# DPF failure on 335d



## robfrey1 (Apr 6, 2013)

Greetings from Reno. I was just on the end of a cross country trip from Wisconsin to Sacramento when I began smelling a mix of diesel exhaust and burning plastic. Seconds later the car quickly slipped into safe mode and I pulled off to the side about 220 miles east of Reno. After towing it to the dealership, was informed the pipe leading the hot exhaust gasses to the DPF (diesel particulate filter) had separated likely from a clogged filter. Those hot exhaust gasses were apparently trapped under the hood and melting quite a bit of plastic parts including the heater box, plastic box surrounding the wiring harness (and possibly wiring harness itself), and air cabin filter box. My insurance company has ruled everything a total loss and I suppose if anyone needs a decent parts vehicle, this might be a good deal. Just wanted to put the word out there that this can happen and now that I'm pondering everything that has happened, it's been months since I've seen the DPF regenerate.


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## rmorin49 (Jan 7, 2007)

Bummer. This is a good example of why I traded my 335d before the 4/50 warranty expired. Sorry for your loss.


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## robfrey1 (Apr 6, 2013)

yes yes.... love the torque of the 335d but the emissions control crap is another story. Should have had a stage 1 and 2 tune on it and this never would have happened. But shoulda... woulda.... coulda.....


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## FredoinSF (Nov 29, 2009)

Wow. So you're at Bill Pearce BMW huh? Worst dealer I've experienced in 20 years of BMW ownership. 
Did they give you the actual source of the problem? Probably not, knowing where it is. Wondering if thermostat was shot causing DPF not to regen. 


Sent from my iPad using Bimmerfest


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## Doug Huffman (Apr 25, 2015)

With no DPF alarms, High Back Pressure?


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## Hoooper (Jun 17, 2013)

Sounds like the DPF pressure sensor hose came off or split and fried some electronics (there is a wire loom right there), which has happened before. Far less likely that the DPF clogged up so bad that it blew the weld or the v-band clamp of the exhaust pipe apart without first triggering a multitude of error codes and limp modes. Sorry for your loss, but at least insurance is covering it.


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## sonnoio (Nov 15, 2010)

Hi Doug,
I just wanted to establish a comm channel with you; I 've been reading DPF failure threads for the last hour or so and you came up prominently. I have owned an 09 X5 35d for 4 years (I now have 152K miles on it, and at around 151K I received the first DPF warning light). I have used Carly to read codes and eventually took the car to a local shop (ex bmw mechanics now on their own) where they did the dpf cleaning (I was too busy to see if they used the TIS tool); the light came back this morning.
0425A is the only code I read so I'd hope I can pass the MA inspection. I found a small company that gets new DPFs from Sweden for around $1,000, which may be an alternative for later. Have you consider changing the DPF?
Thank you
Enrique Margalejo
[email protected] (sonnoio in bimmerfest)
Duxbury, MA


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## n1das (Jul 22, 2013)

sonnoio said:


> Hi Doug,
> I just wanted to establish a comm channel with you; I 've been reading DPF failure threads for the last hour or so and you came up prominently. I have owned an 09 X5 35d for 4 years (I now have 152K miles on it, and at around 151K I received the first DPF warning light). I have used Carly to read codes and eventually took the car to a local shop (ex bmw mechanics now on their own) where they did the dpf cleaning (I was too busy to see if they used the TIS tool); the light came back this morning.
> 0425A is the only code I read so I'd hope I can pass the MA inspection. I found a small company that gets new DPFs from Sweden for around $1,000, which may be an alternative for later. Have you consider changing the DPF?
> Thank you
> ...


You will have no trouble passing an OBD2 scan in MA with the 452A code.

Did you get a DPF symbol on the cluster and a message to drive to clean the DPF? 452A alone will not trigger any warning light or message.

452A is an information only code for BMW service to advise the customer that the DPF is approaching its calculated EOL and they should schedule an appointment soon for a $4800 DPF replacement. It does not trigger a warning light or anything else. It is a manufacturer specific code and not an OBD2 code.

The remaining life of the DPF is a calculated value based on a number of parameters. The exact mileage when the 452A code appears will vary and is not tied to a specific mileage on the odometer.

In my 2012 X5 35d, the 452A code started around 155k miles. At 171k miles, code 4D4A was triggered and causes a warning about the DPF and a DPF symbol on the cluster to be displayed. The warning message and DPF symbol happens once at 10 minutes after startup. I manually clear the warning message and the DPF symbol goes away after several seconds. Code 4D4A means the calculated remaining life of the DPF has reached 0 km and the car continued to be driven. 4D4A causes the car to start nagging the owner more about the DPF but won't cause the car to fail an OBD2 scan because it is just another information only code for BMW service to nag the customer about the DPF.

My 2012 X5 35d is currently at 229k miles and still has the original DPF. It has codes 452A and 4D4A set and has had no trouble passing an OBD2 scan in NH. I regularly check regeneration status with the Carly BT dongle and Carly app to know that regens are still occurring like they should. Power and fuel economy are 100% normal. I don't need to do anything about the DPF yet.

Sent from my XP8800 using Tapatalk


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## sonnoio (Nov 15, 2010)

*thank you again*

I just saw your second and more detailed explanation.
I am finding some errors on the Carly readings and will try to get them fixed. Will report my progress.
Enrique


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## Specno (Oct 21, 2019)

Just got myself one of these. Have read that doing the egr/dpf delete and remap saves these engine. Do guys know a tuner in the states that does the remap for these. I would be able to do both myself except for the tune. Also I live in phoenix, and havent done an emissions test for a diesel here yet. Does doing this tune cause us to fail the sniffer?


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