Fuel Gauge problem with 2004 X5

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Milleniumaire - 08 Jan 2007 17:16 GMT

I have a 2004 diesel X5 and I have noticed that the fuel gauge seems to
"stick" at just under half way and no longer reflects how much fuel is
in the tank. The only way I can tell how far I can drive is using the
trip meter as I know I can get about 500 miles to a tank.

The car has been to the dealers twice and they have replaced the sender
unit and the siphon pump but this has made no difference. They are now
talking about changing the tank which will be very expensive for me.

I know that all the fuel is being used as I am getting the same number
of miles after filling up as I did before the problem occurred. I say
this because the dealer seems to think that one side of the tank may
not be emptying thereby showing a correct fuel gauge reading. Also,
the car has run out of fuel twice and both times I have filled the tank
with approx. 95 litres. This is the documented tank capacity so there
is no way that there is still fuel in one side of the tank.

I'm loosing patience with the dealer as they have "fixed" the problem
twice now but still don't appear to know what is causing it.

Anyone any idea what might be causing this? Is it possible that it is
a faulty fuel gauge and nothing to do with the tank? If so, how does a
fuel gauge become faulty?

Thanks.

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RJD - 08 Jan 2007 21:45 GMT

> I have a 2004 diesel X5 and I have noticed that the fuel gauge seems to
> "stick" at just under half way and no longer reflects how much fuel is
[quoted text clipped - 21 lines]
>
> Thanks.

If you have a trip computer onboard and its reading correctly then its
your fuel gauge. I've had the same problem and had to replace the gauge.
You have to remember that its a cheap mechanical movement that can be go
bad with little abuse. Mine failed after only a few months of service.
The onboard computer gets its signal directly from the fuel sender unit
and its solid-state.

RJD

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E28 Guy© - 08 Jan 2007 22:48 GMT

> If you have a trip computer onboard and its reading correctly then its
> your fuel gauge. I've had the same problem and had to replace the gauge.
> You have to remember that its a cheap mechanical movement that can be go
> bad with little abuse. Mine failed after only a few months of service.
> The onboard computer gets its signal directly from the fuel sender unit
> and its solid-state.

I would agree. If it came down to a matter of replacing a fuel tank,
I'd rely on a simple resettable trip odometer instead. In fact,
lacking even that nice feature, I once drove an old ('62) Chrysler for
several years relying only on recording the odometer mileage at each
fillup and knowing about how far I could drive before needing more
fuel.
--
C.R. Krieger
(Been there; done that)

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Milleniumaire - 09 Jan 2007 08:02 GMT

The trip computer and fuel gauge readings seem to correspond. The trip
computer tells me that the range is 235 miles and this hasn't changed
for the last 60 miles and reflects the amount of fuel that the gauge
"thinks" is left.

Maybe this suggests that it is the sender unit that is at fault, but
they've already replaced this!

I read somewhere that floats are used to measure the fuel levels in the
tank. If this is the case, is it possible that the X5 has two floats;
one for each tank, and that one of them is stuck high thereby giving
the impression that it is always nearly full?

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Jack - 09 Jan 2007 17:11 GMT

Here's a link to the illustration of your fuel senders from RealOEM. It
does show that you have two fuel gauge sender units although they both seem
to be mounted in one tank.
They may have replaced the wrong one or there may be a dent in your tank
that prevents the sender from moving which may be why they want to replace
the tank.
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=FB71&mospid=47739&btnr=16_0460&hg=
16&fg=15

> The trip computer and fuel gauge readings seem to correspond. The trip
> computer tells me that the range is 235 miles and this hasn't changed
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
> one for each tank, and that one of them is stuck high thereby giving
> the impression that it is always nearly full?

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Milleniumaire - 16 Jan 2007 19:43 GMT

On the third attempt and ?200 later, my local dealer determined the
faulty fuel gauge was due to a defective fuel sensor which I think they
said was located in the fuel tank. After replacing the sensor, the
fuel gauge dropped to show the correct amount of fuel in the tank.

Thankfully, this particular issue has been brought to an end and I
await the next problem with my X5 with anticipation.

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