DPF - off car clean - anyone done it? How easy to remove?

[village]

So i've done 150k on my vRS, mostly trouble free motorway miles, and i would say that this is hands down the best car i've owned. However, for the last 10k or so I think it must have spent most of its time in regen. The soot level slowly climbs from about 0.3g up to about 2.5-3g, then jumps to 19.4g and starts a regen. The regen gets it back to around the 0.3 mark and then it usually just sits there for ages, still in regen, until i can trick it into finishing, usually by coasting for a while or turning it off. Occasionally it will finish under its own steam. 

 

I dont have an android so sadly i cant get VAG dpf app, but based on a bit of research i'm guessing it's behaving like this because it's full of ash. My research also suggests that means either i replace the dpf, or i get it cleaned, off car. Cleaning is obviously much cheaper, so my immediate preference, but is it worth it.... It seems that companies that clean dpf's say they'll get it 95% clean so it's basically like new, and companies that dont clean them say it's a waste of time. No surprises there, so looking for some real world experience. So my questions are:

 

1. Has anyone done or had done an off car clean, and if so was it successful?
2. Assuming it's cleaned properly, what life span can you realistically expect before it needs doing again?
3. How easy is it to remove the dpf? I've been told you need to take the subframe off...
4. Anyone got a how to on removing the dpf

 

Many thanks all

[Ecomatt]

The subframe has to come off and extracted from underneath. It is a pain to do and best left to a garage with a ramp.

Once clean it would last another 150,000 if your car is working correctly. Certainly longer than you would keep it.

[village]

47 minutes ago, Ecomatt said:

The subframe has to come off and extracted from underneath. It is a pain to do and best left to a garage with a ramp.

Once clean it would last another 150,000 if your car is working correctly. Certainly longer than you would keep it.

Thank you! I’ll keep this until it dies, unless the cost of getting it there is prohibitive