How To Guide Remove Fuel Sender - Fix Faulty Petrol / Fuel Gauge ?

[spurs fan in a coupe]

Hi,

My fuel gauge hasn't worked in about 4 years! I just fill up every 200 miles!

I read that it is probably the fuel sender unit, tucked away behind the Off Side seat.

So today I took a 'spare' out of the Green 1.9 Z3 that I bought to break and steal parts from, this gauge sender was one of the reasons why I ever bought the boston green car.

Here goes -

1st - I removed the seat, not sure you have to, but a fair amount of petrol spilt when I took the unit out.
2 rear bolts and 2 front bolts, then undo the wiring clips, sorry no photos for this part.



2nd - cut the perforated notches in the panel of carpet behind the seat with a Stanley knife (other knives are available)



3rd - remove the 4 Phillips screws on the panel



4th - unclip the slider unit, pushes sideways first then away (bottom right in photo)



5th - remove the jubilee / metal cable tie style clips using a bit of brute force and a mixture of pillars and long nose pillars.





6th - remove the black screw top, using a flat screwdriver and persuader as required



7th - gently ease the sender unit out (it is delicate), I had to stop and put a plastic box under the car to catch seeping petrol and a rag to soak up the fuel in the car.





8th - done!



If you're lucky I'll put an install gude in too, but I'm guessing it will be the same in reverse!

 

[Aceman]

Thanks for that it's a very interesting read, I never knew you could access the sender unit from the back of the chair always presumed you would have to drop the tank.

 

[swamper]

good stuff.always handy to know

 

[GazHyde]

I'm assuming this is something that needs to be done with extreme care, and preferably when the fuel tank is low?

I'm just creating a wiki article from your notes and images, and think that a big warning is in order before proceeding!

First stab at the article - http://zroadster.org/wiki/bmw-z3/ma...nder-unit-removal-fix-your-faulty-fuel-guage/

 

[spurs fan in a coupe]

I'm assuming this is something that needs to be done with extreme care, and preferably when the fuel tank is low?

I'm just creating a wiki article from your notes and images, and think that a big warning is in order before proceeding!

First stab at the article - http://zroadster.org/wiki/bmw-z3/ma...nder-unit-removal-fix-your-faulty-fuel-guage/

Yep spot on Gaz, there was very little fuel in the donor car and it made a right mess. So I emptied the tank on my coupe before swapping the units over.

The good news is that it has fixed the fuel gauge problem!

And for free (ish)

Great write up by the way, cheers