E30 Zone

My E30 has finally let me down

Just jumped in the E30 and it wont start, been running fine although it did die after my first start up attempt first thing in the morning on my way to work but then ran fine all the way to work and all the way home, although there were a few moments or ever so slightly irregular revs.

Car is currently cranking well just wont start, are they any areas on a 318IS that are known to cause starting issues?

Could be lots of things, but crank position sensor could be at fault (happened on mine). Turned out it was the connection for the crank position sensor, sprayed it with WD40 and it sorted it. You can follow the wire from the front of the block to where the connector is (sort of under the manifold).

Other than that (and probably a better way to find your trouble), are you getting fuel and spark?

Touring Whore wrote:Could be lots of things, but crank position sensor could be at fault (happened on mine). Turned out it was the connection for the crank position sensor, sprayed it with WD40 and it sorted it. You can follow the wire from the front of the block to where the connector is (sort of under the manifold).

Other than that (and probably a better way to find your trouble), are you getting fuel and spark?

Cheers for the tips but i have just fixed the problem although i fear it may only be a temp fix.

Basicly I noticed that I was not hearing the fuel system kick in to life, so i slapped the back seat like a donkeys arse near where the fuel pump is located and then tried to fire her up and she started first time no problem at all.

So i'm 99% sure its a fuel pump issue, only thing is i'm wondering if my pump is on the way out or if its water thats got to the electrics seeing as i did leave my rear pop outs open during quite a heavy shower today, could even be a loose connection.

For the time being shes working again fingers crossed it was just water playing silly buggers with the electrics

Fuel pump would be my first port of call

next time it happens pull the rear bench out and bang the fuel pump and see if it starts again

Alex wrote:Fuel pump would be my first port of call

next time it happens pull the rear bench out and bang the fuel pump and see if it starts again

Are all E30 fuel pumps the same, would make life easier when looking for a new one, are there any fuel pumps that are considered an upgrade??

there is a single and twin pipe fuel pump, not sure what the IS has to be honest, a 6 pot has a single pipe so prehaps a 4 pot twin pipe? I really dont know

the 'IS' is the rarer twin pipe

If the fuel tank has a small pipe right at the bottom, passing under the propshaft and linking the two halves of the tank, then it requires a two pipe pump assembly.
No link pipe, and it uses the single pipe pump.
A two pipe pump can be used in place of a single pipe one simply by blanking off the surplus pipe with 2" of hose and a sawn off bolt.
The actual pump is the same in all cases. It's just the frame that it mounts in that is different, and the pump is not difficult to swap between frames.
No 'upgrades' required. The standard pump will do all that's required of it for engine powers in excess of twice that of an M42!

its done it again today but this time giving the back seat a bash is not fixing the problem, i've switched the relays on the bulk head over and still no joy, you cant hear the fuel system charging up at the moment.

Are there any other bits i should check for or is it new fuel pump time??

Lift the cover plate under the seat to expose the pump.
Now wiggle the 2 pin wiring plug while cranking.
These can become loose and cause your problem!

If the pump regularly stalls (as yours is probably doing) then the 7.5A fuse, #11, will eventually blow, so check that this hasn't happened.

eko wrote:Lift the cover plate under the seat to expose the pump.
Now wiggle the 2 pin wiring plug while cranking.
These can become loose and cause your problem!

already tried that and no joy, any one tell me which one my fuel pump relay is, is it one of the ones in the fuse box or the ones under the black cover on the bulk head??

Brianmoooore wrote:If the pump regularly stalls (as yours is probably doing) then the 7.5A fuse, #11, will eventually blow, so check that this hasn't happened.

Fuse is still good

Fuel pump relay is under the bulkhead cover, has four pins, and a green/purple wire going to one of them.
Pull this relay out, and use a piece of wire to link together pins 30 and 87 of its base. This should make the pump run continuously, even without the ignition on.
If it doesn't, pull the plug off of the pump, and connect a 12 volt bulb to it of at least 5W and preferably 21W. If the bulb lights, the pump is dead.

Brianmoooore wrote:Fuel pump relay is under the bulkhead cover, has four pins, and a green/purple wire going to one of them.
Pull this relay out, and use a piece of wire to link together pins 30 and 87 of its base. This should make the pump run continuously, even without the ignition on.
If it doesn't, pull the plug off of the pump, and connect a 12 volt bulb to it of at least 5W and preferably 21W. If the bulb lights, the pump is dead.

Cheers brian, lets hope its the relay and not the pump i dont really fancy one of the cheap ones from ECP and the price of a decent one is quite hefty

Bridged the relay and the pump still didnt fire up, but while i was trying to get it started i gave the pump a good wack while the relay was bridged and she fired up.

Without the bridged relay i have to wack the fuel pump while turning the ignition and it fires in to life.

So would i be right in assuming this all points to a knacked fuel pump

Time to spend some money again, if anyones got a good used one let me know. in the meantime i'll be looking at prices for new pumps

Cheers for all the help people

Ouch

http://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/c/BMW_3 ... d17c9&FPUM

Last one I bought was about six years ago (I was away from home on holiday) and cost me £5 from a scrapyard. Still going strong today.

Would a Walbro fit?
THIS looks just the ticket.

Morat wrote:Would a Walbro fit?
THIS looks just the ticket.

Cheers for that but I can't really say if it will fit or not, anyone else care to comment, it is a lot cheaper than the one on ECP's website, but ECP also list others that look like the one in the link for the same sort of money.

The only one on ECP's website that says it will fit the 318IS is the £200 one and I’m guessing this has something to do with the fact that mine uses the 2 pipe pump and not the single pipe???

Brianmoooore wrote:Last one I bought was about six years ago (I was away from home on holiday) and cost me £5 from a scrapyard. Still going strong today.

I’m gonna take a look around the scrappys , ebay and various BMW forums, does anyone know what other models share the same pump as my car, would a later E36 318IS use the same pump??

Really don’t fancy spending £200 on a fuel pump unless I have to, I’m moving house at the end of the month to move in with the girlfriend and money is quite tight at the moment.

It’s quite embarrassing at the moment having to carry a rubber mallet around with me so I can hit the fuel pump as I start the car

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Later model BMWs use a different pump, although with a couple of cable ties, a short piece of fuel hose, and a couple of hose clips, there are lots of pumps that will 'fit'.
Don't spend £200 on a pump! You'd be a lot of the way there to a LPG conversion for that, and never need a fuel pump again!

if you stick a 12v feed direct to your pump i'll bet it works fine.
i've re routed my pump feed as i had this shite ages ago with mine.

magpie wrote:if you stick a 12v feed direct to your pump i'll bet it works fine.
i've re routed my pump feed as i had this shite ages ago with mine.

There are no known common problems relating to the routing of the standard wiring.

Brianmoooore wrote:Later model BMWs use a different pump, although with a couple of cable ties, a short piece of fuel hose, and a couple of hose clips, there are lots of pumps that will 'fit'.

Don't spend £200 on a pump! You'd be a lot of the way there to a LPG conversion for that, and never need a fuel pump again!

Got one of Theo on here for £30 posted bit better than £200, I’ve always liked the idea of running LPG but I’m a bit hesitant to use it on an old engine as I’ve heard its not that good for your engine, my dad had it fitted to a Honda CRV and the Honda dealership told him it would shorten the life of his engine, I never drove it but he reckons it did take its toll on the engine.

magpie wrote:if you stick a 12v feed direct to your pump i'll bet it works fine.

i've re routed my pump feed as i had this shite ages ago with mine.

Brianmoooore wrote:

magpie wrote:if you stick a 12v feed direct to your pump i'll bet it works fine.

i've re routed my pump feed as i had this shite ages ago with mine.

There are no known common problems relating to the routing of the standard wiring.

I already ran a permanent live to the pump which still required me to hit the pump before it kicked in to life, I also multi metered the existing wiring and it had a good feed at the pump.

The pump completely died on me today and no matter how much I hit it, it keeps dying after a few minutes, cars sitting up now waiting for my pump to arrive from Theo, gonna change the filter as well just to be on the safe side

pac1982 wrote: , I’ve always liked the idea of running LPG but I’m a bit hesitant to use it on an old engine as I’ve heard its not that good for your engine, my dad had it fitted to a Honda CRV and the Honda dealership told him it would shorten the life of his engine, I never drove it but he reckons it did take its toll on the engine.

This needs correcting here and now!! You drive a BMW, made with proper materials, not a Honda made with chocolate valves! Hondas are renowned for valve recession when run on LPG.
The easiest and most effective way to double the remaining life of your engine is to run it on LPG.
LPG does not need a cold start phase, and does not wash the oil film of the cylinder bore walls like petrol.
LPG does not produce corrosive by-products that contaminate the oil. The oil from an engine run exclusively on LPG comes out the same colour as it went in.

If you want a new pump they are cheap here ->http://cgi.ebay.ie/ELECTRIC-FUEL-PUMP-S ... 20b211b35c
Are the same make as standard too -VDO even though they come in a Lucas box.I bought one just to have as a spare for mine.£53 is very cheap for them.

All sorted now guys, the pump from Theo arrived today and it looks to be a fairly new pump judging by the condition

Thanks for all the help and a big thanks to Theo for lightning fast delivery and saving my ass