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Originally Posted by Sensible_
Quote:
Originally Posted by bluewater328
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sensible_
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rogue335d
Guys I just wanted to give my two cents on this.
I decided to save myself a few hundred and went in under the rear seat with a 30mm holesaw. It worked out nicely and taking my time measuring took about 2 hours to get the new pipe and protective sheath installed.
Im just waiting on a few grommets coming to plug the holes.
The way I looked at it it's my car I can drill holes where I like.
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Old thread. Just thought I'd let people know the hole drilling method above works a treat. You can do it with just the hole on the side (lower hole in the photos). Slide a screwdriver in and push on the white clip. Pull the pipe out at the same time, from under the wheel arch liner.
It's an easy job. 1 hour max. Seriously no point in dropping the tank. I drilled a 20mm hole and that was enough to get the screw driver in to depress the white clip and lever |
Thinking about exploring this. Is there a telltale way, without pulling it completely apart that you can tell it's this besides just the smell (ie fuel regulator and charcoal canister also have same symptoms)?
Also for the hole, just the side hole on the passenger rear area is good (you said about 20mm)? Was there any fear of cutting anything wrong along the way and what of the debris cleanup?
Was it easy to reconnect the hose afterwards? Were long-noses pliers the order of the day?
Would a simple tape-off be a resolution or is it only a whole piping replacement that works? |
I got the tell tale puddle of fuel left by the wheel arch after filling the tank and leaving the car. It got quite bad.
I did actually drill the 2 holes but I'm sure you could do it with just the one on the vertical part of the seat bodywork.
To release it you need a long narrow flat head screwdriver through the hole and pry out the white plastic from the connector. You then lever out the connector whilst pulling the other end of the pipe from the wheel arch.
It may be stuck on a bit, you just keep pulling and levering and eventually it comes off. Pull the pipe out from the wheel arch.
You can repair the pipe by plastic welding or maybe some export stuff. I replaced it though. Then duck tape and then another extenders corrugated plastic pipe on-top (bmw has it own part number for this, but it literally is just a piece of black flexible cable management tubing I think.
The other end of the pipe is easy to take off fro under the wheel arch liner. Just squeeze and pull.
To fit the new/repaired pipe you need to line it up as before. You then push hard from the wheel arch end whilst levering the connector in place until the white clip clicks into place. You can see the white clip physically click into place also.
I've filled the holes with grommets. I used a hole drill bit so all I got was a little disc back. Hoovered up the little pieces. |
I dig the grommets, where did you source those?
I'm going to pull the wheel liner this weekend. Figure I'd be able to at least see if it's frayed when I take a look at the hole area.