can you clean the diesel particulate filter?

[crispian22]

My 04 c220cdi is showing a malfunction stating the dpf is due a service in 30 miles ? I thought these were supposed to be self cleaning?
The car has just covered 120k.
I have read elsewhere that it is possible to steam clean the filter but wanted to know if anyone on here had tried it with any success or should I just swallow the cost of a new 1.
Cheers.

[pist nbroke]

Not sure about steam cleaning but a dealer should be able to carry out a "burn-off" which is done via star diagnosis and is supposed to clear out the DPF.

Do double check that fault code, im sure your right but these often suffer from problems with the DPF pressure differential sensor.