Save yourself up to $200 and some headaches - Electric Fuel Pump PM

Thanks, guy, for the 'heads up' on the fuel pump. It wasn't on my radar at all. I'm at 8 years / 80k miles now. In the past, I admit I fell into the 'if it breaks, scramble to diagnos and fix' camp. Now that I'm older / wiser, I've moved into the PM camp.

I agree with others - just because a specific part hasn't completely failed, doesn't mean it's not been affected by mileage & age.

The difference between a new car and staying with an older car - with a new car you KNOW it'll start virtually every time, and handle tough situations. With an older car, it becomes more of a gamble with each passing year, unless a person is diligent and keeps up with maintenance....

My car is closing in on 142k miles so once I get the tires and some other odds and ends done with the car, I'll be doing the fuel pump next. I'm all about preventative maintenance here as I think the car will thank me down the road... plus I won't get stranded which would really suck.

Sold my old 328ci with nearly 210k miles on the original fuel pump. Although had I kept it, the fuel pump was on my list for preventative replacement

Coming from the 2002 school of thought (no, not year, model) we just have sevaral cars each and a AAA card.

Catastrophic in my book isn't a fuel pump failure. That's just an inconvenience. When the cooling system explodes
and takes the head with it, THAT bugs me. So I replace the plastic garbage in the cooling system prophylactically,
and let the fuel pump die of natural causes...

It's a modern contrivance that your car should be infallible. 40 years ago, they died with regularity, and cell phones
were something that Buck Rogers had.

Each to their own, though... if you want to replace the pump, well, that's certainly not going to melt a polar ice cap...

http://xkcd.com/386/ seems to be pertinent today.

t

agreed TobyB. 104K miles on mine and 10 yrs old. Original fuel tank. So far if I recall there's only been 1 fuel tank fail under 100K, proactively replacing it at 60K is flushing money away and proven mathematically by results posted in this thread.

In order to be old and wise you must first have been young and stupid!

120K miles. Original fuel pump, fuel filter, battery, cooling system, alternator. Whatever.

Originally Posted by jfoj

In order to be old and wise you must first have been young and stupid!

Maintain your car how you like, and I and others like me will do the same. My fuel pump is older than anybody's in this thread and doing fine. What's with the attitude about how other people maintain their cars on here? Just because we don't change our cooling systems bi-weekly or our fuel pumps yearly we're idiots and we drive rolling piles of garbage? It always helps to insult those you want to convert to your way of thinking.

changed my last week at 132k. Still felt the same as Orig Pump, but doesnt sound as deathly

My Fuel pump on my 2004 325i died at 60,000 miles 2 months ago so it only lasted 8 years, I was lucky mine died in my garage.

Originally Posted by Brinkley

Maintain your car how you like, and I and others like me will do the same. My fuel pump is older than anybody's in this thread and doing fine. What's with the attitude about how other people maintain their cars on here? Just because we don't change our cooling systems bi-weekly or our fuel pumps yearly we're idiots and we drive rolling piles of garbage? It always helps to insult those you want to convert to your way of thinking.

Yes. Precisely.

Originally Posted by Sweetness

changed my last week at 132k. Still felt the same as Orig Pump, but doesnt sound as deathly

Good job. Change the fuel filter too, right? And the fuel pump relay?

Also keep in mind fuel pressure drops as your fuel filters age. Those of you with "dirty" fuel filters are driving around with low fuel pressure. This is obviously putting strain on the pump and everything else in your car. Same goes for everything else neglected/abused.

Ah ok. Thanks for clearing it up for me. I'll let you get back to wasting your money on mindless PM now.

The coupon code for BMA is SpecE30.

I replaced mine when my Cam sensor went out, and after reading Mango's preventative maint thread.

The ONLY trouble I had was seating the new pump. I realized it's A LOT easier to fit the gasket on the tank, and then slide in the pump... sweet jesus... just popped right in.



Question though about the Fuel Pump Relay: For a 2000 323Ci, the relay is in the glove box, behind the fuse box?

Glad you guys are paying attention. Lots of barnyard dancing shoes in the garbage... along with lots of old crusty garbage pile parts.

157,000 miles, and counting, original pump.

Any reason to get an OE BMW pump rather than the Siemens/VDO? Or are they the same thing minus the BMW logo.

Same thing minus logo.

Originally Posted by mrmaico

Any reason to get an OE BMW pump rather than the Siemens/VDO? Or are they the same thing minus the BMW logo.

VDO is only $100...

Just recieved mine today, good project for after work. My coworker is letting me borrow his 330Cic right now, not a bad replacement.

It cracks me up how heated some people get about the PM threads. You want to wait until it fails, go ahead...if you want to keep your car from leaving you stranded replace it. To each their own. And Mango definitely doesn't say every other week, just every 60-75k miles...that's years if you drive "the average" 12k a year.