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  #1  
Old 12-16-2024, 09:55 PM
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Question 04 4.4i N62 fuel smell in engine bay after short trip

47k original miles, has never sat more than two weeks without being driven, only 1-2k miles per year for the last five years or more.

No maintenance or problems with the fuel system until this point.

After two short trips recently, about 3 miles, there has been a fairly strong fuel smell coming from the engine when I exit the car. The smell isn't noticeable in the cabin.

I has been colder lately, just above freezing. I had noticed a fuel smell in the early fall when doing some maintenance work, but not as strong.

Today, I changed the oil and the cabin filter. While warming up the engine, I used my Foxwell NT520 pro to do a full scan. No codes and there is no SES light.

No smoke from the tailpipes that I've seen.

After the oil change, when I started the engine, I didn't notice any fuel smell. I took the engine cover off and didn't see any fuel leaks. I had noticed fuel consumption had gone down by about 1 mpg lately, but that maybe because I've been doing shorter trips, plus the colder weather.

Three questions:

1. Researching here and on YT, the problem areas might be: leaky injectors, fuel rail issues, fuel pressure regulator, evap system or fuel tank-sender unit. Does this seem right?

2. I saw another thread for M54 where a fuel pressure test was recommended. Is that the place to start?

3. I'm thinking of putting some Techron in when I fill up this week. Is that a good idea?

Thanks!
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Old 12-16-2024, 10:01 PM
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Injector o-rings and even the injectors themselves can leak and cold weather is when that shows up and best to check that right at cold start. Regulator is on the fuel filter so it's not that, and the fuel sender is far from the engine bay as well, fuel pressure test won't tell you much about a leak.
If it's like the M54 facelift the regulator is vented to air intake boot so there is a small chance that if the pressure regulator diaphragm is leaking that some fuel is coming from there but that is really rare and usually gets bad quickly.
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Old 12-16-2024, 10:10 PM
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Thanks for the quick reply. Is the pressure regulator diaphragm the orange diaphragm on this part?

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/vai...-11127547058oe



I think there are two of them on the N62.
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Old 12-16-2024, 10:18 PM
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No that's the pcv valve diaphragm. The fuel pressure regulator is on or built into the fuel filter back at the tank. IF the regulator is vented you just need to find the hose in the engine compartment and pull that and make sure no fuel is coming out, there is also a short piece of hose right at the regulator that can be rotten I would be a good idea to check but those things are way down on the list. You are saying the fuel smell is coming from the engine bay right? 20 year old Injector O-rings on a cold morning are up higher on the list.
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Old 12-16-2024, 10:28 PM
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Thanks for the clarification. I saw a YT video where a N62 PCV diaphragm caused smoking, but not fuel smell.

Injectors was my first guess too, especially with the age, it turned 21 in October. It seems like the fix if the injectors themselves aren't bad is to replace the two o-rings, correct?

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw...ng-13641437487

The o-rings on my transmission's Mechatronics sealing sleeve were shot about four years ago, despite the low mileage and garage queen status.

EDIT: The smell is definitely from the engine bay.
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Old 12-16-2024, 11:04 PM
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Yes, but it's not always straight forward to get the right o-rings.
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Old 12-16-2024, 11:27 PM
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Good point. I think the FCP ones I linked to are correct, but I'm no expert. The BMW part on FCP Euro points to it as an alternative. The BMW Genuine ones are ~$8 a piece! And, oddly, there are separate part numbers for the upper and lower ones whereas the Elring part says the fitment is for both.

Then there's the question of the correct tool for removing the injectors and the one for putting the o-rings on. I found this tool which says it's for N63 and N54. https://www.amazon.com/Schley-Produc.../dp/B012US7606

Weird that there are no matches for N62 on Amazon that I could find.

BTW, my neighbor three down is from Saskatchewan
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Old 12-17-2024, 12:31 AM
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There are no special tools required to replace or refresh injectors on the N62. Remove the rail, remove the clips holding the injectors on, then they pull right out. They may prove quite stubborn because the o-rings dry out and get lodged in place. The injectors will pull out though. I just replaced all 8 of mine on an N62 I rebuilt and on 6 of them the upper o-ring remained in the rail itself.
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Old 12-17-2024, 08:06 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by haigha View Post
Good point. I think the FCP ones I linked to are correct, but I'm no expert. The BMW part on FCP Euro points to it as an alternative. The BMW Genuine ones are ~$8 a piece! And, oddly, there are separate part numbers for the upper and lower ones whereas the Elring part says the fitment is for both.

Then there's the question of the correct tool for removing the injectors and the one for putting the o-rings on. I found this tool which says it's for N63 and N54. https://www.amazon.com/Schley-Produc.../dp/B012US7606

Weird that there are no matches for N62 on Amazon that I could find.

BTW, my neighbor three down is from Saskatchewan
Yes, that's exactly the problem I had when I tried to get o-rings for my M54, even worse the shop that tested my injectors couldn't supply the right ones either. There are 2 (Bosch, Siemens) or more types of injectors that might be installed that use different o-rings. I "think" I had the Siemens injectors which btw can't be cleaned because they have ceramic seats, that had 2 different size o-rings but the shops info had them listed by P/N using the same size o-rings! I for sure didn't want to pay the $8 per o-ring and then maybe even not get the right ones so I ordered a kit off Amazon that had three o-rings, one for the bottom and 2 for the top of which one was silicon compound orange o-ring especially for cold weather. Mine were leaking only at about -35 to -40 but stopped after a few minutes when the engine warmed up a bit. No special tools really needed.
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Old 12-17-2024, 12:03 PM
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Great information, 80stech and BimmerBreaker.

Isn't part of the purpose of the extraction tool to help remove a stuck injector without damaging it?

I found this kit on eBay:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/386461217581

Hard to tell, but the upper and lower o-rings look the same. No mention of the silicon compound o-ring. It only gets below freezing a few days a year here, so that may not be needed. I searched Amazon and didn't find such a kit for N62.

@BimmerBreaker: Did you take the engine out to do your rebuild? If not, is it straightforward to get the rails out and the injectors out with the engine inplace?

How do you get any stuck on o-ring material out safely?
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