2011 X5 Diesel Check Engine Light

[ard]

Give the SA or tech a $25 gift card and say "lunch on me, thanks"

[twssas]

Great idea. Both of those guys are great......This is a fairly small BMW dealer, but in my experience they go to bat for you......about 5 years ago, they facilitated a buy back on my wifes 535, that had a problem after she took delivery, and ordered us a new one.........I certainly have no complaints.

[ard]

^^ People like to think the smarmy salesman will go to bat for you when the time comes...so they spend more than they should on the car, or overpay on a warranty....The SA and the tech can control everything simply by how they write it up from the get go.

I firmly believe there are categories of customers at dealerships.... I do whatever I can- in an authentic and genuine way- to be in the better category.

[mart_dev]

Hi guys, I have a question relating to the OP's originally suspected issue of DPF regeneration failure. Have any of you had experience with, or heard of these additives which supposedly alter the chemical nature of soot which causes it to ignite at considerably lower temperatures?

I only ask because reputable companies put their names on these bottles and I was wondering if it's just modern day snake-oil to fool the masses into handing over their money or if there is stock in what they say it does.
As a point of reference, my experience with the stuff; I asked my dad to bring a couple of bottles over from Australia on his next visit (can't get the stuff in South Africa to my knowledge). I duly popped in the specified dosage when I next filled up (I used the higher dosage as specified by the manufacturer for engines displaying an active DPF fault code although my X5 was not displaying the fault code) and drove it home on the freeway...I noticed nothing different in the least. Roughly three days later I was driving the vehicle when I noticed in the rear view mirror that every time I accelerated hard I would leave swirls of smoke trailing behind which my X5 usually does not. I have since filled up twice (no additive) and I am no longer getting the smoke.
The pessimist in me is inclined to think the liquid in those bottles was what was coming out the tail pipes in the form of smoke and since my vehicle didn't have an active fault code at the time I guess I'll never know any different.

Thoughts?

[bawareca]

It is possible.The level of filling of the DPF with soot is measured by the ECU via the pressure differential sensor,i.e. it measures the backpressure before and after the DPF.If someone can get actual values from the ECU,pour the said additive and then get actual value after a few hundred miles we will know if it works.I can do that test,but I didnt see any such additives here on the US market.

[mart_dev]

Have a look at he two attached links (one for a WYNN'S product and the other for PENRITE).
Of the two, I used the Penrite purely because it was readily available for my dad to pick up at the auto parts store.
I notice that the Penrite product claims a greater reduction in soot flash point than the Wynn's but that's neither here nor there in my opinion

Halfords | Wynn's Diesel Particulate Filter Cleaner 325ml

http://www.penriteoil.com.au/product...d_products=685

[ard]

Originally Posted by mart_dev

reputable companies

Thoughts?

Dont kid yourself...there is no such thing.

[bawareca]

Looks like the US Penrite distributor is just a few miles away for me.I will definitely try it,especially now that I am a part of a development for a stage 1,2,3 tune for the US spec 330D and X5D.

[mart_dev]

For what it's worth I guess it will be nice to know for sure. Huge thumbs up for volunteering your services....

[ATL Markus]

I'm at 15,800 miles now and just did a road trip from Atlanta to Charlotte and back. The CEL came on once each direction. In each instance I was cruising a 80 mph and floored it to make a pass. I think my DEF level must be at about half full (it was filled up at the first service at 11K miles). The light again cleared after three starts.

Ard, is this something I need to have documented and checked? Or was it due to my driving style? There are no other symptoms or issues.

As an aside, I had two large passengers, a small dog and luggage and averaged 24.5 mpg at super legal speeds! This truck is awesome!