What did you do to / for your E53 today??

[zener]

Originally Posted by andrewwynn

FPR will hide a weak pump for ages. Lean higher revs does suggest low fuel pressure. Rent a gauge.

The problem is you don't know if it's pump or FPR until you measure.

I replaced fuel filter with new fpr about a month ago so, atleast I hope it isn't that.

[nick325xit 5spd]

Originally Posted by andrewwynn

My original radiator was going strong at 20 ¹/₂ years and 205,000 miles (330k km). I wouldn't preemptively replace one with no issues either. (though my new to me e70 is fairly flattened (fins) and that's a lot of manual labor to straighten out I may replace it).

Eh. Radiators are a maintenance item. I’ve had enough of them fail that I won’t keep an old one, especially in a daily / trip car.

I don’t really like keeping radiators past the ten year mark, much less pushing twenty.

[nick325xit 5spd]

Originally Posted by zener

I replaced fuel filter with new fpr about a month ago so, atleast I hope it isn't that.

Hengst? IIRC, I’ve seen a lot of complaints about that one.

[zener]

No, I bought bosch.

[andrewwynn]

My comment about FPR means that it's usually a weak fuel pump. What happens at end of life is the pump that new puts out 60psi now puts out 53 or 51; just enough to supply overhead to the FPR.

That is until you hit the throttle heavy. Then it can't keep up the pressure at volume. You get hesitation at wot and you get lean operation at steady state load eg highway driving.

[zener]

Haven't noticed any hesitation, but somehow it feels low on power after 40mph when you hit throttle. Under that it does accelerate fine.


I will most probably order new pump anyways, since car has 164k miles on it.

[andrewwynn]

164000/6000=27.333
164000/5000=32.8

If your average speed is less than 27-33mph your pump is overdue for failure.

Both wife's and my e53 pump hard failed at under 135000.

Fuel pumps last 5-6000 hours on average with E10 fuel. (each 10-% ethanol adds 1000 hours mtbf).

I personally would at least have a spare with that many miles.

[zener]

All of my fuel pump failures have happened at around 226k miles so we are far from that but... It's cheap and pretty much last old component around the fault and symptoms area.

[andrewwynn]

226/6=37.667
226/5=45.2
average mph of 38-45. If you mostly highway drive totally possible to be normal.

I tell people to leave their avg mph for a month or so to determine what their average is. Then multiply that by 5-6000 to determine life expectancy.

Mine usually is about 27.

27*5=135. Very close to when my pump died.

Kinda glad this came up. My new to me car is at about 146. I need to look and see if my fuel pump is still original.

[PropellerHead]

Today was the test to see if those cheap interior storage LEDs are worth it. I'm gonna go with Yeah.

Install was a PITA. The new lights do not have the same connection as either my E53's or the E38. I ended up massacring them into submission. After that tho, it was easy.

The ones that have served faithfully for all the 18 years...

And the new kids in town...

I didn't take a before pic bc I figure that 99% of us can just go outside and take a look for ya damn selves. But here's what'll greet my lil wifey when she's in a dark parking lot next time. Bonus: She can activate the trunk and pretty much light up the inside of the thing...

And then... Well, just don't raise the gate anywhere near an airport. Planes will mark on your bright ass..