At a main dealer ,you are probably looking at around £1k supply and fit.

Thanks - that's about the figure I was expecting. An independant quoted £265 for the egr valve and 5 hours including diagnosis - plus VAT. How many people / vehicles is this going to affect?

May be worth contacting Vw dealer,There are loads of software updates to try and reduce the egr problems on these,however may be too late in your case.Replacing the egr on these is a massive job,could be quicker to take engine out.

Thanks again. I think you are right about too late. After a few days, it was virtually undriveable. At first, switching off reset the system and a good blast went without trouble, but it came back next day and over a few days got to the point where it wouldn't reset. It went in to the independent. VW warned me that there are updates which aren't available to independents. (Isn't that illegal?) The job is done, but for the software updates. It's a big relief not to have it cutting out, but ..... saoftware updates ?!?

Is it possible to fit an EGR valve blanking plate? Lots of Pug owners do that when the valve starts playing up, particularly as its near impossible to get to on some engines.

To fit a blanking plate you still need access to it. Sounds like VW have designed it to jncrease dealer income. On other diesels it can take as little as 15 minutes to remove and replace.

Thanks for all the posts. I'll report any future developments. Regards to all.

A blanking plate is not an option unless you adapt the ECM to ignore the EGR system.

Aye, not an easy job to just blank off. The EGR valve on theses CR diesel engines are part of the EGR cooler ( bolted to the rear of the engine block behind the DPF ) and, unlike the earlier systems, have an electrical feedback signal to the ECM which not only adjusts EGR actuation, but correlates this with mass air flow, fuelling and engine torque control to apply the correct amount of EGR required for any given driving conditions.

The EGR valve, along with the air intake flap is also activated during DPF regeneration to speed up and maintain the exhaust gas temperature, so whilst reflashing the ECM to delete EGR is plausible, it could end up causing even bigger problems later on with blocked DPF's ?

Jaguar X type 2.2 diesel owners had similar issues whereby the EGR couldn't be completely blanked off. The get around was drilling a small hole in the blanking plate - 2-3mm diameter - which allowed enough gas to get through to ensure the ECU didn't throw up any faults.