Well, yes, the subaru diesel engines have gotten a pretty bad reputation due to these early engine failures.
This engine also failed at around 110k km (previous owner), and was rebuilt with a brand new short block from Subaru. I was told this new short block also was revised and strengthened compared to the early one that failed.
However, I think a lot of the problems are caused by the DPF and the EGR systems.
On this particular car (BL/BP platform), the DPF is an unmanaged/passive type. This means no sensors, no regen cycles, nothing. If the DPF is full/clogged, you wouldn't get any warning or CEL.
And the EGR, which sends exhaust full of soot into the intake and through the engine, contributes to contaminate the engine oil. The service manual states to change the oil every 15k km, which I also think is far too long intervals considering this fact.
So, with the DPF removed, and the EGR blocked off, I hope to beat the odds with this engine. I know a lot of people who have done the same thing, has had steady, reliable engines.
I also change the engine oil and filter at about 5-8k km just to be safe.
I only have about 30k km on the new short block, so I expect it to last.
I just love this as a daily driver. Plenty of low down torque, and high mpg numbers.
And to put it in perspective, if you search around for engine problems, it's not only for Subaru. We were on the verge of buying a BMW for my wife, and were considering either a 2.0 diesel or 2.0 petrol. Turned out both of these engines were suffering from quite a lot of problems themselves. Like registry chain stretching, which is a "pull engine" kind of job to replace it, since it's located towards the fire wall. This of course is if you got lucky and replaced it before it seized. Also problems relating to injectors, fuel pumps, coil packs, etc. etc.
And Audi/VAG has also had a lot of problems with high oil consumption etc.
I guess you can search any car you like, and find different common problems with it.
We ended up with a japanese car again, a Mitsubishi ASX (Outlander Sport in the states).