HELP!

[BlackStealth]

Ok so I need help. Need professional assumption here:

Was driving along napier road. My beloved Baby decided to die on me. Jerking to a halt, everything showing the signs of fuel starvation - except for my fuel guage. It show 1/4 tank left. wtf? I actually ran out of gas!!(something that i always laugh about.)

Luckily Wilson came to the rescue with a 5 litre tin of gas and topped it up.

Well, the next day, ripped out both my Left and Right float device and did a voltage test on it..all seems fine. Tested the fuel cross feed return line....also fine. Needle moves down as per normal consumption too. DOnt seem to be anything wrong with the instrument cluster.

Anyone encoutered this? Phantom incidents is starting to emerge already....weird. Guess I am now heading towards the maintainance era whereas before was mod mod mod!

[opvaulet]

why suspect gauge? Normally its first signs of fuel pump/relay failure.

[BlackStealth]

Thought of that too. OK, maybe its time to replace the fuel pump which is quite infamous for failing after the 3rd year.

Originally Posted by opvaulet

why suspect gauge? Normally its first signs of fuel pump/relay failure.

[piggyboyz]

Try to plug out the fuel line at the fuel filter and get rid of the air pocket.. I have heard of this problem, apparently pretty common in our car.

The other thing worth looking at is the charcoal fuel filter and the fuel filter.

Was told it got to do with the residual pressure within the fuel system.

If it's faulty fuel pump, u won't even get your car started after topping petrol.

cheers

[eric3417]

Had a similar incident once in my previous MRS.
Coz i've in tank(Broquet), the fuel gauge in the tank actually got stuck to the pellets.
Thus my 1/4 tank never seems to run out! Untill my car starts coughing & died!
Didn't know what's wrong even paid $50 for a TOW..... Waste $$$...

Hahaha....

[superfly]

Hi,

Same thing happened to me. Check out the thread I started:

http://www.bmw-sg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7195

Anyway, it happened to me again along the ECP last week. If anyone saw a grey e46 by the side of the ECP Airport-bound late Wed night, it was me! Tank was slightly less than 1/4 full. Had my car towed to Kampong Arang as I couldn't restart. Fortunately still under warranty and they changed the fuel suction pump which apparently failed - I understands it feeds the fuel from one side of the tank to the other when fuel is low (the e46 fuel tank is saddle-shaped with a left and right side). They also changed a fuel regulator and fuel filter.

Seems like quite a common problem. Quite embarassing for BMW to have a 2-yr old e46 breakdown along the ECP I used to laugh at all those expensive cars breaking down along the highway but never expected to end up being in that very situation myself! Never had any such problems with the Japanese cars I owned previously. To PML's credit, they fixed the car pretty quickly (probably bec they have seen so many cases already) but will see if it recurs.

Hope this helps.

[Spaceman]

Originally Posted by BlackStealth

Ok so I need help. Need professional assumption here:

Was driving along napier road. My beloved Baby decided to die on me. Jerking to a halt, everything showing the signs of fuel starvation - except for my fuel guage. It show 1/4 tank left. wtf? I actually ran out of gas!!(something that i always laugh about.)

Luckily Wilson came to the rescue with a 5 litre tin of gas and topped it up.

Well, the next day, ripped out both my Left and Right float device and did a voltage test on it..all seems fine. Tested the fuel cross feed return line....also fine. Needle moves down as per normal consumption too. DOnt seem to be anything wrong with the instrument cluster.

Anyone encoutered this? Phantom incidents is starting to emerge already....weird. Guess I am now heading towards the maintainance era whereas before was mod mod mod!

Hi,

I had the same problem when I first got my e46. The guage was at 1/4 when the gas run out. In fact, I had the same problem twice and was really pissed. Lucky thing I managed to pull to the side of the road on time.

I sent it in to PML....and they told me nothing wrong with fuel tank. I think they took out the fuel tank and check the gauge....

After that, I never encounter any problem anymore. The amber came on when it is near to empty so I guess it all went back to normal. My car was just one and half year then. Cheers!

[BlackStealth]

Wow, part and parcel of owning a E46! Thanks alot guys for your advice and feedback.