BMW will recall diesel models to fix emissions glitch

About 2,740 2011 and 2012 model year X5 xDrive 50i and X6 xDrive 50i vehicles, and 21,600 3-series diesel models, will be recalled, the automaker said. The recalls are scheduled for May 9, with a customer letter to follow, BMW North America spokesman Dirk Arnold said.

BMW said certain emissions components, including the SCR catalyst, the DEF mixer and the EGR valve, may improperly overstate vehicle mileage, causing emissions standards to be exceeded and the illumination of the "Service Engine Soon" light.

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Hmm... interesting. Thank you for posting.

interesting indeed... so what is the fix?

This article has a little more info:

http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dl...issions-glitch

"BMW said the repair will require the inspection and replacement of one or more of the emissions components and the reprogramming of the vehicle's engine control unit."


I had my SCR catalyst replaced a year ago due to repeated SES light incidents. It's possible they've known about this for some time. We'll see if they end up doing anything more to my car next time I take it in.

I wonder if this is the thing that for months now some SA's have told us is coming up. I know I was told in January a recall was coming up and when I mentioned that on here someone else said they were told the same thing a good bit before I was told.

My car is due for service and has had an SES light on for a few days now. Perhaps I will just stall for awhile longer to see if I can get multiple things addressed at the same time.

I've got an oil change coming up around June. I hope BMW will have its ducks in a row by then and be able to handle the recall at the same time.

My D has never had any SES and it has just had the last free service last week at 78,000 KM and the BMW warranty expires at 80,000 KM.
I better call my dealer about this recall and make sure my D is covered.

I have not purchased any extended warranty so will soon be out of warranty!

A recall though is outside a warranty. So should not matter if you are in or out of warranty. At least that has been my experience with other makes.

Oh Crap an ECU reflash better get my connections not to reflash it if possible otherwise will have to go to RENNtech and have it reflashed over again!!

Originally Posted by Axel61

Oh Crap an ECU reflash better get my connections not to reflash it if possible otherwise will have to go to RENNtech and have it reflashed over again!!

Wouldn't you want the fix done though and just get the ECU reflashed by Renntech? Sure it means a few days(?) of downtime but in the end would you not want the fix done since hopefully it would avoid some long term problem with the car?

Originally Posted by Snipe656

A recall though is outside a warranty. So should not matter if you are in or out of warranty. At least that has been my experience with other makes.

You're absolutely correct.
The only scenario is if BMW Canada is slow in implimenting the recall and in the mean time my D is out of warranty and gets an SES, the dealer can charge me for the fix and claim that the SES is due to some other cause?

I plan to keep my D for as long as there is no suitable/equivalent replacement with comparable performance.

I'm running out of time to get extended warranty.
I was quoted CAD$3,300 for 160KM/6Yr.
Since my D has been trouble free so far I may roll the dice and forget the extended warranty.

Originally Posted by DC-IT

You're absolutely correct.
The only scenario is if BMW Canada is slow in implimenting the recall and in the mean time my D is out of warranty and gets an SES, the dealer can charge me for the fix and claim that the SES is due to some other cause?

Very valid point there and not sure how one best addresses it. One would hope that the dealer would recognize that a recall is in the works that is for those systems that caused the hypothetical SES light. My take on it though since you said your car has been very reliable is do not worry about it. If anything you could always printout the information about the upcoming recall and then ask the dealership specifically about it.

My dealer called me last week telling me that the d had an open recall. Going in on the 14th. I have no idea whats its for. Hopefully I can get a new F30 loaner out of it

Originally Posted by AutoUnion

My dealer called me last week telling me that the d had an open recall. Going in on the 14th. I have no idea whats its for. Hopefully I can get a new F30 loaner out of it

The Problem: BMW has announced that certain emissions components on 2009-2011 3 Series, X5, and X6 diesel models including the SCR catalyst, DEF mixer, and the EGR valve may overstate vehicle mileage. This may cause emissions standards to be exceeded and illuminate the check engine light. This in turn could cause affected models to fail U.S. emissions tests.

I wonder if this is also causing the gunk build up in the EGR/Cylinder head.

Originally Posted by BrianNC81

The Problem: BMW has announced that certain emissions components on 2009-2011 3 Series, X5, and X6 diesel models including the SCR catalyst, DEF mixer, and the EGR valve may overstate vehicle mileage. This may cause emissions standards to be exceeded and illuminate the check engine light. This in turn could cause affected models to fail U.S. emissions tests.

I wonder if this is also causing the gunk build up in the EGR/Cylinder head.

Of course not, that is caused by not driving your car hard enough ....

Originally Posted by Snipe656

Of course not, that is caused by not driving your car hard enough ....

haha, I guess the former owner of my car drove like a grandma. I try to run it hard on a regular basis. This past Friday I did 6 runs down the local 1/4 mile drag strip to clean the carbon out of it. Maybe the dealerships should have a track we can run them on as part of the maintenance plan.

Originally Posted by BrianNC81

haha, I guess the former owner of my car drove like a grandma. I try to run it hard on a regular basis. This past Friday I did 6 runs down the local 1/4 mile drag strip to clean the carbon out of it. Maybe the dealerships should have a track we can run them on as part of the maintenance plan.

I was of course making fun of a dealers response that was posted in another thread about this. But if we must be more mean to the cars so that this does not happen then I hope BMW will pay for the extra oil that gets burned off and increased tire wear .... I can see it now, someone comes in and complains about oil consumption then is told they are too hard on their car after being told months prior their intake was gummed up because they were too soft on their car. Dang things might need a special driver training course so we know how to drive them and NOT have any issues

Originally Posted by BrianNC81

haha, I guess the former owner of my car drove like a grandma. I try to run it hard on a regular basis. This past Friday I did 6 runs down the local 1/4 mile drag strip to clean the carbon out of it. Maybe the dealerships should have a track we can run them on as part of the maintenance plan.

Times and traps?

Originally Posted by cssnms

Times and traps?

Best run was 14.430 at 98.79 mph

Fastest trap time was 99.08 mph and ran 14.633

All runs were in sport mode with traction control off

Originally Posted by BrianNC81

Best run was 14.430 at 98.79 mph

Fastest trap time was 99.08 mph and ran 14.633

All runs were in sport mode with traction control off

I assume you're stock?

Did you try brake boosting and starting in M2?

Last time I was at the track a couple of months ago for the life of me I could NOT get traction, I kept spining the tires when I brake boosted in M2. I had a hard time even getting 14 sec time, traps in the 102 range. My best run came when I just mashed it in DS no brake boost 13.7 at 105mph. If I had slicks I am willing to bet I would have been down to 13 flat or even high 12's.

Originally Posted by cssnms

I assume you're stock?

Did you try brake boosting and starting in M2?

Last time I was at the track a couple of months ago for the life of me I could NOT spining the tires when I brake boosted in M2. I had a hard time even getting 14 sec time, traps in the 102 range. My best run came when I just mashed it in DS no brake boost 13.7 at 105mph. If I had slicks I am willing to bet I would have been down to 13 flat or even high 12's.

100% stock, I did not try starting in M2 but will give it a shot next time. Outside air temps were in the 80s during the runs

@Snipe656 I realized my booboo, I will wait for the ECU flash of BMW and then go to RENNtech and have Reflash, there you go, i said it CORRECTO!!

Originally Posted by Axel61

@Snipe656 I realized my booboo, I will wait for the ECU flash of BMW and then go to RENNtech and have Reflash, there you go, i said it CORRECTO!!

Since you are going through all that trouble, you might as well have them figure out how to bypass the DEF

Will talk to LENNY on that, good one amigo!!

I had to drop my 335d off for service yesterday and the service manager wrote up my service ticket. I asked him about the recall and he said that he had seen a bulletin, but didn't have any details yet.