Newbie Z owner questions

[lrc454]

Hi. Just purchased a 2009 30i Z4 with 650 miles on it. Practically new.

I'm starting to get worried. This was a present for my wife and she loves the car but today (2nd day of ownership) I noticed a high pitch wine coming from the rear of the car. Not experienced with BMW's, I do suspect a fuel pump. The noise can be heard with the car sitting still, engine running or on the road.

Question: I'm not turbo'd. I staid away from that for easier maintenance. Do I have the dreaded HPFP? Or do I have only a low pressure fuel pump in the tank?

I have just made my first service appt for Tuesday with this symptom. This does not instill confidence in me based on my researching the forum for similar troubles.

What do you folks think I'm getting ready to deal with?

[Jay Zone]

Sounds like it unfortunately.

Take it in and they will replace it.

I hope I'm wrong.

Not as common as the forums make it seem. But it is an issue for the 09. I hope the issue has been resolved for the 10.



JZ

[zeez_Dubai]

do you have long cranks??

[Otago]

FP issue is not a common problem for 30i. Mine 3700km no problems so far.

[zEdP]

Originally Posted by lrc454

Question: I'm not turbo'd. I staid away from that for easier maintenance. Do I have the dreaded HPFP? Or do I have only a low pressure fuel pump in the tank? What do you folks think I'm getting ready to deal with?

No your 30i doesn't has the high pressure fuel pump.

The symptoms you describe sound like a noisy fuel pump. It is no problem, fuel pumps can make a high pitch sound.

But it can change and this is what I have experienced with my 30i. The high pitch sound started after ~4000 miles. For me no issue at that time, but then the sound changed within less than 1000 miles. It started to hum (~600hz, with short silences of less than a second); it was even noticeable inside the car when driving at 35mph. The sound was louder when the fuel tank was more than 3/4 filled.

I didn't want to take any risk of a breakdown so BMW replaced the pump.

EdP

[lrc454]

Thanks folks,

There's no hard starting as of yet but the high pitch whine just started and it's noisy enough to be quite noticeable and irritating. Less than 800 miles on the car. Yikes, hope this is not an omen.

I've made the service appt for next week already.

Does anyone know, do they have to drop the fuel tank to get inside to the pump?

I'm going to have to wait on the car as I live quite a ways away from the dealership.

[zEdP]

Originally Posted by lrc454

Thanks folks,

There's no hard starting as of yet but the high pitch whine just started and it's noisy enough to be quite noticeable and irritating. Less than 800 miles on the car. Yikes, hope this is not an omen.

I've made the service appt for next week already.

Does anyone know, do they have to drop the fuel tank to get inside to the pump?

I'm going to have to wait on the car as I live quite a ways away from the dealership.

To replace the fuel pump of my 30i, they worked 8 hours on the car. Yes the complete fuel tank must be dropped. They didn't had to remove any suspension components, but some chassis parts. Most dealers where live don't have these fuel components on stock.

EdP

[lrc454]

Originally Posted by zEdP

To replace the fuel pump of my 30i, they worked 8 hours on the car. Yes the complete fuel tank must be dropped. They didn't had to remove any suspension components, but some chassis parts. Most dealers where live don't have these fuel components on stock.

EdP

Oh boy. That's a long time to wait on the car. I wonder what I have to do to qualify for a "loaner". I'm 90 minutes travel time away from my home to the dealership.

[rmorin49]

I would call the dealer in advance and explain your situation. They should provide you with a loaner so you don't have to sit all day in the service lounge.