Not sure that mine does have DPF, how would I tell? Build date is 06/2004 I think.

Thought I should update some of these ongoing issues as the car has been in at the dealers twice since this thread started, first for 10 days, then for another 16 days. It's now penciled in for 1 week from the 14th Dec:

Play felt through steering - kind of resolved - Dealers say they have inspected suspension and could find no damage/wear. Through trying to work out when I was feeling it and what I was feeling I have put it down to a slight tracking / balance problem. After having the tracking looked at and wheels re-balanced the car pulls to the left less and feels more stable.

Intermittent PDC - ongoing - Last two visits the dealers have said they can't reproduce the problem and that there are no errors being logged. Although intermittent it fails daily so they can't have tested it very thoroughly despite having had the car for 26 days over the last two visits When it fails I have listened to the sensors and all are clicking so that combined with the lack of errors logged (which is a fault in itself) would suggest to me that the control module is on the blink. The service manager said it's hard to diagnose intermittent issues, there are no errors logged etc so I need to work out exactly when it's happening and so on. I pointed out that it shouldn't be my problem and they have had 26 days in the last two visits in which to attempt to reproduce. Since I got the car back I have kept a compact camera in the car and taken video several times when it has failed. Will show this to the dealership as proof that it's happening and had it back to them to troubleshoot.

No locking nut - finally replaced

Flickering tailgate interior light - ongoing - At first they said they couldn't reproduce the problem as detailed above. Second to last visit they said it was tracked down to a loose connection and rectified. That didn't actually fix it so on the last visit they said that they replaced both bulbs (free of charge although they made a point of telling me they weren't covered under warranty but it was written off as a gesture). I did point out that it was rather optimistic of them to think the issue was being caused by faulty bulbs but the service manager insisted the problem had been resolved. Needless to say the issue is still present so not coming off the list.

Squeak when gearbox changes from 3rd to 4th - ongoing - on each visit the dealers have claimed that they can't reproduce this. I can reproduce without fail, have offered to demonstrate it but have not been taken up on that offer yet. Will be taking a tech on an extended test drive next time I drop it off to ensure that they do not continue to ignore this one.

Self levelling suspension inactive message on dash & 4x4 warning light on - resolved - apparently put down to low battery. Dealers said they charged it up for me.

Blue bars over TV picture with AUX vent/heat active - ongoing - An issue apparently never seen by BMW, they have spend a lot of time troubleshooting this with HQ who have now apparently sourced a similar spec car to troubleshoot with at the far end! I did point out that compared to the other issues like PDC, smoke and the squeaky gearbox this is extremely low priority but apparently BMW HQ are putting them under pressure to get it resolved.

Lurch & Inappropriate downshift - ongoing - Dealers insist that this is normal behaviour. None of the loan cars I've had from them as courtesy cars have done this.

Excessive smoking under load - ongoing - So, second to last visit they replaced the Turbo. After that the smoking was still just as bad as before. Following replacement of the turbo I had the error message 'Check Engine Oil Level' on two separate occasions whilst on the motorway. Pulled over and checked the oil level which was fine. On the last visit they changed the oil separator. Smoking is still present and I now seem to be getting lower indicated MPG from the OBC (5-6MPG less on average).

Passenger Mirror Parking Dip - ongoing - So despite the dealers 'apparently' replacing the passenger side mirror to address this issue, the mirror still fails to return from the dipped position sometimes after parking, quite occasional so difficult to demonstrate but happens a few times per week. Now over the past two weeks it's deteriorated substantially so that the mirror struggles to dip at all. I put her in reverse and the mirror either dips a few degrees and stops or dips further - then hunting up and down before stopping about halfway. Very strange that this is happening to a brand new mirror. If they have changed the mirror (and not just charged the warranty company for one) then it has to be a control issue and that could tie in with the intermittent PDC and weird flickering tailgate light.


Had a flat battery the other night, this is the 4th time I've had to call out BMW assist for the same thing. Was sitting in the car for 10 mins with just the radio on while I was waiting for my takeaway order (no lights or aircon etc). Grabbed my food, got in the car again and it wouldn't start. I'd had a 2 hour drive the night before and hadn't used the car since that so it shouldn't have been flat. Recovery guy said it definitely needs a new battery and it's probably the FSR that's knackered the current one. Hoping the dealers will replace it under warranty considering the car was supplied as approved used and has suffered from this since day one.

My alarm kept going off last night for no reason. I suspect due to battery voltage dropping with the cold weather. Went out and checked the voltage with the OBC earlier and it reads 11.7v but I don't know if that's good/bad?