Fuel sender

[Alexlind123]

Some of you may remember me posting about my fuel guage being stuck at a little over 3/4 of a tank (or 1/4 i cant remember now). With my brothers help, i took the sender out of the gas tank and had a look. When i first pulled the sender out, the plastic part on the bottom was broken and lying on the bottom of the tank. I found out that apparently the tank must have been hit from underneath and smashed into the sender, breaking the plastic and bending the metal rod that the float slides on. This caused the float to move too far to one side of the plastic tube and get stuck. With the plastic tube removed, i decided to put it back in and see if it worked without it, since it moved easily although slightly bent. With the plastic tube gone, it works perfectly. Is there any reason to not continue driving the car like this?

[pundit]

Good work!
I have a similar problem with mine.

The picture is from http://bmwe32.student.utwente.nl/johan/fuel_sender/fuel_sender.html which covers the E32 but is similar to the E34.

Quote from the website...

"Problem: The fuel gauge on my car was erratic in the last 40 liters. The last 20 where the worst. The needle would fall from 20 liters to 0 and go back up to 20 in 2 to 3 seconds. I figured cleaning the fuel sender could cure the problem."

http://bmwe32.student.utwente.nl/johan/fuel_sender/broken.jpg

Mine has cracked all the way around the retaining nut and has seperated from the bottom of the plastic housing which, as you pointed out, causes the rod and float to move sideways where it begins sticking usually at around 1/4 of a tank. This appears to be a common problem as many seem to complain of sticking and inaccurate readings at around 1/4 on the guage. I'm a bit reluctant to discard the tube but I might see if some kind of repair can be effected.

Replacement senders over here are about $360.00 from the 'stealer'!

[Alexlind123]

My main concern was that the plastic tube was to prevent the guage from giving inaccurate readings as the gas moves from one side to another or front and back in the tank. I dont have this problem now, but i sitll think the plastic has to serve some purpose...