Of course it works, but it is not a foolproof solution. DPFs get clogged even on a stock cars due to some factors, if drivers are not aware of the engine condition. The fact that you know your engine regenerates means that you are aware and EGR only delete will work for you. But if you live in colder climate and give the X to your wife the problem will arise sooner than later.

As a matter of fact, old (mechanical pump) diesels didnt have the NOX smell. It starts to appear on the modern engines with direct injection, but mostly from the lower CR of the modern engines. M57 has almost-gas-engine CR of 16:1. In other words-more modern the engine, stronger the smell. I remember when first generation VW pump-injector diesels came out in the 90s (in Europe). There was no eco equipment on these cars and there was a slight, but clearly distinguishable NOX smell present.
If someone puts together a working solution for no smell i would be the first to buy it.

Any updates as of yet on a reputable tune that can pass emissions?

bawareca, have you ever plaid with single event tuning aka removing pilot to make the X5 sound like an oldy. That would be kinda cool to hear idle.

I'm very interested in this mod.

I have noticed that there is a very slight sweet smell to the exhaust, as stock. It reminds me of my father's 05 cummins, which has a catalyzer, but no urea system. That has a very sweet smelling exhaust.

Seems to be 3 sources for pipes and 3 for tuning, does anyone have any opions or 1st hand experience with any of the following? Buzzken pipe /JR auto tuning, BimmerOEM tune/pipe PKG, or the TRF tune offering, I left out the unobtainium pipe just because of price point for me, but if money was no object they are beautiful

Buzzken on eBay seems to be the most favorable, price wise. The appearance isn't as nice, but as long as it's actually 304 or better stainless, it should do fine in the application.

There are some outfits on eBay that are selling just the DP without the midpipe for $250 or so, but they don't work on US models without some additional modification. I reached out to one of the vendors and they said they would happily make a US spec DP if I provide them with a stock DPF to get measurements. Obviously I'm not eager to send them mine. But I plan to recommend they buy one of the handful of stock US pipes on eBay to do their R&D.

There is also BPM sport with reviews on this thread
E70 BMW X5 35D 3.5" Turboback Exhaust DPF, SCR, UREA Delete - Page 5


I just looked these up as a comparison they all have different tunes so it's hard to compare what you get with who but these apparently are all dpf, scr and egr delete (but not including price of the dpf delete pipe)

BPM sport $1,300
Malone tuning $1,098 (their stage 2 plus dpf adblue and egr delete)
Jr Auto tuning $1,199 (stage 2.5 race)
BimmerOEM/Alex: $2100 or $2500 depending on the tune but including the dpf test pipe. might or might not be better out the door with everything included.
TRF tune/bawareca:$600 stage 1 or 2
GSR Technik (Previously Jailbreak Tuning): no pricing or website seems to be available maybe its just local business.

I am very interested in this tune, it's just somewhat difficult to keep track of who is offering what. I assume you can talk out individual features that you want added like for example turn off cold start mode or remove max speed limiter or increase rpms by 200 etc etc.

would be nice to put a group buy together with a number of people who would be interested and then go up to the tuners and see what they can do for us in terms of price.

price is a big issue for me as well, these are not tunes you can easily remove when you sell the car and you also have to remove/ reinstall the ecu and installing the straight dpf pipe is no easy task as the engine mounts must be undone and the sub frame dropped to get the dpf out intact. the savings in extra mpg alone do not add up to a $2000 tune.

Edit: added trf tunning option

You forgot to add TRF Stage1 or Stage2 for $600, special price still valid for forum members ;)
Of course there is no way to know it exist because our websites are still non-functional, but if someone is interested feel free to contact me. Quite a few members here are happy with our tune and service.

P.S. I dont know what "Stage 2.5 Race" is, but our Stage2 is maxing out the stock fuel delivery system. With ~380hp/550tq the fuel pressure is dropping ~50 bar at high gear/high RPM, so that would be the limit for the stock fuel system. However all the hardware have proofed to be over-engineered, like in the old days. No ill effects on the engine or the transmission (even diff is still fine, filled with Motul synthetic fluid) after 17k hard driven miles, including towing car trailer, 21' boat and even 1 track day.
Looks like I have too much faith in my bimmers, perhaps this is why they dont usually break on me ;)

Keep in mind the Buzzken is 409. One of the reasons I went with unobtainium.

I have had the TRF stage 1 with no deletes for just under 30k now and still going strong!