[duramax]

Hi guys,

I am picking up my new 2011 335d on Saturday. I have read some about the DEF. Where can I get some extra cheap and keep on hand. Anything I should know or due for breakin? Thanks.

Rob

[DnA Diesel]

Rob, the easiest/cheapest is the 1.98L Kruse bottle at the VW dealer. Usually you won't need it if you do a lot of highway driving. City driving uses more DEF and sometimes requires a top-up before the periodic servicing.

Break-in usually comes pretty quickly, and as you know (I'm assuming from your username), you can get very good hustle with the torque without getting near the higher RPM region of the engine.

You'll love the D!

Cheers
D.

[montr]

You should not need any DEF initially as it is covered in the 4 years maintenance. Here in Atlanta, it is available at many place: Wal Mart, NAPA, Advance, Autozone, service stations, BMW Mercedes VW dealers, etc.
At Wal Mart it is $11 for 2.5 gals it I remember correctly. The most expensive place to buy it is at the BMW dealer!

[DnA Diesel]

Montr, the problem is that some dealers interpret the def refill only with scheduled service, so if the DEF requires refill outside of a servicing cycle, it's on the customer's on tab. Other dealers will top the car off until the next servicing period. When the DEF is serviced during a scheduled event, the DEF tanks are purged, and filled completely with new fluid, vice simply being topped off.

On my last servicing, I had been doing notably more city driving and did need to top off my DEF prior to the scheduled service.

Regards
D.

[F32Fleet]

DEF does not store well so its not advisable to "stock up" on it. The DEF in your tanks should last atleast 1 oil change interval and as you know it is covered under maintenance.

[taibanl]

Originally Posted by DnA Diesel

Montr, the problem is that some dealers interpret the def refill only with scheduled service, so if the DEF requires refill outside of a servicing cycle, it's on the customer's on tab. Other dealers will top the car off until the next servicing period. When the DEF is serviced during a scheduled event, the DEF tanks are purged, and filled completely with new fluid, vice simply being topped off.

On my last servicing, I had been doing notably more city driving and did need to top off my DEF prior to the scheduled service.

Regards
D.

This shouldn't be the case. I have spoken to the BMW Product Technology Manager about this exact issue who stated "The 335d should ALWAYS make the scheduled service interval" before requiring DEF. In some cases such as frequent towing, the X5D MIGHT not.

You may want to discuss this further before accepting this situation.

[duramax]

Thanks guys, I can't wait until tomorrow. I do have a duramax and its chipped. It's an awesome truck and very powerful. I am now, (or will be by the weekend) fully diesel...car, truck, and lawn mower

[Park2670]

Originally Posted by taibanl

This shouldn't be the case. I have spoken to the BMW Product Technology Manager about this exact issue who stated "The 335d should ALWAYS make the scheduled service interval" before requiring DEF. In some cases such as frequent towing, the X5D MIGHT not.

You may want to discuss this further before accepting this situation.

I can see the principal behind this, but there is somebody out there in a 3 series that drives very aggressively that will need a DEF top off in between services. I know our loaner car 335d in service (BMW dealership) needed its first oil change at 8500 miles and was stating low DEF. So it was close, but did not run out before its scheduled service.

[taibanl]

Right but as your driving becomes more aggressive the shorter your service interval becomes. I don't know if the relationship is linear but I would expect it is as def is a fixed % of fuel consumption

[Ron1n]

I'm pretty aggressive, and have yet to have to fill up my DEF before a maintenance was due, and that's with 55k on the clock after 21 months.

[Park2670]

Originally Posted by Ron1n

I'm pretty aggressive, and have yet to have to fill up my DEF before a maintenance was due, and that's with 55k on the clock after 21 months.

Guess that changes what I said earlier. I thought somebody here would drive hard enough to need top offs in between services...