No. Removing a diesel particulate filter (DPF), or “deleting” it with a remap, almost always makes a vehicle illegal to use on the road, and a vehicle built with a DPF fails its MOT without one1. “Just have it removed” is advice that still circulates when a DPF blocks, often from businesses that sell the service. Here is the legal position, and why removal doesn’t fix the problem anyway.
Removal is illegal on a road vehicle
It is an offence under regulation 61A of the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986 to use a vehicle that has been modified so that it no longer meets the emission standards it was designed to meet1,2. The government’s guidance is that removing a DPF “will almost invariably contravene these requirements, making the vehicle illegal for road use”, with fines of up to £1,000, or £2,500 for a light goods vehicle such as a van1. It makes no difference that the engine “runs fine” without it.
The MOT checks for it
Since February 2014 the MOT has checked that a DPF is present: a vehicle that was built with one fails if it is missing3. Since 20 May 2018 the checks have been stricter4,5:
- evidence that the DPF has been tampered with is a major defect, so the vehicle fails;
- a DPF that has clearly been cut open and re-welded fails unless the owner can show a valid reason, such as filter cleaning;
- a diesel fitted with a DPF fails if its exhaust shows visible smoke of any colour during the smoke test.
A remap that stops the warning lights does not change any of this: the tester looks at the exhaust itself.
Insurance and resale
Insurers ask about modifications, and removing a DPF is one. Under the Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012, if you answer an insurer’s questions untruthfully, it can cancel the policy and refuse all claims where the answer was deliberate or reckless, and can still cancel the policy or pay less on a claim where it was careless6. And a vehicle without its DPF will fail its next MOT, whoever owns it by then3.
It doesn’t fix anything anyway
DPFs rarely block for no reason. The most common cause is soot building up faster than regeneration can burn it off, because of the way the vehicle is driven or a fault elsewhere: the EGR valve, sensors, pressure pipes, leaking injectors, glow plugs or the wrong engine oil7. Remove the filter and that fault is still there. The better path: find the cause with our guide to why DPFs block, fix it, and if the filter can’t be recovered, fit a type-approved replacement. See the DPF range, including Premium silicon-carbide DPFs with a 3-year warranty, and combined catalytic converter and DPF units.
Supplying a non-approved DPF is an offence too
For a vehicle that is Euro 5 or later, a replacement DPF must be type approved, and it is illegal to supply one that is not8: see type approval and the law. In our range, every DPF listed for a Euro 5 vehicle and every combined catalytic converter and DPF unit is type approved. Find yours: Ford Transit DPFs, Vauxhall Vivaro DPFs, Mercedes Sprinter DPFs or all vehicles.
Sources
- Department for Transport, “Diesel particulate filters: guidance note”. gov.uk
- The Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986, regulation 61A. legislation.gov.uk
- Department for Transport, “New rules for MOT to test for diesel particulate filter”, 4 December 2013. gov.uk
- DVSA, MOT inspection manual for private passenger and light commercial vehicles, section 8.2.2. gov.uk
- DVSA, “MOT changes: 20 May 2018”. gov.uk
- Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012, sections 2, 4 and 5 and Schedule 1. legislation.gov.uk
- BM Catalysts, “Diesel Particulate Filter Information & Fitting Advice”. bmcats.com
- Department for Transport, “Catalytic converters and diesel particulate filters” (updated 30 May 2023). gov.uk