petrol smell when filling tank to top

[bram248]

I became the proud owner of a 3.0i sport x5 on wednesday and filled the tank up to get the car home, when i got home i could smell petrol outside of the car.I used the forum and managed to track down the source of the petrol to be coming from the inspection hole under the back seat.
I have a couple of questions on a righthand drive what is under the backseat behind the driver the petrol pump or the fuel level sender?

And also it had one pipe with a crimp on to the plastic housing and then an electric style plug but there was another plastic housing should there be any pipe attached or is it just a breather of some sort.

its just when i found the problem there was a couple of cm of petrol sitting on top of the fuel sender/pump and i normally have the kis in the car.

[JCL]

You should put your year and model details in your sig or under your personal details, it would be easier to provide the right link.

Behind the rear seat, there are two access panels. The right one (behind the driver in the UK) has the fuel pump and sender unit. The left one (passenger side) has a second sender unit. There are lines connected to each unit, one for supply and one for return. The lines run up to the fuel filter mounted under the rear seat. I know that the pump is on the right on North American vehicles; I selected a RHD model and it still showed the pump on the right.

See this link for details. I used a 2003, RHD, for this but you can select your correct vehicle details. Look at the tank, vent, and fuel feed sections, all under the Fuel Supply main category.

RealOEM.com * BMW E53 X5 3.0i FUEL TANK/ATTACHING PARTS

The fuel tank does not have an open breather, it is a sealed and pressurized fuel supply system for emissions purposes. Sounds a bit dodgy if fuel is sitting on the sender unit.