[E92Dan]

Hi guys,

My cars on 112,000 miles and I've been getting DPF warnings. Probably not helped by a big change in my commute, I now only do 18 (rural) miles a day.

I'm thinking of getting it removed, have any of you had this done? Any problems with MOTs? Anyone know of a good place to have this done near Northamptonshire?

Thanks

[holmefield]

I'm on 107000 miles ( 330 d ) and I must admit I'm considering removing it..

I recon I'm on borrowed time with the DPF, I do around 28mile round trip a day mixed driving..

To those that HAVE removed the DPF do you get more Bhp? DOES the Mpg get any better?

When I removed the DPF from my PD 170 seat leon it drove far better and got about 4/5mpg better...

[E30 sam]

I've just bought an LCI E92 330d and I've spoken with my independent specialist & they informed me that if I have it removed it'll need a remap as it'll run funny just removing it and not mapping.

Safe to say once I've got use to the power I'll be booking it in for DPF removal and a remap, my only convene is the car is on 87k now and due to my commute it'll be over 100k befor Christmas so I'm not sure I want the extra strain on the gearbox & turbo etc

[old grey steve]

By removing the DPF you usually see a series of improvments, better fuel ecoonomy as homefields rightly stated is one you may well see along with better throttle response, less back pressure for the turbo the cars keener to rev plus feels more powerful as a rule too as its more efficient and it does feel a better car to drive too, of course you need to tell the car that the DPF's gone meaning a remap to suit so again power / torque gains over the standard product come in to play as well. It can really change the charactor of the car plus prolong the turbo's life due to less back presure as well. So on this socre as you may have read its a win win.

Downside well there is the legality side of things many on here have done the job and as it stands at the moment as we are testing on smoke are gtting their MOT's done, be aware VOSA or Driver & Vehicle Standard Agency as its titled is just rolling out an all new MOT set up to bring it up to date a the old system is somewhat behind the times, with this as time goes by I suspect to see a raft of changes that could well appear to reflect certain things amongst these could be the hightened awareness of diesel and the enviroment, which we are reading about from time to time in the press(London's proposed charge for diesels http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-28540259 and Paris looking to ban diesels by 2020 due to pollution reasons).

They are aware of DPF's being removed and are aware of the latest trends re bringing emmisisons down. Its all hearsay of course but this is the side many who carry out a DPF delete may well come up against.

So with DPF's causing so much grief what can be done. Well in a 2 hour operation the other day we bought a 124000 mile 530d's reading from sky high to very acceptable through a controlled re gen process and a couple of additives. It doesn't always work but when it does it does allow the car a new lease of life on its current DPF, DPF's can be in excess over £1000 to supply and fit and when buying the diesel for economy and lower fuel bills all those years ago wasn't mentioned at all was it but today people with diesels are facing high bills for replacing emmision contol components due to life / age conditions which in the real scheme of things really make owing the diesel a rather expensive prospect if you happen to be one of those caught with the problem.

[Ess]

Originally Posted by old grey steve

By removing the DPF you usually see a series of improvments, better fuel ecoonomy as homefields rightly stated is one you may well see along with better throttle response, less back pressure for the turbo the cars keener to rev plus feels more powerful as a rule too as its more efficient and it does feel a better car to drive too, of course you need to tell the car that the DPF's gone meaning a remap to suit so again power / torque gains over the standard product come in to play as well. It can really change the charactor of the car plus prolong the turbo's life due to less back presure as well. So on this socre as you may have read its a win win.

Downside well there is the legality side of things many on here have done the job and as it stands at the moment as we are testing on smoke are gtting their MOT's done, be aware VOSA or Driver & Vehicle Standard Agency as its titled is just rolling out an all new MOT set up to bring it up to date a the old system is somewhat behind the times, with this as time goes by I suspect to see a raft of changes that could well appear to reflect certain things amongst these could be the hightened awareness of diesel and the enviroment, which we are reading about from time to time in the press(London's proposed charge for diesels http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-28540259 and Paris looking to ban diesels by 2020 due to pollution reasons).

They are aware of DPF's being removed and are aware of the latest trends re bringing emmisisons down. Its all hearsay of course but this is the side many who carry out a DPF delete may well come up against.

So with DPF's causing so much grief what can be done. Well in a 2 hour operation the other day we bought a 124000 mile 530d's reading from sky high to very acceptable through a controlled re gen process and a couple of additives. It doesn't always work but when it does it does allow the car a new lease of life on its current DPF, DPF's can be in excess over £1000 to supply and fit and when buying the diesel for economy and lower fuel bills all those years ago wasn't mentioned at all was it but today people with diesels are facing high bills for replacing emmision contol components due to life / age conditions which in the real scheme of things really make owing the diesel a rather expensive prospect if you happen to be one of those caught with the problem.

This is concerning and doesn't make me feel good about owning a diesel

[old grey steve]

Originally Posted by Ess

This is concerning and doesn't make me feel good about owning a diesel

It shouldn't it just that over time certain things have come about we are seeing DPF issues and there are solutions, but on the flip side the solutions out there overall can work for the customer these solutions are advertised and there is nothing wrong with that as they are offering the customer a viable solution to a rather annoying problem bought on by a product that all manufacturers are forced to adopt to meet certain rules. For those who have 100K diesels for instance(and sometimes lower mileages)when this issue comes about it comes as a very unexpected surprise. When you look at the costs of replacing these DPF's its hardly surprising that there are company's out there offering a solution that is better for your wallet.

There are as you say downside of this procedure such as smoke, but rules re MOT testing have been laid out for VOSA the goverment are aware and have been for some time and with the advent of the new MOT set up will come more "efficient policing of all matters MOT"

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/n...iculate-filter
https://www.gov.uk/government/public...-guidance-note

This is the nugget from the goverment some time ago "The only way of checking prior to the tightening of the rules was through emissions testing, which was not a reliable method during MOTs." that I can see being in the future "wound into the tests for the future perhaps by reinventing the rules"

Quite how they'd ultimatly enforce the situation I'm not sure but the easist way forward would be to send a few "entrapment cars out in to the field with DPF's removed to see who's spotting the mod"

[Ess]

Originally Posted by old grey steve

It shouldn't it just that over time certain things have come about we are seeing DPF issues and there are solutions, but on the flip side the solutions out there overall can work for the customer these solutions are advertised and there is nothing wrong with that as they are offering the customer a viable solution to a rather annoying problem bought on by a product that all manufacturers are forced to adopt to meet certain rules. For those who have 100K diesels for instance(and sometimes lower mileages)when this issue comes about it comes as a very unexpected surprise. When you look at the costs of replacing these DPF's its hardly surprising that there are company's out there offering a solution that is better for your wallet.

There are as you say downside of this procedure such as smoke, but rules re MOT testing have been laid out for VOSA the goverment are aware and have been for some time and with the advent of the new MOT set up will come more "efficient policing of all matters MOT"

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/n...iculate-filter
https://www.gov.uk/government/public...-guidance-note

This is the nugget from the goverment some time ago "The only way of checking prior to the tightening of the rules was through emissions testing, which was not a reliable method during MOTs." that I can see being in the future "wound into the tests for the future perhaps by reinventing the rules"

Quite how they'd ultimatly enforce the situation I'm not sure but the easist way forward would be to send a few "entrapment cars out in to the field with DPF's removed to see who's spotting the mod"

I'm sure you're right Steve. To be entirely honest, even if it were not illegal, I don't know if I'd be entirely comfortable removing a device which ultimately is there to reduce air pollution, in a time when we know that air pollution particularly in the cities is causing more and more health problems.

[old grey steve]

Originally Posted by Ess

I'm sure you're right Steve. To be entirely honest, even if it were not illegal, I don't know if I'd be entirely comfortable removing a device which ultimately is there to reduce air pollution, in a time when we know that air pollution particularly in the cities is causing more and more health problems.

Thats the rub Seb this pressure is starting to mount things may in terms of regulations opinions shift over time there is presume re smog and all that I suspect will become a little more stringent therefore Drving Vehicle Standard Agency will be looking perhaps in the future to police the system more effectively than they have done in the past the advent of the all new MOT system we are all signing up to is the first step for the future I dare say certain pressures will be placed in certain areas and as you have hinted diesel re costs are in the firing line re getting headline news regarding pollution issues

[E92Dan]

Thanks for the replies. It's a bit worrying for the future if I do get the filter removed. I don't want to have to spend 500+ getting it removed, to then have to spend much more to get a new filter fitted. Maybe I should throw some money at getting it cleaned first. It didn't regenerate after a 40 minute drive on the M6.

[Aragorn30d]

Have you checked that your car is meeting the pre-requisites for regeneration?

If its not been replaced one or both of your thermostats are likely to be sticking partially open, which results in the engine temperature never rising high enough to allow regeneration to take place. Using Torque App or Carly will allow you to monitor the Coolant temperature while driving. The combination of high airflow (motorway driving) at relatively low engine loads and a sticky thermostat often results in the engine running colder on the motorway, than it would driving around town!

Certain fault codes will also stop regeneration.


The MOT currently has a visual check for the presence of a DPF, and a smoke density test. The smoke test only has one set of limits though, which are the same for all vehicles regardless of whether they had a DPF or not.

As a result, the safest option if you want to remove the DPF is to remove the filter, knock the guts out of it, and reinstall it. That way you'll pass the visual test without issue and the smoke test wont be a problem either.

[bishbosh]

I have about 141000 miles on my 320d and using DIS I looked at the DPF backpressure readings at idle, 2000 rpm and cutoff speed (4000 rpm). DIS says I have about 50,000km remaining DPF life.

Anyway, the values were
26 mbar at idle - limit was 35 mbar
35 mbar at 2k rpm - limit was 75 mbar
?? mbar at cutoff speed - limit was 150mbar

I did not get a value for cutoff speed for two reasons 1) it was hard to reach and 2) DIS kept giving communication errors.
Notice that the particulate limits are more stringent for the N engines as opposed to the M engines!

Anyway I requested a regen in the DME and went for a 30 miles drive in 4th gear, holding about 3krpm all the way.
Got back home and ran the backpressure test again.

Readings were:
2 mbar at idle - limit was 35 mbar
14 mbar at 2k rpm - limit was 75 mbar

Again I did not manage to get a reading for the cutoff speed but I did find it incredibly easy to get to that speed at least. I also checked and confirmed that a regen had just taken place

[Aragorn30d]

You dont need to go screaming along at 3000rpm to make it regenerate. If the coolant temperature is acceptable, and there are no fault codes, it'll regenerate just fine. Thats exactly what its intended to do. Its something that your average driver doesnt need to even think about.

Mine regenerates just fine on the way to work, in 6th gear at 1800rpm. If your paying attention you see the MPG swingometer drop down towards 30ish when you'd expect to see it nearer 50 (ie driving along a flat motorway). It stays there for a few minutes, then returns to ~50mpg.

[bishbosh]

Yeah - I reckoned it might have been a bit excessive. I think actually the regen occurred very early on in the run (when checking afterwards). However it was a fair bit to the next junction. I'll probably just keep an eye on it now.

[E92Dan]

I've already had both stats changed and I am getting some nice high temps when driving. I'm wondering if it's not regenerating because of the fault code? I'm getting a garage to have a look at it on Thursday, hopefully they will be able to force a regen.

[Ess]

Originally Posted by E92Dan

I've already had both stats changed and I am getting some nice high temps when driving. I'm wondering if it's not regenerating because of the fault code? I'm getting a garage to have a look at it on Thursday, hopefully they will be able to force a regen.

I think this is correct. I believe that if a code is present, it won't regenerate until the fault is cleared.

[E92Dan]

Well that's a crap system! Does anyone have any suggestions on where to potentially go for a removal?

[E92Dan]

Well had the DPF cleared today, not sure how long it will last though