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  #121  
Old 09-04-2018, 10:30 AM
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Putting in new senders was never the answer. You need to find the problem and repair it.
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  #122  
Old 09-04-2018, 12:09 PM
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Fuel gauge indicates 1/3 tank when I run out gas.

First, this is a fantastic initial post and following string. I'm brand new to Xoutpost and will probably irritate several of you with my noobness before the week is out. I didn't read all 13 pages of this string, because it's a lot.

I signed up here after I parked my late year 2005 X5 3.0 and awoke the next day to a car that cranked but didn't start. I made an appointment to take it in to a specialist (noob here, remember?), but ordered a new fuel pump in case I was able to repair it myself. This is after I dropped my glove box and front fuse box to check the fuel relay.

The cheap, presumably Chinese-made, $23.40 pump from eBay arrived early. After watching some moderately helpful YouTube videos, I managed to remove the old fuel pump from the sending unit (this was hard and required 3 screwdrivers at once to pry the clips from the plastic housing while whacking it againt a tire &#128556. I chucked the little hose clamp in favor of a standard wormgear hose clamp. By now, you have figured out that I am a guy with a BMW who can't afford to properly maintain a BMW. I have 3 kids in private school. Yay!

Long story short, it worked. I installed the new pump and the car started. I am so proud of myself. 2/3 of my problem solved, I still had the fuel gauge reading issue. At empty, it reads 1/3 full, still. The sending unit was replaced just before I bought the car. Perhaps the 'o' ring issue described by the OP is my problem?

What wisdom can my fellow Xoutposters offer?
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  #123  
Old 09-04-2018, 02:32 PM
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Since new I have always run the fuel level down until readout is between 10-15 miles of fuel remaining. Still have original fuel delivery components with exception of fuel filter. Current mileage about 121,000.
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  #124  
Old 09-04-2018, 04:02 PM
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Confirm how much fuel fits when you say it is empty and reads 1/3.

A design flaw in the siphon jet that will give you an out of gas situation at between 1/4 and 1/3 of a tank of gas.

2/3 of a tank is 64 liters. If you can only add 17 gal then the gauge is correct and almost certainly your siphon jet is leaking.

100% of the BMWs that I've serviced the fuel supply have has the leaking o-ring problem. I will do preemptive maintenance on any BMW I maintain at about 120,000 miles or less because they have a design flaw that lets the o-ring come out of the groove and will not be able to pump the last 1/4 of a tank of gas.

You should be able to get 23-24 gallons of gas into the car when the low fuel light comes on. If your needle doesn't get below 1/3 and you can get a full fill then it's quite likely that one of the fuel level floats is getting caught up on the tank and reporting the wrong level.
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  #125  
Old 09-04-2018, 09:59 PM
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- Sorry I did not read the whole thread...

- Does anyone have the PN for the O-ring?

- My 2006 X5 with 130K runs fine, zero issues even down to 1/8 of the tank. So I assume the O-ring is still fine but just want to replace it.

- Question is: is this O-ring deformed straight from factory ? How does it get to this stage of deformation by itself? Just a scientific question!
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  #126  
Old 09-04-2018, 10:52 PM
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The o-ring will pop out of the groove because the fault in the design. It's a standard size o-ring but it's not a BMW part they only sell the entire unit.

I may have measured the o-ring look on the siphon jet repair thread. I've always had an o-ring on hand the correct size so I didn't need to buy one.

There also is a joint that has no seal but should have one and needs some Teflon tape to fix that also


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  #127  
Old 09-04-2018, 10:53 PM
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If your o-ring didn't dislodge yet, you just need to add a screw or a zip tie in the right place to prevent the failure in the first place


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  #128  
Old 09-04-2018, 10:54 PM
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The o-ring only gets deformed from fuel pressure pushing on it when the plastic tubes get deformed/shrink/tilt and provides excess clearance. I took mine apart to check and everything looks like new. Not sure if in some cases like Andrewwynn's if it's poor quality plastic or ethanol in the fuel that causes the deformation/discoloring of the plastic or maybe a combination. Also I wonder if the problem wasn't corrected in later production and with a replacement assembly.
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  #129  
Old 09-04-2018, 11:00 PM
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It's the tilting. The assembly is only held together on one side opposite of where the forces are applied. I have not seen a change in the design to avoid the problem I think it takes about 4000-5000 hours to fail so multiply that by your average mph to determine when it might fail.
If there isn't and improvement in the design it will fail given enough time.


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  #130  
Old 09-04-2018, 11:04 PM
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Siphon pump DIY repair
https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?sha...8&share_type=t

That's the direct link to the siphon jet repair thread


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