is above 75C (it should be around 90C). There are a lot of suggestions that the glow plugs need to be operational but that’s not the case for mine.
The older E60s had a countdown on the iDrive for DPF replacement. Mine doesn’t but at about 180k I got a service message informing me that DPF required changing. I procured some software and a lead and informed the computer that it did indeed have a new DPF and it happily accepted that and reset the DPF countdown clock to 225k km IIRC.
A sparkly new DPF for mine is circa £2k last time I checked.
If yours hasn’t regened in 20k I’m surprised you are not in limp mode or worse. I wouldn’t advise a delete as going on my previous 530d with no DPF it produced lots of smoke on WOT if it had been driven gently for a while.
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