[etekin]

I have a 2002 325i Sedan. In the last four weeks the car stopped in the middle of the road three times. It stalls and does not start again. They thought it was the fuel sending units in the first two times. It made sense to me because the fuel gauge show half full but the car starts only after I put some fuel in it! This time, they still think it is the fuel sending units but are not sure because they changed both of them at the first time and the left one again in the second time (they said the left one installed at the first time was faulty). Anyway, the car is at the dealer right now. I will pick it up tomorrow. Luckly it is still under warranty. But any ideas what it might be. I will hate it if they changed the fuel sending units again and this happens again.

Ed

 

[bluejeansonfire]

I have a 2002 325i Sedan. In the last four weeks the car stopped in the middle of the road three times. It stalls and does not start again. They thought it was the fuel sending units in the first two times. It made sense to me because the fuel gauge show half full but the car starts only after I put some fuel in it! This time, they still think it is the fuel sending units but are not sure because they changed both of them at the first time and the left one again in the second time (they said the left one installed at the first time was faulty). Anyway, the car is at the dealer right now. I will pick it up tomorrow. Luckly it is still under warranty. But any ideas what it might be. I will hate it if they changed the fuel sending units again and this happens again.

Ed

I have nothing but contempt for BMW repairmen. I would not be surprised if they fix the wrong thing. Does the car start sputtering to it's stall? If so, then it probably is something in the fuel system.

 

[aNoodle]

Wow....that's crazy....I've had two events too where I've run out of gas when the needle still said I had fuel left in the tank (once low but not empty and the second time with juth a little more than 1/4 of a tank). Each time I added gas to the tank and it started up again. Given the amount of gas I had to refill it to full, there was definitely feul left in the tank. How could it have run out of gas if there's still gas in the tank!?!

I haven't taken it in yet. I'm not under warranty and I'm afraid they'll just start replacing everything....new engine required?!?

Anyway, I hope you get back when they tell you what fixed it. You're not alone. (I was thinking maybe it's a vaccum problem....the return line is plugged? If I run out of gas a third time and needle still is showing gas, I'm going to just release the gas cap and see if I release enough pressure that the car will start up again. I have no idea.)

 

[etekin]

Update

I picked up my car from the dealer after 5 days of service. They found a faulty fuel regulator and filter assembly and replaced them, both of them are under warranty. The first two days, they were not able to replicate the problem and did not know what to do other than reprogramming the DME. That was depressing. But then the car stalled again while they were driving it on friday so I was lucky in a sense I guess. They said they had found the problem which were the faulty fuel regulator and filter assembly. I drove about 70 miles today and it is fine so far...

 

[BMW528i_Bilal]

I wouldn't take it far for a while, and keep some fuel in the trunk for an emergency. I would have the car checked up by a another bmw service centre, if they couldn't find the real problem in one or more attempts than their service is questionable.