The Story of SKETCHI - 05 ZHP Sedan

[johnrando]

Yup. And don't forget the part where you take out the fuse and hit the start key to drain extra fuel. To me the baffle is "why not do it?" GL.

[Vas]

The M3 baffle is optional...unless you are tracking the car or taking very hard corners on low fuel, leading to potential fuel starvation. Unless I am mistaken...

Oh and what about the fuel pump relay?

Correct about the m3 fuel pump bafffle. It is optional but it's also a cheap part.

I did not order the fuel pump relay.

[rkneeshaw]

Winning.

For as cheap as the baffle is, throw it in!

[anandoc]

Awesome! Fortunately, replacing the fuel pump is extremely easy and only took me about 45 mins. Then again, one should not need to replace a fuel pump as part of regular PM.

[az3579]

Then again, one should not need to replace a fuel pump as part of regular PM.

I disagree. A bad fuel pump will leave you stranded like it has done to me at 19x,000 miles and Charlie in his M3 when we went on a long road trip.

[anandoc]

I disagree. A bad fuel pump will leave you stranded like it has done to me at 19x,000 miles and Charlie in his M3 when we went on a long road trip.

I think I worded my statement poorly. I agree that the fuel pump must be replaced on our cars or we risk its failure at an unfortunate time. What I meant to say was something like a fuel pump should last much longer and should not need replacing so soon.

I was trying to imply that BMW should have selected a better supplier for the fuel pump on the E46 or Siemens/VDO should have done a better job designing the fuel pump to extend its longevity.

[az3579]

I think I worded my statement poorly. I agree that the fuel pump must be replaced on our cars or we risk its failure at an unfortunate time. What I meant to say was something like a fuel pump should last much longer and should not need replacing so soon.

I was trying to imply that BMW should have selected a better supplier for the fuel pump on the E46 or Siemens/VDO should have done a better job designing the fuel pump to extend its longevity.

Gotcha. That is a true statement - the pump should be a longer wearing item.
I don't think there's anything wrong with the pump's design though. I would bet that premature failures are due to owner neglect. You're not supposed to run a car down to the gas light, or anywhere close to it, on any sort of regular basis. There are lots of people who do that, and little do they know that they are potentially damaging their fuel pumps.

I can only give you two real-life examples, and isn't scientific by any stretch of the imagination, but Charlie and I have both owned our cars since a relatively low mileage and have driven a shit ton of miles, him on his M3 and me in my ZHP. Mine failed at 191,958 miles. I can count on one hand how many times I've driven it below a quarter (indicated) tank, and usually fill up between 1/4 and 1/2 indicated. Even that is lower than I'd like...
Charlie's pump died well into the 100k's. His M3 has over 150k, and I believe the pump failed past this point. I believe he follows similar fill-up practices. 150k for a pump is totally reasonable.

I'd say anything above 120k is a reasonable number for a fuel pump, depending on the car's usage. Heavy track use will shorten the lifespan, of course, but I got lucky with mine in that is lasted 191k and went bad right before a rest stop on the highway, so I had a safe place to pull over. I had the new pump in the trunk just in case - when I ordered it, I had "that feeling", so ordering prematurely paid off.

[slater]

Gotcha. That is a true statement - the pump should be a longer wearing item.
I don't think there's anything wrong with the pump's design though. I would bet that premature failures are due to owner neglect. You're not supposed to run a car down to the gas light, or anywhere close to it, on any sort of regular basis. There are lots of people who do that, and little do they know that they are potentially damaging their fuel pumps.

exactly. the fuel helps cool the pump.

my old 1996 audi S6, which i sold at 326K miles, was still on the original fuel pump.

[Vas]

A bad fuel pump will leave you stranded on a long road trip.

This is what I am trying to avoid. Covering my bases before taking the car next week to South Carolina.

I would have probably still put more miles on the original pump if a replacement pump was really expensive. But buying a new pump from fcp euro with lifetime warranty that they offer is cheaper then having the car towed somewhere, diagnostic time, parts and then labor.

[Sockethead]

Well if you break down in South Carolina, we're in Charleston, we'll come to the recue