[b16jsy]

Hi all,

I’m just after a bit of advice, I have a 2006 E90 330d auto (145,000 miles), and have recently invested in a Carly diagnostics kit which seems excellent.

When I first plugged it in it came through with a few error codes, which I then reset, so that I could check what errors (if any) would come back through in a week or two as ‘still present’.

I am getting the following codes through, which I believe will stop the car from regenning it’s DPF until resolved:

00480A – I think this is the DPF first warning stage (no warnings on dash though)

004D00 – I believe this is an Exhaust Back Pressure Sensor

004030 – I believe this is an Exhaust Gas Temperature Sensor before the cat

I also noticed my coolant running temp was only getting low 70’s on a motorway cruise, so I have since put a new thermostat in and am now getting mid to high 80’s on a steady run, which seems normal.

Armed with some info from the internet I filled the car up along with a DPF additive added to the fuel, and went for a run at 70mph for a good hours run – whilst continually checking live data and clearing the error codes, I eventually managed to stop the 00480A from appearing, so requested a regen and continued driving.
But when I had completed the journey I did another diagnostic and noticed that the distance since last regen was still well over 1500 miles ago, and the three codes had returned too.

So, is my first port of call to replace the two sensors? OR, are the sensor codes logged because the DPF is blocked, and the readings are beyond the sensors range due to this?

The DPF readings were 37g soot mass and 7.64g ash mass – but to be honest I’m not sure what the figures mean and what my cars tolerances are!

Otherwise I’m looking into the usual options, replace the DPF or have it cleaned, or even considering a DPF delete.

The car has a generic remap on it from around six months ago, not sure if that could have any bearing on the recent problem….

I should add that the car feels fine to drive at the moment

Thanks
Joe

[Sensible_]

When you cleared the codes successfully and requested a regen did the regen actually happen?

Usually the request to perform a regen just issues a command to the DDE so that when certain conditions are met a regen will begin.

Do you have any other fault codes?
More than 10l fuel in the tank?
Travel consistently over 60kph
Coolant temp >75c
Exhaust Gas temp >250c (I think)

Your method is sound. Just give it another shot. Your
Soot reading is quite high but that's the stuff that gets burnt off in a regen and turned into ash. Your ash level is very low. I doubt this is the original DPF with a reading that low.

Edit:

Also, I'll just add although Carly is brilliant for diagnostics and DPF monitoring. For clearing codes on the fly it's better to use INPA and a laptop. I have not yet met a DPF which cannot be regenerated with this method. Although some are very stubborn. This last one I did, took over 200 fault clears whilst driving up the M1. Eventually the codes cleared and regen requested.

[b16jsy]

Thanks Sensible - No I don't think the regen happened at all, which slightly confused me as all the other parameters were met, it had a full tank, travelling at a steady 70mph, coolant in mid 80's, and although i wasn't specifically looking at it, I'm sure the exhaust temp was over 300 degrees at all times.

Thanks for the INPA tip, I do have that on an old laptop, I may dig it out and go for another few runs and see where I get, to be fair I only went out for one hours drive - so I shall try again!

Joe

[Calluhan]

Originally Posted by b16jsy

Thanks Sensible - No I don't think the regen happened at all, which slightly confused me as all the other parameters were met, it had a full tank, travelling at a steady 70mph, coolant in mid 80's, and although i wasn't specifically looking at it, I'm sure the exhaust temp was over 300 degrees at all times.

Thanks for the INPA tip, I do have that on an old laptop, I may dig it out and go for another few runs and see where I get, to be fair I only went out for one hours drive - so I shall try again!

Joe

Hi Joe

Take a look here mate:

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=816994

Take a look at the following SIB:

SIB 180310 M57Y - Fault Code 480A or 481A, No Regeneration of the Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF.pdf (36.0 KB, 5796 views)

Might give you a little more info.

Lots of posts Ive read talk about clearing 480 and 481 codes live in the car repeatedly - in actuality it needs a good long drive with passive regeneration to do this before they should actually clear themselves. A can of good quality DPF cleaner helps this too.

Have a read - see what you think

[Sensible_]

Originally Posted by Calluhan

Hi Joe

Take a look here mate:

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=816994

Take a look at the following SIB:

SIB 180310 M57Y - Fault Code 480A or 481A, No Regeneration of the Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF.pdf (36.0 KB, 5796 views)

Might give you a little more info.

Lots of posts Ive read talk about clearing 480 and 481 codes live in the car repeatedly - in actuality it needs a good long drive with passive regeneration to do this before they should actually clear themselves. A can of good quality DPF cleaner helps this too.

Have a read - see what you think

That's a good find! Learn something new everyday.

I suppose in essence that's what clearing codes with INPA is doing though. Essentially it's just refreshing until the codes are no longer present then you can request a regen or see if a regen occurs.

[Calluhan]

Originally Posted by Sensible_

That's a good find! Learn something new everyday.

I suppose in essence that's what clearing codes with INPA is doing though. Essentially it's just refreshing until the codes are no longer present then you can request a regen or see if a regen occurs.

Totally agree. Knowing this and armed with a decent bottle of dpf cleaner would save someone a lot of hassle. A decent 70mph drive for 45 minutes with all electrical consumers on seems to put the car into permanent passive regeneration so ithat should just be a case of clearing the codes at the end of a decent run then requesting an active regeneration.

[E60525d]

I also used to get a 480A error code on my 330d. For the past 6 weeks, I have been adding Millers diesel additive to every other tankful.

I did a scan yesterday and no DPF error, and also looking at the regen history, it automatically did this a 241 miles ago.

Thought this was a little surprising as I didnt do a long motorway journey during this time.

Worth a look, and its fairly cheap considering it treats 500 litres, http://www.millersoils.co.uk/automot...227&sector=Car

[b16jsy]

Thanks everyone, that SIB is very informative too!

Pretty confident I can solve this one now....

[Calluhan]

Originally Posted by b16jsy

Thanks everyone, that SIB is very informative too!

Pretty confident I can solve this one now....

Happy to help mate. The days of expensive DPF replacement are long gone thankfully. If you look after it, it will last the life if car

[b16jsy]

Just a quick update guys - I took the car out on another three occasions for long one hour runs whilst clearing the codes, the first two were unsuccessful in clearing the 00480A DPF code and because of this no regen was taking place.
I then took it out for a third time on Saturday, cleared the codes and to my amazement the DPF code has not reappeared since, and the car has regenned as it should have done.
The only code which has come back since, is the '004030 Exhaust Gas Temperature Sensor before the cat' - so I believe this was probably the issue in the first place and will look to get this replaced over the next week or two.
So it seems all that is required is a bit perseverance, keep on with the code clearing whilst out on a long motorway run, and it will eventually clear, all being well!

Just for info, I ran a DPF test in DIS (before it had regenned), and my readings were:

Idle Speed:
Highest Measured Value 41.9 mbar
Maximum permissable value 65 mbar

Engine Speed 2000rpm:
Highest Measured Value 150.9 mbar
Maximum permissable value 150 mbar

Cut-off Speed (which is foot to the floor approx 4500rpm):
Highest Measured Value 414.9 mbar
Maximum permissable value 250 mbar

Cheers
Joe

[E60525d]

Test shows measured values for 2000 and 4500RPM are still too high. Might be worth trying to force another regen.

[b16jsy]

Yeah those figures were before I took the car out for its successful regen, I haven't had a chance to check values afterwards, but will get it done this week.