I seek knowledge from the wise ones

[sapphireblack]

Subject is an E70 sd with 124000 . Never been MOT failed, a few historic advisories for tyres, (Why dont owners look prior to an MOT?)

It needs some TLC. Rear tyres, service and a front wheel bearing, pretty straightforward stuff at the workshop. The biggest concern for me is the DPF warning occasionally popping up. Maybe a good motorway blast would clear it but if not, is professional cleaning an option or are these things just replaced.

A cheap car is so for a reason. I dont mind tidying it, but I dont want to add 50% of its buying price in one swoop straight after purchase.

Some guidance would be welcomed

[X5Sport]

Anything much over 120,000 miles means the DPF is probably approaching end of life (in BMWs view at least). They aren’t cheap (much worse from BMW I have no doubt). They can be cleaned, often successfully, if done by someone who knows what they’re about. It’s likely to be an unknown until you try. I believe the best repairers actually remove it from the vehicle first, but I have no real-world experience, though a few on here do.

[Leslie]

What is the warning ? as at 124k its too low for end of life , mine starting giving end of life at around 160k but as it was still functioning perfectly fine I bought a Bmw specific code reader and reset the Dpf life back to zero and its been totally fine ,otherwise it would have failed mot and likely been scrapped as the Dpf is a nightmare to replace down the side of the engine and needs the subframe dropping down and engine mount removed never mind the cost of it and you would still need the life reset after

[sapphireblack]

Dealer with the car is pretty unhelpful, i suspect he fears an MOT fail mid March and just wants shot of the car. 09 sd, 124k miles for just £2500 is cheap to buy but costly to fix.

My local workshop quoted nearly £300 for the wheel bearing, £400 for a full service and £1100 to sort the DPF., Another enquiry now consigned to history

[X5Sport]

Just thought a bit more on this. It could also be down to bad glow plugs/controller as the regeneration cycle needs those to be working on some model years in order to get the temperatures high enough to burn off the soot. It could also be down to a bad sensor measuring the differential between in and out of the DPF itself.

So the DPF actually may be fine, and the associated bits involved in cleaning and monitoring may be the cause. Diagnostics may well clarify what is upsetting the warning light. I know Carly can read what’s stored on the system, others can too.

Do you know if the car has been doing short journeys? Those are definitely DPF killers!

Might be moot having just seen your message above.

[X5Sport]

Just thought I’d look at the OEM DPF parts only cost…….£2,391. Makes £1,100 to have a look almost seem reasonable…. /tongue in cheek mode off.

[sapphireblack]

Previous owner allegedly only used the car for school runs so that may be significant. The mobile DPF cleaners i got a quote from said their first check is the sensors for £125, and if all good, they clean for a total cost of £230. If I already owned the car, that would be reasonable. But if i have to buy the car to find out, it could be an very expensive outcome from a cheap initial purchase.

I also found a 2004 X3, 3.0l petrol for sale with only 74k miles and a nice spec, but £3500 is a lot when WBAC valued it at £1550.

As an aside, I'm surprised when dealing with Gumtree and Facebook sellers at how poor they are at responding to messages

[sapphireblack]

Just thought I’d look at the OEM DPF parts only cost…….£2,391. Makes £1,100 to have a look almost seem reasonable…. /tongue in cheek mode off.

Ill get my laughing hat from the cupboard.

[Alan Gunn]

As mentioned BMW end of life code on the dpf.
I had it at 129k on my e90 i suppose it could be down to the life the car has had ie school run's shopping or whatever.
I went in with diagnostics and told the car it had a new DPF fitted also requester a regen witch it promptly did and it has been fine for the last 2 years now.
If i have done a lot of short runs i will request a regen but i think i have only done that twice.

[sapphireblack]

My X6 has yet to reach 40k miles, and i am not aware it has ever performed this process. Does something happen to indicate its performing it?

[Leslie]

If it was not reggening it would be blocked solid within a few 1000 miles..Its hard to spot a regen sometimes it holds a higher gear but its not obvious though if you get out mid regeneration you can feel the heat from the back of the car and slight burning smell at times I find.
The dpf could be as simple as thermostats keeping the engine too cold but its a gamble , I wonder what they were going to do for 1100 quid ? smash the centre out of the dpf and map it out like many of them do now when they see how hard it is to change .
I was following a 40d recently and the black smoke every time they hit the gas was silly , clearly dpf long gone.

[sapphireblack]

Every day is a school day, still! The X6 doesnt move much, hence the mileage, though that was also because it was mothballed for five plus months each year. My time of living in Greece has now come to an end so things are very different. The X6 was always a toy, but i now need a bit more flexibility, so an X5 is firmly on my radar.

Many E70s are well used with (for me) very high miles . I have been flirting with a 136k miles car which looks peachy and has a new MOT but service history is lost. Being of a cautious nature, im somewhere between a rock and a hard place.

[Leslie]

I couldn't find an e70 in my price range with less than 100k over here in Norn Iron 6 years ago when I was looking one and withe the high price of dealer servicing few will be going there now . Given the low prices and if it had a full years test and looks presentable it may well be worth a gamble .

[sapphireblack]

I don't buy cars very often, Facebook and Gumtree are new experiences in my life. I am surprised how many sellers either don't respond at all or respond but dont answer the questions posed.

Both platforms are littered with blatant scammers too. E.G 2016 X5 43k miles for £2895

[Leslie]

Too used with dealers lol most private sellers have no interest or idea about selling and likely don't know the answers anyway plus when you are selling you get people that want perfection for a couple of grand , its just not realistic they are all old and worn now