Diesel - AdBlue - How Much

[JustChris]

Originally Posted by coolmex200

It's not like you fill it everyday...my old X5d got filled during oil changes (10k miles) and my X3d is the same way....about 10k and still not asking for the adblue

Yup, mines going to go to about 12k

[Flying Ace]

Originally Posted by coolmex200

It's not like you fill it everyday...my old X5d got filled during oil changes (10k miles) and my X3d is the same way....about 10k and still not asking for the adblue

that's true, in fact, I've never even gotten a warning to fill it, but that's not a good thing.

My E70 X5d has been in the shop at least 3 times in the last 2 years for emissions equipment fixes, parts of which requires dealer to top off the DEF each time. (Active tank replacement, SCR metering valve, glow plug controller)

[P1]

What happens if you never fill it up?

[alphaod]

Originally Posted by P1et

What happens if you never fill it up?

The engine will not start when the tank is empty.

Granted your engine will not stop if it's already running, but to start it up again you need to fill up the tank.


It's kind of like, what happens if your car didn't have batteries.

[P1]

Originally Posted by alphaod

The engine will not start when the tank is empty.

Granted your engine will not stop if it's already running, but to start it up again you need to fill up the tank.


It's kind of like, what happens if your car didn't have batteries.

So without AdBlue, a modern diesel will not function?

[midlifecrisis]

Originally Posted by P1et

So without AdBlue, a modern diesel will not function?

Correct. The car will detect if the DEF tank is empty and will not start. This was a necessary mechanism to meet EPA regulations. The engine isn't clean enough without a properly functioning DEF system - so you can't run it without the stuff.

[alphaod]

It's more of a legal requirement then a technical one if that answers the question.

[Flying Ace]

Originally Posted by P1et

So without AdBlue, a modern diesel will not function?

Should not function legally. BMW programmed it so that if you completely drain the DEF tank, it won't start, b/c the car won't be EPA compliant at that point.

Will the car still work without DEF? Yes. There are people who gutted the emissions equipment on a D and coded the DEF requirement out of the DME

[corinb]

I see folks are mentioning this is in idrive service menu is this only available on certain models? I have 2011 BMW x5 35d made in US and when navigating through idrive I see oil and brake fluid levels but nothing on Adblue?

The cost effective OEM type adblue won't arrive for 3 weeks and I will probably be out of town when it arrives and don't want it sitting outside for a week in the heat or being stolen, so trying to determine if should have shop get another one in as the indicator came on a few months back and only got in a 1/3 of one of the boxed 2.5g as it leaked all over the place and was making huge mess (both connection from nozzle and container leaking, possibly overtightened and stripped as well as car burping and overfilling reservoir). I had the shop order two of the 1/2 gallono/1.89L and got one of these in perfectly without a drop spilling. I typically hardly drive but recently did two approx 200 mile trips, have another 200m trip planned as well as a 900 mile trip and don't want to have to deal with the leaking 2.5g containers again. Since notification of the 1000 miles left I have gotten approx 5L/1.3G into the system and only have one more half gallon bottle available. I am unclear on the usage and how far 6.9L/1.8G will allow me to go (gone about 500 miles and 1200 to go)?

I am super concerned as had a situation where the adblue light wasn't going off after adding a previous 2.5g NAPA adblue (some other type of error-think it said incompatiable DEF or something) and had my car towed to the shop with 80 miles on it as was worried driving to shop and only having 5 miles left for them to troubleshoot. Even with the tow my vehicle was in the shop for over a month, probably was close to two months and regional managers were looking at it trying to figure out how to get it restarted so never want to get that low on the adblue again.

I still have some of the 2.5g bottle left but with it leaking out of where the nozzle and container joins not sure if I can hold that, cut off the top of the OEM bottle and use as a funnel and hold all these components and get this all in the car by myself without spilling? I was so impressed as to how well the OEM bottle worked without any mess.

[Cranswick852]

If you have a 2011 X5, then it won't be a problem. BMW only introduced AdBlue/DEF for the F15 (2013), in order to meet Euro 6 emissions legislation

[XxBBVTMxX]

What I did was buy 1x bottle of BMW AdBlue, and a container of Blue DEF Platinum.

Use up your bottle, cut a small opening up top at the center, fill it up with Blue DEF Platinum, use some good tape to cover the hole, top off both tanks.

I top off my tanks every-time I do an oil change (6500). I do not carry AdBlue with me. I have never had a warning or AdBlue issue. And I am no rocket scientist, but I like to not let the tanks fully drain as I do not know if that would cause crystallization problems.