[Thavash]

You guys aren't gonna believe this !!

I was driving on the highway this morning on my way to work, when this guy in a Jeep pulls up alongside , arms waving. So I pull over and he stops as well. Then he tells me that he saw fuel leaking out of the back of my E90 ! There was a strong smell of petrol as well.

So I continued to work and phoned the dealer , who said that I should bring it in for a check up later in the day. I left work at about 3 and noticed that there was not any fuel puddle under the car, so I thought maybe it was just a one-off thing.

I get to BMW and they put the car up on the ramp , and .....find nothing leaking. So then he asks me to fill up and come back. Did that , and he puts it on the ramp again, this time with the engine running. Then suddenly lots of fuel started splurting out ! After checking for a while , he found out that it was coming from a little pipe , which lies near the right rear wheel.

Apparently this is an overflow pipe, however , I didn't over-fill the tank, and when it happened this morning the tank was 1/2 full. It seems fuel is leaking out of this while the engine is running.

Now the bad news.....after having the car for 2 weeks , I had to leave it there at the dealer. He feels it could be some valve that's faulty.

Even worse....they couldn't get another BMW for me , so I'm driving around in a rented VW GOLF !!! :mad:

This sucks big time.......anyway , if any other E90 owners smell fuel after filling up , you know what to look for.

[RachelS]

In the US, any fuel leaks from any vehicle must be reported to the EPA, NHTSA and DOT from the dealer.

[stressdoc]

I previously posted my nightmare story about a mouse chewing a hole through the line in my fuel pump on top of the tank under the rear seat. Although it was an E46, I would watch out for that one if you are in mouse country -- not sure if they made any mods to the lines to prevent that kind of damage.

[Thavash]

Really ? Come to think of it , I only now realize how serious this is. I mean , it's an explosion waiting to happen.

I just hope it was an isolated incident, and other E90's aren't affected. If that guy in the road didn't alert me to it , I might have been driving for days without knowing , since it only happened when the car was moving.

[E90Fleet]

Fuel doesnt explode like in the movies, it burns steadily

Only time you have a real problem is if it comes out in a fine mist onto a hot part of the car

The overflow valve is designed so that wont happen, but its not supposed to let fuel out the way yours was

[E90Fleet]

Originally Posted by stressdoc

I previously posted my nightmare story about a mouse chewing a hole through the line in my fuel pump on top of the tank under the rear seat. Although it was an E46, I would watch out for that one if you are in mouse country -- not sure if they made any mods to the lines to prevent that kind of damage.

Have seen rast eat fuel lines and battery cables , especially in wintertime when they look for a nice warm place ( your garage with the cars engine warm from driving )

[stressdoc]

This was just a mild-mannered field mouse apparently enjoying some salt residue from the ocean voyage after I had a blast on the autobahn -- ED. But right, rodents big and small like cars.

[nexus66]

I take it you either found the mouse/rat dead or floating next to the car after getting a mouthful of petrol??

[Broken1]

oy, that's really bad. I had an E46, 325ti compact which was leaking fuel once...took them an hour to fix it, and they charged me R57-60 to refill my tank :-/

They were really nice to me though, lent me a 7 series for the hour cause I had a haircut appointment...

[Thavash]

Well, I phoned them today , and they still don't know what the problem is.
Looks like I won't be getting the car back today

[Broken1]

That's terrible, how long have you had the car? And what is the millage on the car?

[Thavash]

About 2 1/2 weeks. I think it's got about 1200 kms now. At least they're trying to get me a BMW to drive around in - I'm tired of this crappy Golf. :mad:

[Broken1]

If they start taking to long to fix the car...start saying you want a new one. it's rediculous! Most dealers have E90 demo's..so you should get one...then it's not so bad.

Most likely it's just a once off problem, I haven't heard much of this before...so i wouldn't worry too much.
My thoughts are with you while your baby is in the workshop :~(

[SV Concepts III]

Sorry to hear man. At least you are still driving a European car, in the US my dealer gives me a Ford Taurus