Diesel Exhaust Fluid Maintenance Plan Coverage - Final Answer?
 

Pardon me if this has been posted already, but I have found an actual statement from BMW on DEF coverage which should settle the issue:

"Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF)2- drain and refill (only in conjunction with a covered engine oil and filter replacement)"

BMW North America


Now, this would certainly imply to me that DEF flush and fill should be covered every 12 months, regardless of mileage, since "covered engine oil and filter replacement" is a 12 month action.

This would also remove concerns about the stability and degradation of DEF older than 12 months.

But then again, BMW NA often does not understand the implications of the things they write and publish. This could be another example of their apparently poor understanding of English.

In any case, printing that link out and stuffing it in the glove box might not be a bad idea for anyone that does a 12 month oil change due to not putting enough miles on their X5 in 12 months to trigger the mileage-based oil change.

I fully understand your logic. It makes perfect sense.

The only thing that may catch owners is the following line in the document you linked:

Does your vehicle maintenance system indicate a 12 month oil and filter change on the service interval display? If so, you are set. If not, this may still leave it open to interpretation, or at worse, confirm that they will not do annual DEF flushes (whether or not those are really necessary is a whole separate discussion....)

BMW in Canada has been emphasizing that covered oil changes are as per the dash display, which is mileage and condition based on many models (except for brake fluid, on my vehicle, which is time based)

I am not clear on whether the E70 utilizes both time and mileage to call for the oil service.

Again, perhaps BMW NA's difficult with English is the problem, but when they say "covered engine oil and filter replacement," I assume that if they give it to you free, that means "covered." So in spite of the sentence you found, most interpretations of the words would say that "covered engine oil and filter replacement" does not require "A factory-recommended maintenance service item interval is determined either by the model-specific BMW Maintenance System (Service Interval Display or Condition Based Service..."

Now, if BMW want's to eliminate the time-based free 12 month oil change, I would agree with your potential interpretation. But in the U.S. BMW does give the 12 month free oil change, even if the display does not indicate it, e.g., my 2004 Z4.

Still, in the end, they tend to do what they want, not what they say.

The quote I gave you above was the definition of what is covered. While some dealers may give you a free oil change on an annual basis, and even though BMW has issued a service bulletin on this for US customers, they specifically say in the document you linked that they will supply a DEF drain and fill according to the above definition, which specifically stated that it was when the dash lights came on.

I just think that context matters. If you are going to use the linked definition of whether DEF is covered, you should use the linked definition of when it is covered, IMO.

I wish you and other 35D owners all the best, and it would be nice if annual DEF flushes were covered for you. However, the linked document seems to be very specific that it is in fact not covered unless the dash lights come on.

The annual oil change is not a dealer courtesy, it is a BMW NA policy.

So we'll have to agree to disagree. From what I read, the DEF is covered when the Oil change is covered, and if BMW does the oil change for free, an oil change is "covered," IMHO.