Domes latest millstone-E65 BMW 730d-To Silverstone!

[SiC]

https://amzn.eu/d/5aJNPUl

I mean surely this is worth a shot at under 30 quid?

Also heard brick acid is pretty effective too. 

[dome]

7 hours ago, SiC said:

Pouring in some DPF cleaner or even sending it off to be cleaned is probably going to be cheaper than a replacement or mapping it out?

Also I'm biased as I've cycled behind enough gutted diesels and it's fucking grim to be behind one. Invariably because they also have some other preexisting emissions problem which caused the owner to gut it. Thankfully doesn't really happen now with the Bristol CAZ as post 2015 diesels struggle to get past even the MOT smoke test with a gutted filter. 

I suspect this would take some cleaning, 200mb back pressure at idle compared to a healthy one (my old 530d in fact) which has 9mb😳 

Mine as was.

A healthy one. 

A cheap pattern one is £200, a bypass pipe is about the same but would be an MOT fail as it's in plain sight. 

[SiC]

2 minutes ago, dome said:

I suspect this would take some cleaning, 200mb back pressure at idle compared to a healthy one (my old 530d in fact) which has 9mb😳 

This chap in his review of that Wynn's off car dpf cleaner reckoned his vehicle was at 100kpa (1000mbar) back pressure

 

The other key thing is to fix the error codes (possibly thermostat too) so it can regen in the future. 

[SiC]

4 minutes ago, dome said:

A cheap pattern one is £200, a bypass pipe is about the same but would be an MOT fail as it's in plain sight. 

I dunno about DPFs but I know cheap pattern cats are invariably shite. Probably not worth spending out for a bypass when it could be cut open and welded back up from the top side. Or chisel down the middle. 

I can't imagine professional DPF cleaning is that special a process nor that special chemicals. I wouldn't be surprised if that Wynn's fluid is probably pretty much the same as they use just being forced through to speed the process up and then baked so you don't get plumes of smoke when the customer drives off for the first time. They get cleaned all the time, especially on lorries where a DPF is much more expensive but also easier to access. 

[EyesWeldedShut]

I'm with @SiC on the gutted DPFs - not as a cyclist but as a second/third owner - there's (rarely) any idea that a car has been remapped when you buy it and, currently, I'm into the third poor man's BMW (Bini) with a weird remap and/or EGR delete/ DPF gutted. Pulling the exhaust off and shoving and endoscope up a HDi Cat system is fun*.
It kind of sounds like this one is still on the standard mapping so - I'd just go for a cheap DPF and hope that lasts as long as I want to keep the car - these are £140 quid now on the 2008 Binis, £200 on this BMW. Guess what I'm about to splurge on?
 

[dome]

Time for an update on this. I bought a second hand genuine DPF for it, however it's not been fitted yet. The original DPF is back on after being made significantly lighter. 

I've done about 400 miles in it now and it's been going well. It almost certainly has a remap going by how well it pulls. That raises the question of what else was done at the same time as there has been no DPF warnings appeared on the dash, either before when it was blocked or now that it isn't.

It was coming up on a month to go before it's MOT was up so I did zero prep and chucked it in. 

 

The results...

 

Yep, I'll take that  No issues with the emissions either.

It got advisories for the same 2 front tires as last year, also brake pipes and front discs.

At some point I'll pull the wheels off and have a look at it. There's a slight shimmy under light braking which I was hoping would be picked up on, if the MOT test doesn't pick it up I doubt I'll have much chance though.

The other main thing it needs is glow plugs and/or controller. It's a bit grumbly in the morning on a first start. The controller is on the side of the block and really need the intake manifold off to get at it. It gives me code for all 6 which makes me think it's the controller. It had a new controller and 6 plugs a few years ago and since then had another 6 plugs fitted by a garage a year or so later. I have no idea of the quality of any of these bits though. I'll try and check resistance of whatever plugs I can reach without dismantling things but I suspect the controller. 

Other than that the CD changer and DVD for the sat nav don't work-these have been unplugged and the fibre optic cable that runs them (called MOST I think) has been bypassed which seems to be a thing on these when things stop working. At the meantime I have FM radio and single CD player so it's no major hardship.

It is, as you can imagine, a very comfy big thing to cover distance in and seems to be averaging mid 30s MPG-not bad for 2 tonnes with, at a guess based on the stage one map my 530d had, around 280bhp.  

[jonathan_dyane]

Great result! How did you clean out the dpf in the end?

[Schaefft]

Congrats, they can be a bit of a pain but with a little bit of time invested into sorting their issues you definitely have a chance to own an amazing car for very little money, even if something is going wrong.

[dome]

1 hour ago, jonathan_dyane said:

Great result! How did you clean out the dpf in the end?

I used some specialist cleaning tools.

 

 

[hairnet]

coulda polished ya chisel for it doing you a favour

 

[bangernomics]

They've aged really well, I think. Still look good today.
Shame about all the electronics - they'd be a great bangernomics choice otherwise.

Absolutely right up my street.

[SiC]

8 hours ago, dome said:

I used some specialist cleaning tools.

 

 

Did you map it out? I dunno about BMWs but knocked out DPFs on Jags will still regen after a while but except with no DPF they have a habit of catching fire. 

[dome]

1 hour ago, SiC said:

Did you map it out? I dunno about BMWs but knocked out DPFs on Jags will still regen after a while but except with no DPF they have a habit of catching fire. 

No, I've not mapped it. It'll not try and regen anyway until the glowplugs are fixed along with the code for the throttle actuator. Both these things prevent a regen from happening.

The reason I suspect it has already been mapped out is that it's not flagged up a warning on the dash (and it goes like fuck)

 I've been told some people will map out a dpf but leave it intact which seems crazy but plausible.

[dome]

Time for an update on this. It continued to waft around very well but the vibration under moderate braking was annoying. Slightly confusingly it went away under heavy braking. 

I'd hoped the MOT might turn up an advisory for a bush or two but all nothing was forthcoming. A quick fondle of my brake discs revealed a bit of unevenness and wear on the back half of them so pads and discs were ordered up-Halfords trade card FTW here as it got me Pagids from Euro cheaper than Euros regular discounts

This thing came apart remarkably well for a Scottish car, in no time at all I had it all fitted

A quick test drive round the block revealed a random noise on light braking.

At this point I spent about 2 hours checking everything until i eventually worked out one of the new pads was moving around in the caliper.

Here's the new outer pad vs the old.

As you can see it has a locating spring on the old one which the new one doesn't What a ballache that was, sucking 2 hours of my life I'll not get back🤦‍♂️

I'd used REALOEM to get the part number, turns out it's hit or miss as to whether or not they have this spring or not. I managed to find a set of Ferodos which did so ordered them up and waited a week for them to arrive from 35 miles away🤷

Fast forward to yesterday afternoon and they finally arrive.

Swapped in and a test drive revealed all was well

 

 

And here's old vs new discs for comparison

Yep, they're fucked. Minimum thickness is 28mm, these were down to 25😶

I could then move onto the next mission-towbar fitting.

Looks pretty decent for £160 from ebay. It's removeable and only needed a small cut in the bumper which is barely noticeable as it's underneath. I've got the wiring kit to fit, that's next.

 

[beko1987]

Money's worth out of those discs for sure! 

[bezzabsa]

wanna swap for a Juke 1.5 dizzel??? 😅

[dome]

1 hour ago, bezzabsa said:

wanna swap for a Juke 1.5 dizzel??? 😅

For the old discs? Yeah ok but cash my way😉

[yes oui si]

On 20/03/2025 at 18:06, dome said:

My lift has arrived 

 

Borders car? 

Missed this thread somehow, grand job on getting it sorted. These have aged really well, and yours has some of the best modern oem bmw wheels. 

On 22/03/2025 at 12:03, Noel Tidybeard said:

finger round the tailpipe- if it's sooty = fucked dpf, not sooty = ok dpf and give it a clean

I've also occasionally had to request a clean after using a finger to check a tailpipe... 

[dome]

Decided on a bit of a whim to head to Silverstone for the ELMS Sportscar race on Sunday. 

Needless to say, this seemed the perfect vehicle for the job. 

Tradition, Old charter or something.

Stats for the run down 

Clear run, decent weather and cruise set meant progress could be made. I wasn't driving like a dick, cruise was set at 81mph, I live 2 minutes from the M90 so it was motorway all but the last 10 miles to my hotel. 

ELMS was very good. It's essentially the rung down from the World Endurance Championship. No top flight LMP1 cars but LMP2 and LMP3 are still impressive. It was my first time at Silverstone too which was pretty cool. It's no Knockhill though🤣

I didn't take many pictures, there will be plenty out there.

Some bloke called Zak Brown brought an old Jag and did a couple of laps.

And here's the grid lined up for the first of 2 red flags in the first hour😔

Here's the cause of one of the red flags.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DOlJNCdiOFH/?igsh=MW0wZXl0dGx5aWRiMg==

Thankfully no injuries 

I left about 3.30 as the rain which started about 2 was getting heavier, turns out I timed it right as it was red flagged again🫣

Not quite so pleasant a drive back as heavy rain and the usual traffic hold ups, it thinned out after Manchester thankfully. 

Back home after 6 and a half hours and here's the stats for the full trip.

Pretty impressive mpg for something the size of a small bungalow, although you'll notice mpg was the exact same on the way down at a higher average. 

[dome]

Also since the last update I replaced the glow plug controller with a (hopefully) decent Hitachi one. It now starts spot on👌. 

I managed to change it without removing the inlet manifold which was a bit of a faff but I got there by removing it along with the cable that goes to the alternator, there was no way that connector was coming off. 

I'd picked up a new cable from the scrappy as they are known to go bad, I used this with the new controller. 

[tom13]

2 hours ago, dome said:

Decided on a bit of a whim to head to Silverstone for the ELMS Sportscar race on Sunday. 

Needless to say, this seemed the perfect vehicle for the job. 

Tradition, Old charter or something.

Stats for the run down 

Clear run, decent weather and cruise set meant progress could be made. I wasn't driving like a dick, cruise was set at 81mph, I live 2 minutes from the M90 so it was motorway all but the last 10 miles to my hotel. 

ELMS was very good. It's essentially the rung down from the World Endurance Championship. No top flight LMP1 cars but LMP2 and LMP3 are still impressive. It was my first time at Silverstone too which was pretty cool. It's no Knockhill though🤣

I didn't take many pictures, there will be plenty out there.

Some bloke called Zak Brown brought an old Jag and did a couple of laps.

And here's the grid lined up for the first of 2 red flags in the first hour😔

Here's the cause of one of the red flags.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DOlJNCdiOFH/?igsh=MW0wZXl0dGx5aWRiMg==

Thankfully no injuries 

I left about 3.30 as the rain which started about 2 was getting heavier, turns out I timed it right as it was red flagged again🫣

Not quite so pleasant a drive back as heavy rain and the usual traffic hold ups, it thinned out after Manchester thankfully. 

Back home after 6 and a half hours and here's the stats for the full trip.

Pretty impressive mpg for something the size of a small bungalow, although you'll notice mpg was the exact same on the way down at a higher average. 

Watched the ELMS practice at Spa end of last month before heading to the ring. How much was it at Silverstone to spectate. At spa practice is free and then you can watch qualifying and the race for 10 euros per day. Total bargain.

[dome]

1 hour ago, tom13 said:

Watched the ELMS practice at Spa end of last month before heading to the ring. How much was it at Silverstone to spectate. At spa practice is free and then you can watch qualifying and the race for 10 euros per day. Total bargain.

It was £25 to get in on the Sunday which I thought was pretty good for this level of racing. 

I did the same as you at Spa a few years ago for either ELMS or maybe Blancpain championship, was unusual to be able to get in for free. 

But then again I did the same at Knockhill on the Wednesday of the BTCC the last two years and spent an enjoyable couple of hours watching the Carrera Cup practice. 

I see a lot of people slating Silverstone online, my experience was pretty good though. Helped in a big part by me taking breakfast and lunch in with me to avoid the shit in a tray merchants and their prices...

 

[dome]

Took this to a gig in Glasgow last night, roughly a 100 mile round trip in Storm whateverthefuck is currently abusing the west coast of Scotland.

I didn't quite realise how fucking great it is in these conditions until I got home and parked up and nearly got blown over as I stepped out of it 🤣 What a car!