[Jhayd11]

Originally Posted by r.carson

This is my first BMW and by the way I'm treated by BMW it's most likely my last.

The BMW Customer Relations and Services Department is available Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., ET. You can reach us at 1-800-831-1117.

Speak to them, get an reference number. They should ask you to go to a BMW dealership (which I assume you are already working with). If this is a CBU issue, I have heard of two cases (including my own) of BMW NA working with the dealer to cover the costs of the clean out.

[MandMs335Msport]

Reply to OP's question.

Yes, reading this site does scare people off from purchasing a 335d. it did me, I went with the gas motor. Then, started reading all those horror stories, not sure which is worse, but loved the raw power of the oil burner.

[r.carson]

Originally Posted by Jhayd11

The BMW Customer Relations and Services Department is available Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., ET. You can reach us at 1-800-831-1117.

Speak to them, get an reference number. They should ask you to go to a BMW dealership (which I assume you are already working with). If this is a CBU issue, I have heard of two cases (including my own) of BMW NA working with the dealer to cover the costs of the clean out.

They call me every Monday...I've been dealing with them since September. I haven't come out of pocket for anything.

[Stump909]

Would preventative carbon cleans resolve most of the issues people are having with this car? I'm looking at a CPO but my nerves are getting the best of me. If I could negotiate a few cleanings into the sale price, would that be enough for general peace of mind?

[BMW1983]

Originally Posted by MandMs335Msport

Reply to OP's question.

Yes, reading this site does scare people off from purchasing a 335d. it did me, I went with the gas motor. Then, started reading all those horror stories, not sure which is worse, but loved the raw power of the oil burner.

FWIW I have been enjoying the "raw power" of my oil burner for over 2 years now and haven't had a glitch...knock on wood...at least yet. I think you have to determine how much you really like the feel and drive of the 335d and decide if there is another car that pleases you as much. If there is or it is close...then you may feel better going with another vehicle. If, however, you really like the feel and drive of the 335d (like I do!) then you may choose to accept the potential risk of an issue in the future. Eventually, every vehicle will develop a mechanical issue of some type and sometimes it maybe a complicated issue --- this is the risk with a car. My take home --- by what seems like the most enjoyable ride at the time and enjoy it -- nothing lasts forever. And, I trust if there is ultimately evidence of a flaw BMW will step up and do the right thing.....I hope. Good luck.

[Jhayd11]

Originally Posted by Stump909

Would preventative carbon cleans resolve most of the issues people are having with this car? I'm looking at a CPO but my nerves are getting the best of me. If I could negotiate a few cleanings into the sale price, would that be enough for general peace of mind?

To my understanding, there is no "preventative" cleaning process available.

[Mark M]

Originally Posted by Stump909

Would preventative carbon cleans resolve most of the issues people are having with this car? I'm looking at a CPO but my nerves are getting the best of me. If I could negotiate a few cleanings into the sale price, would that be enough for general peace of mind?

My car is one of many in the shop for carbon buildup.

There is no such thing as preventative cleanings on this car. The narrowest intake tracts are in the cylinder head, long and curvy, not open and exposed like the gasser cars. Behind the valves are individual cylindrical cavities fed from the intake tracts in a curved chute. This is where the buildup occurs that chokes the 335d.

Only current way to clean this is removing the cylinder head - aka open heart surgery.

[Jhayd11]

Originally Posted by BMW1983

FWIW I have been enjoying the "raw power" of my oil burner for over 2 years now and haven't had a glitch...knock on wood...at least yet. I think you have to determine how much you really like the feel and drive of the 335d and decide if there is another car that pleases you as much. If there is or it is close...then you may feel better going with another vehicle. If, however, you really like the feel and drive of the 335d (like I do!) then you may choose to accept the potential risk of an issue in the future. Eventually, every vehicle will develop a mechanical issue of some type and sometimes it maybe a complicated issue --- this is the risk with a car. My take home --- by what seems like the most enjoyable ride at the time and enjoy it -- nothing lasts forever. And, I trust if there is ultimately evidence of a flaw BMW will step up and do the right thing.....I hope. Good luck.

The 2009's are almost all showing signs of CBU, I only have one guy who does, but he seems to be running very long, uninterupted miles on it (has over 100k).

half of 2010's on this poll have CBU.

Very few of the 2011's have them, as they are still very new, and having been idling long enough for the build up to be noticeable.

I have my fingers crossed for you, SOCOM, and a few others that don't have issues yet. Hoping to not see posts changing your minds. Also, hoping there was some change in 2011 that may have fixed the issue... however seeing that they only ran the car for 3 years here, it seems unlikely.

[F32Fleet]

Originally Posted by Mark M

My car is one of many in the shop for carbon buildup.

There is no such thing as preventative cleanings on this car. The narrowest intake tracts are in the cylinder head, long and curvy, not open and exposed like the gasser cars. Behind the valves are individual cylindrical cavities fed from the intake tracts in a curved chute. This is where the buildup occurs that chokes the 335d.

Only current way to clean this is removing the cylinder head - aka open heart surgery.

There are products such as Liqui Moly Pro-Line Diesel Intake Cleaner.

They even have a DPF cleaning product. Search youtube

[dixy2k]

Originally Posted by Jhayd11

The 2009's are almost all showing signs of CBU, I only have one guy who does, but he seems to be running very long, uninterupted miles on it (has over 100k).

half of 2010's on this poll have CBU.

Very few of the 2011's have them, as they are still very new, and having been idling long enough for the build up to be noticeable.

I have my fingers crossed for you, SOCOM, and a few others that don't have issues yet. Hoping to not see posts changing your minds. Also, hoping there was some change in 2011 that may have fixed the issue... however seeing that they only ran the car for 3 years here, it seems unlikely.

The newer ones have not been run as much as the '09 and '10 MY. As they come close to the number of miles driven by the others it will happen eventually.
I drive at least 25k miles a year. I am there already with a number of problems in my '11 model.

[acewiza]

Originally Posted by Jhayd11

To my understanding, there is no "preventative" cleaning process available.

Depends on your definition of "available." From the dealers or BMW, certainly not at this time. I am considering a proposal to negotiate an agreement with BMW to allow a basic water/meth system without voiding my warranty. I know it's a long shot, but I suspect with enough supporting evidence including information found in this forum, they may go for it after the car undergoes CBU repairs at their expense.

It's back in the shop again last night after displaying the SES only a bit over two weeks since last time, just like Jhayd11 predicted.

[MandMs335Msport]

Originally Posted by BMW1983

FWIW I have been enjoying the "raw power" of my oil burner for over 2 years now and haven't had a glitch...knock on wood...at least yet. I think you have to determine how much you really like the feel and drive of the 335d and decide if there is another car that pleases you as much. If there is or it is close...then you may feel better going with another vehicle. If, however, you really like the feel and drive of the 335d (like I do!) then you may choose to accept the potential risk of an issue in the future. Eventually, every vehicle will develop a mechanical issue of some type and sometimes it maybe a complicated issue --- this is the risk with a car. My take home --- by what seems like the most enjoyable ride at the time and enjoy it -- nothing lasts forever. And, I trust if there is ultimately evidence of a flaw BMW will step up and do the right thing.....I hope. Good luck.

This was exactly my thought after weighing the Diesel over the n54. Another issue for me was the lack of the E92 version here in the states, particularly in the m-sport variation. A smaller issue, perhaps was the feeling of a bit more weight on the front end of the vehicle, but this might have been the E90 vs. E92 configuration. I just hope they get this wonderful diesel ironed out in the future, my work truck is a dodge with a Cummings and I love that thing, however, it was in for warranty work at about 35K miles for two injectors, which evidently back fed and fried the ECU. Would have been a 3k plus bill if out of pocket, so... I am planning on running my work truck to 300k miles and am sure it will run strong all the way. At any rate, this is an interesting post.

[PSEE]

no poll!

If we're talking about this forum and this thread - or a couple of others within
the same forum, then, as the person posted above, it's "representative" of
less than 1/4 of 1% of 335d owners.

Statistically significant?

Are you kidding?!?


Is someone really going to base a purchase decision for a 335d by reading the
posts in this forum?


What about the "silent majority" of 335d owners out there? You know, the
other 99.75+% of 335d owners?


What I'm reading/hearing is:

"It happened to me, so it must be happening to everyone"


This forum is really changing...

[acewiza]

You can't prove a negative either. As has been pointed out, there is no reliability in predicting it one way or the other. You are free to assume "the other."

A prospective buyer assumes his/her own level of risk. That goes for any car buying decision in many areas of consideration, not just mechanical concerns. Not considering all the factors available for review is less than smart.

Personally, I used the potential CBU issue as price negotiating leverage and got a smokin' deal on our 335D. To each his own...

[F32Fleet]

Originally Posted by PSEE

no poll!

If we're talking about this forum and this thread - or a couple of others within
the same forum, then, as the person posted above, it's "representative" of
less than 1/4 of 1% of 335d owners.

Statistically significant?

Are you kidding?!?


Is someone really going to base a purchase decision for a 335d by reading the
posts in this forum?


What about the "silent majority" of 335d owners out there? You know, the
other 99.75+% of 335d owners?


What I'm reading/hearing is:

"It happened to me, so it must be happening to everyone"


This forum is really changing...

Bad news travel fast as they say. Funny thing is unless you pay attention one won't notice that the same people post about their problems on different forums. Too bad the fix isn't <$500. People wouldn't complain as much.

Imagine if 20% of these problem cars were audi/vw salesmen. Lol.

Hell this CBU issue could've 86'd BMW diesel sales in the US just as they spend big $ to bring in more models.

[MandMs335Msport]

Originally Posted by PSEE

no poll!



Is someone really going to base a purchase decision for a 335d by reading the
posts in this forum?

Yes, I joined this forum to learn and make the best decision I could about my purchase of an E9x. This seemed to be the best site for what I wanted to learn. I also spoke to mechanics familiar with the cars. I had to make a decision taking into account the amount of miles the car would be driven in a six year cycle, and came to the conclusion, with the help of this site, that the n54 may provide me with a lesser maintenance cost over the years. This may be incorrect, but to me the cars we were looking at were relatively expensive so I didn't make my decision lightly. That being stated, if money was not an issue, an M3 would be in our garage.

[Mark M]

Majority of bmw owners are not on forums like we enthusiasts are. Also the majority of bmw owners lease the car then move on. As more of these cars hit the used car lots and second or third hand owners have these issues without a bmw warranty I'm sure they will find their way to these forums.

I can attest that at my local dealership along side my d is another with the exact same prognosis. Carbon/ soot buildup. If this is so uncommon what's the likelihood of two with the same issue in the same town at the same time?

This issue is legit and larger than you may want to believe.

[montr]

Originally Posted by Mark M

This issue is legit and larger than you may want to believe.

+1
At my last all injectors replacement visit to the dealer (I had multiple injector replacement visit), I meet the service manager. He admitted that I was not the only one with this problem. They just did this that procedure on another car just prior mine. After passing the 35K miles mark, this car has been to the dealer too many time.

[r.carson]

My shop foreman expects to change my NOx equipment next.

[Hoooper]

Originally Posted by Mark M

This issue is legit and larger than you may want to believe.

I can't speak for anyone else but personally I hope the issue is as big as possible. The bigger it is the more likely there will be a solution, and possibly a recall or at a minimum a tsb.

[r.carson]

Dealership valued my car at peanuts...about 1/3 msrp

43k mi, Msport, la mans blue, black grills, carbon spitters/spoiler, tint, nav, hid, etc...roof rack, two bike carriers.

[dixy2k]

Originally Posted by Hoooper

I can't speak for anyone else but personally I hope the issue is as big as possible. The bigger it is the more likely there will be a solution, and possibly a recall or at a minimum a tsb.

+1

if we're silent, then there is no problem.