# Bulletin from BMW for diesel engines



## bballfreak (Jul 27, 2010)

for owners of diesel car and if it is a CPO or under extended warranty,
if you are experiencing lack of power and or hesitation without check engine
light, go to your BMW dealer and complain and they will have to honor
to do cleaning of the manifold (blasting) etc. at no charge to the owner.
Before BMW would not pay for this unless there was some check engine light
so take advantage of this before the car runs out of warranty.
The dealer has to get approval from BMW.
I think this is not cheap process.
Kinda lousy as to whether it is poor engineering and now BMW will do this
strategically as most 335d may be ending in their warranty period.


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## Doug Huffman (Apr 25, 2015)

Is this a personal communication to you or a general bulletin to all BMW diesel owners? How about a copy or a link URL if it is not a personal communication.

You know that there is a class-action in progress?


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## bballfreak (Jul 27, 2010)

I did not know that there is class action about this. How can I join this class action?
I just want all BMW diesel owners know as I did not know about this bulletin.
When I complained about poor mpg I was getting, BMW sent a tech person to the dealer
where they drove at 60mph on the Hwy, getting 31 mpg and they said it is in spec.
I used to get like 36-37 on hwy at 70 mph all the time, the first 2.5 yrs approx. and then
after all firmware upgrades and carbon buildup, my mpg dropped to like 28 on the Hwy.


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## DBV (Sep 21, 2008)

Is these of diesel problems related to BMW only? I have owned 3 Mercedes GL350 diesels and have never heard or read on any of their forums on these issues.


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## Doug Huffman (Apr 25, 2015)

The subject is known among BMW owners as Carbon Build Up - CBU. It is endemic to diesels equipped with EGR.


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## d geek (Nov 26, 2008)

bballfreak said:


> for owners of diesel car and if it is a CPO or under extended warranty,
> if you are experiencing lack of power and or hesitation without check engine
> light, go to your BMW dealer and complain and they will have to honor
> to do cleaning of the manifold (blasting) etc. at no charge to the owner.
> ...





bballfreak said:


> I did not know that there is class action about this. How can I join this class action?
> I just want all BMW diesel owners know as I did not know about* this bulletin*.
> When I complained about poor mpg I was getting, BMW sent a tech person to the dealer
> where they drove at 60mph on the Hwy, getting 31 mpg and they said it is in spec.
> ...


bballfreak- Are you in possession of an actual TSB? Can you post a copy of it? Thanks.


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## bballfreak (Jul 27, 2010)

*Diesel*

I have not heard of these issues with Audi, VW and Mercedes diesel.
Oh well


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## d geek (Nov 26, 2008)

bballfreak said:


> I have not heard of these issues with Audi, VW and Mercedes diesel.
> Oh well


Do you have an actual bulletin or not? :dunno:


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## Doug Huffman (Apr 25, 2015)

bballfreak said:


> I have not heard of these issues with Audi, VW and Mercedes diesel. Oh well


I sold my 2003 VW TDI after I purchased this CPO 2012 X5 35d. When the VW was new I had Uwe Ross reduce the EGR duty cycle to minimum in his new software - to minimize clogging the intake manifold. When I moved to Wisconsin in 2006, I introduced the car to it's guru for the next nine years by having him exchange the IM for a new clean one.

Search for "clogging" at Fred's TDIClub.com


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## bballfreak (Jul 27, 2010)

Was verbally told by the dealer that BMW had issued a bulletin.


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## Hoooper (Jun 17, 2013)

Pretty ridiculous to admit there is a problem but only extend coverage to cars under warranty. Do they think cars outside warranty are immune?


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## Flyingman (Sep 13, 2009)

Sounds like another "he said", "she said".:tsk:


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## Flying Ace (Jan 26, 2015)

I"m confused by what OP is trying to say. If he's saying there's a new TSB or SIB posting on this, then we're gonna need to see a TSB or SIB pdf link to see if BMW is admitting to some defect. 

Else, it's well documented that the dealer will cover at least one CBU cleaning under warranty.


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## Michael47 (May 9, 2014)

bballfreak said:


> I have not heard of these issues with Audi, VW and Mercedes diesel.
> Oh well


I, too, had this issue with our 2001 VW TDI. I have been doing business with a shadetree mechanic who works on VW diesels only, and he does so many of them he keeps a cleaned manifold around so he can do a swap on your car and get you on the road, then cleans your manifold for the next guy at his leisure.


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## Vesrah (Mar 29, 2015)

Is there any truth to this? BMW has had my car for almost 4 months now waiting on a DEF tank. I was planning on dumping it after it comes back since it is showing signs of CBU anyway. Unfortunately, I am under a platinum third party warranty which has stated they will not cover the CBU cleaning.


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## 3ismagic# (Mar 17, 2011)

Doug Huffman said:


> Is this a personal communication to you or a general bulletin to all BMW diesel owners? How about a copy or a link URL if it is not a personal communication.
> 
> *You know that there is a class-action in progress?*


I haven't heard about this can you provide details?


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## n1das (Jul 22, 2013)

Flying Ace said:


> I"m confused by what OP is trying to say. If he's saying there's a new TSB or SIB posting on this, then we're gonna need to see a TSB or SIB pdf link to see if BMW is admitting to some defect.
> 
> Else, it's well documented that the dealer will cover at least one CBU cleaning under warranty.


I think this is old news to us and another thread created about CBU as the OP was previously unaware of BMW CBU issues. Posting a link to a TSB or SIB would be helpful.

VW TDIs years ago prior to 2009 had problems with intake clogging aka CBU. The changeover to ULSD helped reduce CBU and I haven't heard of it being a problem in 2009+ TDIs (no 2007 or 2008 TDIs in the USA). I have owned a 2002 Golf TDI (361k miles), 2005 Jetta Wagen TDI (160k miles, and a 2010 Jetta SportWagen TDI (102k miles), all bought brand new. TDIs that were always babied and never driven hard or always short/early shifted or used only for short trips were much more prone to the dreaded intake clogging aka CBU. OTOH, TDIs that were regularly driven hard and like they were stolen and used as Autobahn burners on the highway were much less prone to CBU. Not driving the car hard enough and long enough on a regular basis consistently led to more CBU issues over the long term.

The VCDS trick to dial down the EGR duty cycle in 2003 and earlier TDIs was thought to help reduce CBU but actually did not. While it might have made some difference, the differences were too small to be noticed over the long term and and the rate of CBU was dominated by the TDI owner's driving habits, all assuming stock hardware. Many TDIs that had performance mods (mine included) had the EGR modified for off-road use <wink> which totally stopped any future CBU. TDI enthusiasts like myself and TDI gurus who work on them for a living all endorse driving them like they were stolen and haulin' ar$e with them instead of babying them and never getting on the power. "Drive it like you stole it" describes it best and is how I drive my diesel vehicles.

I'm at 52k miles on my 2014 535d and at 95k miles on my 2012 X5 35d, bought used (CPO deal) in 2014 at 52k miles. I haven't checked for CBU on either one because power and MPGs are staying where they should be and having no issues with either one. Both are regularly driven hard and like they were stolen and are seldom used for short trips. My round trip daily work commute is ~ 100 miles, all spent haulin' ar$e on the highway.

CBU is preventable by simply driving the car more like it's the Autobahn burner that it is.

Good luck.


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## Vesrah (Mar 29, 2015)

n1das said:


> CBU is preventable!
> Good luck.


The suck-ness comes into play when you buy one that was driven around town gentilly.


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## n1das (Jul 22, 2013)

With our BMW diesels given they are EGR and DPF equipped, it is more important than ever to stay on top of all maintenance items. This includes the simple stuff like changing the engine air filter and making sure there are no boost or vacuum leaks. Any problem developing that causes the engine to make more soot in the exhaust can lead to more CBU problems. Then the rate of CBU increases at an increasing rate as the engine runs poorly and makes more soot, and runs more poorly due to more CBU and makes more soot, etc.

Back in the pre-DPF days, visible smoke from a diesel was useful as a diagnostic tool. By paying attention to the amount of smoke, type of smoke, and conditions where it was produced, you could get an idea of what's going on with the engine. You would know right way if what you're seeing is normal or not. Now with a DPF equipped diesel, the DPF does a good enough job of "hiding" visible smoke such that it's possible you could have a smoke problem and not know it until it manifests itself as CBU problems and a clogged DPF. Best to get any running problems (stalling, stumbling, low power / limp mode) taken care of ASAP to help minimize CBU.

Once CBU gets started, it can snowball real fast. Get any running problems taken care of immediately and don't ignore them. Also drive the car like it's the Autobahn burner that it is. This is why I'm such a firm advocate of regularly driving the car hard and like it was stolen and don't baby it or use it exclusively for short trips. The advice is also based on firsthand experience from driving my diesel cars like they were stolen for a combined total of more than 700k miles over the past 13 years.

Good luck.


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## n1das (Jul 22, 2013)

Vesrah said:


> The suck-ness comes into play when you buy one that was driven around town gentilly.


EXACTLY! When car shopping for a used car, ads that say or imply "low miles, always babied, never driven hard" are red flags in my book. I'm not worried about the miles if it's been maintained and all highway miles. I log around 55k-60k miles per year, so 100k miles is a little under 2 years of driving for me and I P!$$ thru warranties quickly. I also happen to LIKE to drive and why I like driving a BMW.  I recently "graduated" from VW TDIs to BMW Advanced Diesel so I'm not afraid of diesel-related issues as I'm into mine for the long haul.

My 2012 X5 35d was only 2 years old when I bought it in 2014 with 52k miles on it. The car was in pristine showroom condition and the previous owner basically threw a perfectly good car away by trading it in as soon as the original factory warranty was done and the free maintenance ended. The car was saw mostly highway miles from day one to have 52k miles on it in 2 years. I'm now at 95k miles on it only a year later!

Have fun!


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