# Impressed... still



## Enthusiast 456 (Jun 23, 2014)

I just love my 328d, it is without question the best engineered vehicle I have ever had.

We are going through polar vortex #2, and I just hit the start button, maybe a 3-second wait (at most) and she starts... Night & day difference from the experience I had decades ago with diesel tractors... plug-in heaters, ether, thinning fuel with kerosene, etc.

Well done, BMW.


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## cas (Nov 22, 2006)

I hope my nnew 2016 x5 35d acts the same.


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## RW (Sep 13, 2014)

*From Experience*

At least once a week and preferably twice, let the vehicle completely warm up and go through its 
cycles that clean up the emissions system.
Completely warm up means the temperature gauge achieves normal level and the engines runs for some time after that.

RDW


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## Enthusiast 456 (Jun 23, 2014)

My daily drive always gets her fully warmed up. I agree with you, thank you.


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## FredoinSF (Nov 29, 2009)

cas said:


> I hope my nnew 2016 x5 35d acts the same.


I've had my 12 X5d for almost three years and have had no regrets. Great match for our needs with its mix utility, comfort, ease of climbing passes, fuel economy, and reliability (so far!) 
Planning on another 7 years. Being a long time brand loyalist, I know it will need injections of cash to go that long, but it will be much less than flipping it for a newer model.


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## Doug Huffman (Apr 25, 2015)

My daily drive _never_ gets it warmed up. Mileage is down to 17 mpg from summer 35 mpg. Thursday we head south for two months on the road.


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## mefferso (Feb 26, 2014)

Agree completely. After 50k+ miles of use and still love my BMW diesel


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## 3ismagic# (Mar 17, 2011)

I love my car but I'd love it more if I hadn't needed to have the CBU cleaning done at 33k miles. That's terrible engineering IMHO


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## Enthusiast 456 (Jun 23, 2014)

3ismagic# said:


> I love my car but I'd love it more if I hadn't needed to have the CBU cleaning done at 33k miles. That's terrible engineering IMHO


335d? Yeah but the torque.... the torque...


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## ZQQM (Aug 31, 2010)

Doug Huffman said:


> My daily drive _never_ gets it warmed up. Mileage is down to 17 mpg from summer 35 mpg. Thursday we head south for two months on the road.


I've covered up a section of both front upper grill openings with some quality, matte black 3" gaffers tape. Probably have the middle 60% of both grills covered. It actually looks kind of cool, its stayed on all winter and still looks good. And u can peel it off in a minute if needed.

Car warms up real nice on 5 degree mornings and its never gone above normal operating temp.

I figured semi-trucks do all the time.......

((( I have a job pending on a FDM machine to print out some snap on plastic covers i quickly modeled up, we'll see how they fit. )))


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## Master_Chase (Jun 8, 2015)

3ismagic# said:


> I love my car but I'd love it more if I hadn't needed to have the CBU cleaning done at 33k miles. That's terrible engineering IMHO


It's not terrible engineering it's EPA BS and the only way to stop it is to violate the emission laws.


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## 3ismagic# (Mar 17, 2011)

Master_Chase said:


> It's not terrible engineering it's EPA BS and the only way to stop it is to violate the emission laws.


Not buying that crap. The law is the law. If you can't build a car that complies with the law and doesn't need major engine work inside 50k miles then don't put it on the market. Or back your product up with adequate warranty coverage.

Face it BMW used us as Guinea pigs for this technology.


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## Master_Chase (Jun 8, 2015)

3ismagic# said:


> Not buying that crap. The law is the law. If you can't build a car that complies with the law and doesn't need major engine work inside 50k miles then don't put it on the market. Or back your product up with adequate warranty coverage.
> 
> Face it BMW used us as Guinea pigs for this technology.


Sorry that you're having problems at 33k, I'm at 76k on a 2011 but I know I'm going to have to clean it one of these days.

This isn't the first time a car company used it's customers as guinea pigs but I don't think BMW did. Now Ford with their 2003-2010 6.0 Powerstroke I believe did (I have one) those engines are picky beyond belief and despite having over a million test miles they didn't see that it would blow head gaskets, EGR ruptures, Clogged oil coolers, CCV dumping oil into the intake, etc.

Overall I feel BMW did the best they could with the BS laws in place, think of it like 80's cars too much c**p on them, yes I wish it was like a VW were I got my deletes "free" but it isn't. I'm not sure what a carbon cleaning cost but even if it's $2k every 35k miles that's nothing compared to the headache and cost that Ford put me through with my 6.0 Excursion, over the last 3 years it's spent more time sitting than running.

I wish you the best of luck getting it fixed but the only true way to stop it would be to reroute the CCV and delete the EGR, but if your just looking at slowing the process way down just reroute/add a catch can for the CCV you shouldn't need to reprogram the car for that.


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## totitan (May 11, 2013)

90,000 miles and no issues here. Its really no secret that these cars dont do well when used for short trips. We have a Golf sportwagen tsi for general running around and short trips. 99% of my 335d's miles have come from trips of 35 miles or more.


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## Hoooper (Jun 17, 2013)

Master_Chase said:


> It's not terrible engineering it's EPA BS and the only way to stop it is to violate the emission laws.


They could possibly have used a combination high/low pressure EGR system like the X5d has, or ramped up the urea injection and turning down EGR. There are many ways BMW could have lessened CBU while still meeting the EPA requirements. They are both at fault.


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## Master_Chase (Jun 8, 2015)

Hoooper said:


> They could possibly have used a combination high/low pressure EGR system like the X5d has, or ramped up the urea injection and turning down EGR. There are many ways BMW could have lessened CBU while still meeting the EPA requirements. They are both at fault.


You want to be adding DEF more often? I hate that I have to add some as it is and it always seems to run low at a bad time. You're 600 miles away from home I better alert you in 1k miles I won't start and in 500 (or whatever it is) you will be limited to a speed of 50 MPH.

You're right they could have added a low-pressure EGR but that would have added to the price tag not much but some. I don't see why CBU is a big deal to people, diesels historically have always carried higher maintenance cost than a gas engine. Yes, it's an annoyance but I looked into the cost of cleaning it and 3 indy shops near me do it for less than $1k. So even if it's $2k every 30k miles that's a lot better to me than the close to $20k that has been but into my aging excursion in the last 3 years to keep it on the road and I found out a few weeks ago I have another major problem I have to deal with. 

Whenever I have to deal with Carbon cleaning I plan to remove all the garbage also. BTW I do a lot of short trips in my 335d less than 10 miles to my work and my house is less than 0.5 miles from HEB, lowes, home depot, target, Walmart, Walgreens, Best buy, etc, but it does get some good highway driving every now and then.


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## The Pope (Oct 14, 2015)

CBU isn't a Diesel only issue. CBU can happen to most any Direct Injection Engine (Diesel or Gas). We just hear more about it among Diesel Owners.
So if having to deal with CBU is a Major Issue for someone, they should be looking for vehicles that don't have Direct Injection Fuel Systems.


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## 3ismagic# (Mar 17, 2011)

The difference is that CBU in these cars is a much more involved process to correct.

$1500 vs $300-$400 in a gasser.


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## The Pope (Oct 14, 2015)

If you're mechanically inclined, you can do it cheaper. 

http://www.bavauto.com/fland.asp?part=B1100001

Yes, you are correct that the d is more involved than the i, but my main point was...

"So if having to deal with CBU is a Major Issue for someone, they should be looking for vehicles that don't have Direct Injection Fuel Systems."

I also agree than BMW could/should have done a better job.


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## Hoooper (Jun 17, 2013)

Master_Chase said:


> You want to be adding DEF more often? I hate that I have to add some as it is and it always seems to run low at a bad time. You're 600 miles away from home I better alert you in 1k miles I won't start and in 500 (or whatever it is) you will be limited to a speed of 50 MPH.
> 
> You're right they could have added a low-pressure EGR but that would have added to the price tag not much but some. I don't see why CBU is a big deal to people, diesels historically have always carried higher maintenance cost than a gas engine. Yes, it's an annoyance but I looked into the cost of cleaning it and 3 indy shops near me do it for less than $1k. So even if it's $2k every 30k miles that's a lot better to me than the close to $20k that has been but into my aging excursion in the last 3 years to keep it on the road and I found out a few weeks ago I have another major problem I have to deal with.
> 
> Whenever I have to deal with Carbon cleaning I plan to remove all the garbage also. BTW I do a lot of short trips in my 335d less than 10 miles to my work and my house is less than 0.5 miles from HEB, lowes, home depot, target, Walmart, Walgreens, Best buy, etc, but it does get some good highway driving every now and then.


Id rather add DEF every time I fill diesel than have to have an EGR. EGR's are the anti-christ in the world of engines.


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