Fuel filter replacement

[Ricky Bobby]

Originally Posted by taosx5

Thanks CN90.

I have done so much reading and research the last few weeks I can't remember what I have read.

Today I changed fuel filters on both, installed a new MAF on the 4.6. For some crazy a$$ reason the thing short circuits MAFs if you get into the throttle hard. (I have a Dinan CAI). A friend drove it a couple of weeks ago and got into it pretty hard and sure enough it threw a P0120 (it think that;s what it was) code. I found a new Bosch MAF from AIP Electronics for $40. I searched the web and could not find one for under $100 bucks. Code has gone away and not come back.

^^Maybe the filter is over oiled and fouled the MAF? I don't do oiled filters any more, have the AFE intake with Dry filter on mine.

[taosx5]

Originally Posted by Ricky Bobby

^^Maybe the filter is over oiled and fouled the MAF? I don't do oiled filters any more, have the AFE intake with Dry filter on mine.

Ricky Bobby, what you say makes sense but I get the Dinan air filters and they come directly from Dinan. I suspect they are semi-preoiled but would think they are designed to work with OEM MAFs. I will call Dinan and ask them. Thanks for the heads up.

[X53Jay4.8is]

Originally Posted by taosx5

Ricky Bobby, what you say makes sense but I get the Dinan air filters and they come directly from Dinan. I suspect they are semi-preoiled but would think they are designed to work with OEM MAFs. I will call Dinan and ask them. Thanks for the heads up.

Yeah Jay is right on staying away from the oiled high flow filters. I just installed the DINAN CAI on my 4.6is and used AFE PRO DRY S filter. I even run the AFE PRO Dry S on my E39 M5.

[iansanderson]

This post was a life-saver! I probably would have broken my clips and been without a car for a few days if I wouldn't have found it. Squeeze hard, and wiggle/pull on the quick-connectors is the name of the game.

I ended up cutting off the rubber vacuum line, and a tiny bit of the plastic piping. Just installed a new rubber hose piece. My X5 is a desert car, so the rubber was brittle and cracking.

I pulled fuse 47 and ran the engine for a few minutes. Some fuel sprayed out, but nothing an old rag couldn't handle. Whole thing took me a half hour. Thanks!

[Russianblue]

I know this is an ancient thread but I thought I would put in my 2 cents after changing my filter today. I did this on my 2003 in 2012 and remember it being a PITA. I had to go back and re-read everything to refresh on the process.

I read and read and read about the squeezy black connectors with blue clips and was pretty confused. In the end, they were VERY easy to get off (on my car anyway). I used a small flat head screwdriver and simply depressed the blue 'button' on top and slid them right off. I remembered from last time that those connectors weren't something that held up the process for me.

A battery powered ratchet, drill or impact helps TREMENDOUSLY to save time on this job. There are upwards of 15 bolts and nuts to remove. I think my 1/4" impact probably saved me 45 minutes. Took about 1 hour from start to finish. This is the kind of repair that typically drags out for me to twice the expected time. I was very pleased : )

The weird thing I had issues with was re-installing the 13mm bolts in several places. They seemed to get cross-threaded very easily. In the end, the solution was pretty simple. Like on many other repairs, don't snug up every bolt from the get-go. Get them all threaded while there is still the ability to position the cowling. The 10mm and 8mm were simple. The 13mm bolts required some finessing. Be careful not to cross thread them.

In order to avoid re-connecting the lines incorrectly like one poster got unlucky doing (twice I believe), I had the old filter hanging and moved one line at a time to the new filter.

I got the vacuum line off without ripping simply by taking a pair of pliers and gently twisting it loose at the filter. Once it broke free, it came off easily.

The 13mm bolts at the top-rear of the belly pan thing required me to use two 6 inch and one 3 inch extensions IIRC. They are way up in there. I used a swivel on the one closest to the driver's side, but that probably wasn't necessary. It wasn't necessary for reinstallation.

I didn't de-pressurize the fuel system at all. I collected only about 6 oz of fuel drippings in total. I let it drip into a cup with a rag in the bottom. Lots of dripping, no pressure release or spraying though. I wish i'd paid attention to the post suggesting to put the plastic caps from the new filter onto the old one as soon as you remove the lines. I can't believe I didn't think of that while I was doing it. I'd have had basically ZERO fuel leakage from the filter.

[Bmwe5320023.0]

Originally Posted by Datzoom

Changed the fuel filter on my 3.0 today. Thanks to the great info in this post I was able to make sense of the clips. My problem is that the small piece of flexible tubing that connects from the hard plastic line to the vent port on the filter is torn. It looks like a piece of vacuum tubing or similar but it is bonded to the plastic line. Realoem shows the part as being pne piece with ~3" of hard plastic line>

Can I just replace the 3" of rubber line with fuel resistant vacuum line or do I need to get the whole replacement line? It isn't very expensive ($17.00) but it has a long lead time.

Thank you for your help.

Dan

Yes of course you can, it's just a vacuum hose!
I just did it.
I replaced the fuel filter on my X5 2002, it didn't have any of those clips thankfully, so was super easy using the special clamp.


The vacuum hose was getting old and brittle and a piece of it got stuck on the fuel filter nipple, so I replaced it, it's not going anywhere!

[Dinan4.6is]

I ran into this problem, and was surprised I couldn't find a solution online.

So, I would like to add:
If the rubber piece that connects the vacuum hose to the fuel filter nipple breaks or tears, but the rest of the vacuum hose itself is still good -- there is a simple and inexpensive solution from Advance Auto Parts:
Dorman - Autograde Soft Black Vacuum Tubing Connector Assortment (part #47430) https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/...ose+connectors
Comes in a set of 4 different sizes, each about 2" length -- the 2nd to largest is the one you need (3/16 I believe).

Unfortunately the alternative is buying a new one (Genuine BMW 13321437692 Vacuum Pipe https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw...pe-13321437692) for $60+, and taking a ton of crap apart to run the line. If your vacuum line is good then this is a complete waste of time and money.

[oldskewel]

Yes, any vacuum hose at all you can put on there should be fine.

My understanding is that the hose is not under significant vacuum or pressure. It is very non-critical. A very small amount of gas fumes may be exhausted by the fuel pressure regulator, and rather than just letting them vent to the air, they route that hose all the way to the engine air intake. I think it might even be on the upstream (atmospheric pressure) side.

When I replaced the fuel filter on my 2001 3.0i, I just replaced it with a new by-the-foot vacuum line because I was in there.