Particulate Fiter & Rear Pads - iDrive warnings.

[X5_twin]

Afternoon All. 2 issues came up on the iDrive today:

1 - Particulate Filter:
According to iDrive I need this changed (preferably NOT by BMW).



The car has done 95k miles and is a 2008. We've just done 1400 miles through France in the last 2 weeks driving so it has been used on long runs, not short journeys, which I read can cause issues. Should the filter need changing at this mileage? What causes it to 'go'. Have others changed their filter, and if so does anybody have an idea of what I should be paying for the work (labour and materials).

2 - Rear Pads:
This once is fairly standard. I also need new rear pads according to iDrive. What should these cost to replace and how long should the job take. A an idea of costs including labour and materials would be good please. I was thinking a couple of hours labour max and circa £120 for parts ?

Any advice much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[X5Sport]

The DPF needs replacing once the ash level hits 55%.  The mileage this happens at is determined by driving style and history from new.  Someone in my office has just had their Audi one replaced at 93k with mainly shortish journeys of around 20 miles, and owned since new.

I don't know whether the ash can be removed by taking the unit off the car and giving it a gentle shake or even blow through with some kind of low pressure air line.  The ash level is determined by pressure sensors before and after the DPF that work out the airflow and back pressure caused by ash deposits.

BMW wanted £1,500+ plus fitting for my MY2011 X6 a couple of years back.  It didn't need doing, I just wanted to know in advance for when it does.

If you are DIY capable then pads can be bought from Eurocarparts and a sensor too.  Takes me about a 90 mins to change both sides (no air tools or ramps to speed things up!).  Rears are about £66 a set, single sensor req'd £12.  That's Pagid which BMW use and rebadge, supplied by ECP.  They don't sell DPFs though.

[X5_twin]

Thanks very much for all the info. Very helpful.

I've been reading on the forum and found this thread.

http://xdrivers.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,9616.0.html

It looks like a bottle of Wyns would be worth a go and if that doesn't do it a deep clean of the particle filter by a good indy before replacing the unit. BMW would be last resort at circa £2k !!

What do you think?

[X5Sport]

If it saves £2k then go for it. 

[bubbabear]

HJ talks about the ceramex dpf cleaning process (halfords also do a dpf cleaning service as well!?)

Agree ECP or GSF for the pagid pads

[Nine468]

When i was having challenges with mine i found this company,,
http://www.dpfcleanteam.co.uk/
I never actually used them as my car had other issues, but i did have a long conversation on the phone with them, and they seem to know a thing or 2 about this subject....

I found the "wynns" or other additives to do very little.

First thing to do is to see if the car is actually re-generating the DPF, or have "other" factors within the car failed, ie temp sensors, glow plugs, and controller etc. they are ALL interlinked...
Im sure if you do some diggiing on the net youl soon find the info...

Oh and invest in a C110 scanner, to check the parameters of the engine, If its regenerating the PRE dpf temps will be around 600deg, under normal use [ motorway running] they are around 300-350deg.
The ENGINE temps need to be around 90deg.

[rj1986]

My local indy has told me it might be the glow plug ECU (another common fault apparently).

One thing worth checking is see if all the glow plugs are firing, and if the ECU is working. I got a quote for £ 450ish all in for everything.

Maybe do that (if they need doing) then give it a motorway run in 4th gear to see if that re-gens it?

[X5Sport]

Glow plugs are common and often take the controller out when they fail - and I think that affects whether the regen works too.