E30 Zone

hi guys can somebody please tell me how to change the fuel sender unit on a e30 320

Undo nuts, lift it out!
Only complication is that you have a choice of two.

Firstly de pressurise the fuel system, by removing the fuel pump fuse, (FUSE 11) and crank the vehicle until it dies and will no longer start.

remove the rear seat cushion. you'll see two access panels; one on the driver's side (RHD) and one on the passenger side. Remove the screws in the panel on the driver's side.
Remove the electrical connections and the four small nuts (8mm) which hold the sender unit in place. pull it up, however keep hold of it before completely withdrawing it, for a few seconds to allow it to drain. Once removed you can now determine which one you need to replace it.

Just to confuse matters, if your 320i is like mine it has two senders. One on top of the pump, and another one situated -also under the backseat - on the passenger side.

Don't ask me why.

Ranchero wrote:Don't ask me why.

Because the level in the two halves of the tank can be different - there's no pipe connecting the two at the bottom, like on the smaller tank.

No reason to depressurise the fuel system to remove either level sensor.

Brianmoooore wrote: No reason to depressurise the fuel system to remove either level sensor.

You're probably right but the Haynes manual recommends it. Perhaps that's just if you're replacing the pump though.

Take the rest of the pump out, and you will need to loose the pressure in the fuel line, but you don't need to disturb any of this just to remove the level sensors