335d - diesel particulate filter

[inka 2002]

To nhastings.

My first thread here on this site. I have the EXACT same technical issues on my 2011 335d. It was dropped off at my local BMW dealer yesterday. After diagnosing the problem, i was told i need to replace the diesel particulate filter, ($4000) . They just replace many " under warranty parts " 700 miles earlier.
My car has has 43000 miles and i bought it as a certified pre-owned from BMW about 6 years ago.
Every time i leave the dealer, a service engine light comes on.
I have no idea what to do either.
I do not want to buy a new BMW . I currently have (4) BMW vehicles. One is a motorcycle.

[jclausen]

We had an x5 diesel with the particulate filter problem ran the tests with Ista, it had high numbers would not go into regen. Well further investigations found that it would not go into regen because the engine coolant tempture was to cold and it was to cold because the plastic metal thermostat was broken and the thermostat was just floating around in the housing. The vehicle does not have a coolant temp gauge, on the Ista test plan it told you to warm the engine up which we though we were doing. But no where in istas's programming does it warn you that the engine is not getting hot. Great software, not! So my tech thought regen is looking for the engine to get hot. So he found a way to check the temperature thru live data and it was only at 160. The thermostat is not a map thermostat like on other BMW's, it has no electrical connection. Is just a plain old thermostat. The metal part of the thermostat just snaps into the plastic housing. Also you car has very low mileage which in general is not good for the Diesel engine systems. You have to drive is at least 30 mins in the freeway to get in to regen. What is regen, it's like a self cleaning oven, high temperatures cook off the crud. In regen the very high tempetures are cooking the crud off of the particulate filter. Just driving the car around town will never get it into regen plus the low miles contributes to intake port build up. I would tell them to see what the actual engine temp is they will probably tell you it's ok. If the temp was ok, just driving it for long distances might start to unclog the particulate filter.

[inka 2002]

To Jclausen
Thank you for the input. True, i do not drive it great distances . I will drive the vehicle more and also have them check the engine temp tomorrow.

[MauiM3Mania]

Moved from the General BMW Discussion forum.

[bmwdirtracer]

Interesting: I just now looked at this thread, after commenting again on the other current DPF thread....and I said much the same thing: Diesels with low mileage, or short drives, or unenthusiastic driving styles just don't get up to sufficient temps to burn off the DPF.

[inka 2002]

Thank you for the input. I will drive the car more and see what happens.