Uh oh...Fuel pump problem?

[scotth944]

I have wondered how low people with pump failures would generally let their gas tanks get before refilling? (less fuel - higher possible gas temps from fuel recirculation or possible starvation issue on fuel pickup ???)

[LofgrenCL]

Originally Posted by josephvman

Your "opinion" is based on nothing more than an assumption that the people who are having failures are using cheap gas, which I can assure you isn't the issue in my case. I could say that the reason your wife has never had an issue is because she babies the car, but it would be an assumption based on a sample size of one, like your opinion, and would be just as meaningless...

My opinion is just as "meaningless" as your post.

But for your information, my "Opinion" is not based solely on MY experience with my cars. (My wife babies the car, I drive the sh*t out of it.." Having done some time at BSR and other courses - I tend to drive a little, "aggressively.")

I suggest you do a little more research. I am sorry that in "your case" that gas quality was supposedly not the issue. But according to a friend of mine Mike Miller (of Bimmer - who has much more knowledge and experience with BMW's than I do) - he also has seen this very thing over and over, people putting "bargain" gas into a luxury vehicle.

I am sorry that you had this problem. But since neither hypothesis can be proven - I will concede that your opinion is just as "meaningless" as mine..

[clived]

I had a HPFP failure on my N54 135i. I'd only ever used premium unleaded (as we call it in the UK) in the car, so my failure most definitely not cheap-fuel related. No sign of any problems 9000 miles in on the 1M.

[swimfreak]

I don't know if gas is an issue or not in these cars, but here is a site you should check out: http://www.toptiergas.com/retailers.html

*Note: BP not on the list for US

[Papethova]

Ive only used 91 octane and in almost 4 years never had an issue with my 135

[Redadair]

Originally Posted by HT1000

There are many threads on N54/N55 HPFP failures. It's just a fact of life with these models.

Not true! Since the Recall I have not seen a single pump failure listed.

I went 4 years without any issues with my 335i

[Redadair]

Originally Posted by josephvman

My 1M has failed to start on the first press of the starter button three days in a row. This is exactly what my '07 335i coupe started doing before the fuel pump failed. That car went through three of them in 32k miles, and I suspect was soon to fail again when I sold it. BMW bumped the warranty on the pumps to 100k, little consolation when you're stuck on the side of the road.

Has anyone here had a fuel pump failure on thei 1M?

So at this point it may be due to the colder temps. You do not have a pump failure until it fails right?

This is a dead horse issue that was taken care of with a Recall.

[rogbmw]

Don't know about the rest of you, but I have started using 93 octane gas with NO Ethanol in it. Costs a little more, but we'll see. One place fairly close sells all its gas with no ethanol. They even have 103 octane pump gas!

[Dackelone]

Originally Posted by ianf2002

Shell, BP, Caltex... who knows. All probably the same fuel, just branding. I have been told by many dealers (for cars and motorcycles) not to use Shell, only BP/Caltex.... maybe they get kick-backs for saying that? It worked... I never use Shell

I do not see BP on the N.A. List. Maybe someone can post BMW NA's Top Tier fuel list. Or maybe there is some international listing. ?


http://www.toptiergas.com/retailers.html

[BMW Gator]

Originally Posted by ianf2002

Shell, BP, Caltex... who knows. All probably the same fuel, just branding.

+1

I have been told by many dealers (for cars and motorcycles) not to use Shell, only BP/Caltex.... maybe they get kick-backs for saying that? It worked... I never use Shell

That's ridiculous and total BS !

[HT1000]

Originally Posted by Redadair

Not true! Since the Recall I have not seen a single pump failure listed.

I went 4 years without any issues with my 335i

new and old are still having pump issues.

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=433273

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=562565

The 3 series HPFP stickies also show HPFP failures after the recall pumps were installed.

[Tom K.]

Originally Posted by YVES1M

8000 km on my 1m, no problem!, i put the best gas in canada with is petro canada 94 octane.. Wish i was in europe to get 98 or 100 octane... Anyone sugest octane boosters..

Euro octane is measured differently than in the US or Canada. You can roughly subtract 5 from the Euro (Resarch) octane rating to arrive at US/Canadian (AKI) octane.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octane_rating

And even if you could get 98 AKI, your car could not take advantage of it unless specially tuned.

Tom

[Redadair]

So I am sure we all know this already but.....

Run a Google search for HPFP Failures and you will get hits for everything from BMW, Ford, Porsche, VW etc.

HPFP's run at Very high pressures since they are responsible for injecting fuel into the engine Cylinders while under near Full Compression. Compare this to low pressure systems that simply spray fuel into select points in the Intake Manifolds of non Direct Injection engines, usually in a partial Vacuum state. (This is how the E9x M3 Engine and all of BMW's non Turbo engines work). It's easy to see the additional work a HPFP does over a LPFP.

HPFP's for Gasoline engines can be compared directly with HPFP's on Diesel engines since this is how Diesel is injected into a Diesel Engine. One huge difference between the HPFP on a Diesel and on a Gasoline engine is the fuel itself. Diesel being a much heavier Distillate has natural Lubricating properties, while Gasoline is considered a Solvent. This Solvent effect of Gasoline adds additional challenges in the HPFP service. keeping the internal parts clean and cool in the HPFP is critical to long life of the pump.

While the majority of gasoline in North America has contained ethanol for years it's just now being introduced to the European markets. At only 10% ethanol this usually isn't a large enough volume to effect the pumps in modern autos, however BMW has been very slow to adopt changes to metals in it's fuel systems that prevent being damaged from ethanol.

BMWCCA has reported Many times over the years about BMW making claims that the Gasoline in North America is Dirty and this is the reason for fuel system issues in past BMW's. They are now making changes to the fuel systems of all BMW's to handle the addition of up to 10% ethanol. (Check your owners manuals warnings about using any fuel with greater than 10% ethanol)

The Recall of the HPFP was a perfect example of BMW accepting (finally) responsibility for some of the issues concerning the fuels from the rest of the world vs that in Europe.

I am NOT Saying that the failures of the early HPFP's was based solely on ethanol, since clearly even low pressure BMW fuel systems have had their challenges over the years. Hopefully the new HPFP and other changes being made to BMW fuel systems will improve the reliability of the whole line of BMW's

I personally am not surprised to see a few failures in any auto company's HPFP's. I can think of few other parts on cars today that work as hard.

[RnmEvo9]

Originally Posted by Redadair

So I am sure we all know this already but.....

Run a Google search for HPFP Failures and you will get hits for everything from BMW, Ford, Porsche, VW etc.

HPFP's run at Very high pressures since they are responsible for injecting fuel into the engine Cylinders while under near Full Compression. Compare this to low pressure systems that simply spray fuel into select points in the Intake Manifolds of non Direct Injection engines, usually in a partial Vacuum state. (This is how the E9x M3 Engine and all of BMW's non Turbo engines work). It's easy to see the additional work a HPFP does over a LPFP.

HPFP's for Gasoline engines can be compared directly with HPFP's on Diesel engines since this is how Diesel is injected into a Diesel Engine. One huge difference between the HPFP on a Diesel and on a Gasoline engine is the fuel itself. Diesel being a much heavier Distillate has natural Lubricating properties, while Gasoline is considered a Solvent. This Solvent effect of Gasoline adds additional challenges in the HPFP service. keeping the internal parts clean and cool in the HPFP is critical to long life of the pump.

While the majority of gasoline in North America has contained Methanol for years it's just now being introduced to the European markets. At only 10% Methanol this usually isn't a large enough volume to effect the pumps in modern autos, however BMW has been very slow to adopt changes to metals in it's fuel systems that prevent being damaged from Methanol.

BMWCCA has reported Many times over the years about BMW making claims that the Gasoline in North America is Dirty and this is the reason for fuel system issues in past BMW's. They are now making changes to the fuel systems of all BMW's to handle the addition of up to 10% Methanol. (Check your owners manuals warnings about using any fuel with greater than 10% Methanol)

The Recall of the HPFP was a perfect example of BMW accepting (finally) responsibility for some of the issues concerning the fuels from the rest of the world vs that in Europe.

I am NOT Saying that the failures of the early HPFP's was based solely on Methanol, since clearly even low pressure BMW fuel systems have had their challenges over the years. Hopefully the new HPFP and other changes being made to BMW fuel systems will improve the reliability of the whole line of BMW's

I personally am not surprised to see a few failures in any auto company's HPFP's. I can think of few other parts on cars today that work as hard.

Methanol isn't blended with gas, its ethanol.

[Redadair]

Originally Posted by RnmEvo9

Methanol isn't blended with gas, its ethanol.

You are correct? What was I thinking>>>

Have just been reading about Methanol Injections systems.

Thanks

[Dackelone]

For those of you who had HPFP failures... did any of you happen to know the manufacture of the pump>? I noticed the other day when you use the BT scan tool... it shows you the manufacture of the pump, in the sub menu. I would be curious to know which pumps fail. Not just the part numbers, but who made the actual pump. I know on my 15i N54, the pump maker is some company I never have heard of before.

[BreakPoint]

Originally Posted by Dackelone

For those of you who had HPFP failures... did any of you happen to know the manufacture of the pump>? I noticed the other day when you use the BT scan tool... it shows you the manufacture of the pump, in the sub menu. I would be curious to know which pumps fail. Not just the part numbers, but who made the actual pump. I know on my 15i N54, the pump maker is some company I never have heard of before.

Which was....

[MusclezMarinara]

Id also check the gas try another station..usually its a 10% mix of ethanol.

[Dackelone]

Originally Posted by BreakPoint

Which was....

Ok, you made me dig up my old lap top...


Using the BT scan tool... under Electronic Fuel Pump (EKP) it says: system supplier: Helbako

I was under the impression the HPFP were either made by: Bosch, Seimens or Conti. I was also told that only the Conti pump will last when you mod. It is also interesting that my HPFP was made back in 2007(!), even though my car is a 2010 and the HPFP has never been replaced!

Here is my HPFP date from the BT tool:


Electronic fuel pump (EKP) Module Identification

Electronic fuel pump (EKP)
Module Identification
Hardware Number 7276383
Hardware Vesion Number 04
Coding Index 13
DiagnosticIndex 1010
VariantIndex 5644
Date of ECU Manufacturing 20070515
System Supplier Helbako
Message Catalog Version 0.19.3
Software Version 5.32.144
OS Version 4.1.0

[HT1000]

^^^ Perhaps that is the low pressure fuel pump?

[Moo]

So has there been any confirmed case of HPFP failure for the 1M?

[l888apex]

In the past month, my car has begun to have a slight starting issue. It hasn't started on the first press (after cranking) 3 separate times. It fires right up on the second press. Although this could also be linked to the colder temperatures and small OEM battery?