This year model is just on the cusp of being fitted with a dpf . You would have to check the vin with BMW parts dept to confirm the spec .

Agreed, it was the same with a lot of manufacturers at that time. They were making and shipping new diesel models with DPFs, but UK dealers would still have some pre-DPF cars to sell, so the year of registration is not always a reliable guide.

Of course, a previous owner could also have removed the internal DPF matrix but left the external casing in place.

Thanks for the feedback.

The car was first registered in June 2009.

How do I find out if it was fitted with a DPF?

If none was fitted that would be a real bonus.

If you look on the V5C it will specify what the homologated emissions were. We had 2 Euro 4 diesels one with a DPF (2008 BMW 1 series) and one without (2006 Ford Focus). The particles are the important one, for Euro 4 a DPF was only required if it could not meet the requirement without one, the limit was 0.025 g/kg. The figure for the Focus was just below this but the 118D was way down in single figures, seem to remember 0.004.

But some manufacturers did fit one even if not required, pretty sure Peugeot did.

So if your X5 is nearly 0.025 it would almost certainly left the factory without a DPF, if its a low figure like our 118D it would have had a DPF.

Euro 5 came into being in September 2009, unlikely to affect your 2009 car unless it was a new model at that date (updates to existing did not count). If it was post September 2009 and a newly introduced model it will 100% have a DPF.

FYI our 118D always had a clean tailpipe, the Focus had a dirty one.