35d caught on fire

[335dsleeper]

My buddy recently purchased a super clean 2011 35d sport. The car had 125k miles on it and it was extremely clean and tight. Only negative item was the passenger headlight had a tiny bit of yellowing.

He's put roughly 1500 miles on it and was really digging the purchase. The other day he ran an errand and as he was driving home he stated to smell something burning. He continued driving assuming it was something else as it couldn't be his super clean 35d. As he pulled into his driveway he realized it was in fact his 35d. He quickly extinguished the flames and investigated how/where the fire started. It looks like the DPF generated so much heat it ignited the plastic belly pan, wiring and engine partition/ cover. Luckily he was able to get out with out injury and extinguish the flames saving the vehicle.

The 35d is 100% stock, had 126k and had no errors displayed on the idrive or any CELs. Literally no advanced warning there was an issue with egt or the DPF.

So, if any of you still have the DPF installed, I highly recommend you carry an extinguisher with you and take notice as soon as you smell something burning, it could actually be your 35d.

[335dsleeper]

Diesel particulate filter

Originally Posted by esevx5

What is a DPF?

[Naz24]

He probably wouldve been better off letting the car burst into flames, blow up. Then he could've collected insurance $$ and maybe gotten some good will from BMW.

Now he's stuck with a car that has fire damage, whats the extent of the repairs?

[trucky2]

Wondering if there was any sort of stored code pointing at DPF issues or EOL...?

[Qsilver7]

Ditto...I wonder if an issue arose from the DPF regeneration process.

FYI for those that aren't familiar with the diesel models:

The process for removing the soot is called a "regeneration" this is automatically carried out by your cars engine management system. Once your vehicle's diesel particulate filter reaches a temperature of approximately 550 degrees centigrade the process starts.

[335dsleeper]

The fire damage isn't remotely that bad. The car is easily repairable. There's no paint damage etc.

Originally Posted by Naz24

He probably wouldve been better off letting the car burst into flames, blow up. Then he could've collected insurance $$ and maybe gotten some good will from BMW.

Now he's stuck with a car that has fire damage, whats the extent of the repairs?

[335dsleeper]

There weren't any fault codes prior to the fire.

Originally Posted by trucky2

Wondering if there was any sort of stored code pointing at DPF issues or EOL...?

[335dsleeper]

Likely regen related. After a quick google search, it appears this has happened to the 35d's before.

Originally Posted by Qsilver7

Ditto...I wonder if an issue arose from the DPF regeneration process.

FYI for those that aren't familiar with the diesel models:

The process for removing the soot is called a "regeneration" this is automatically carried out by your cars engine management system. Once your vehicle's diesel particulate filter reaches a temperature of approximately 550 degrees centigrade the process starts.

[heatmizr]

550 Centigrade?? 1022 F ??? Holy schnikies. If I were nearby plastic I'd be melty too.

[007_e350]

more reasons to delete the soup