fuel level sender ...a different animal

[Kibokojoe]

Removed the fuel pump and sender on my sons 91 735i so I could clean the wires. Found out that the sender is a different design. Anyone ever opened up one of these beasts? To me it looks like there is a plastic tang that has been glued in to stop the Nut from coming out. There isn't a screw in the center of the nut like other senders. There are also clips on the side so you can pull the tube out and it is spring loaded

http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj225/kibokojoe/fuelsender002.jpg

http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj225/kibokojoe/fuelsender001.jpg
http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj225/kibokojoe/Fuelsender003.jpg

[Kibokojoe]

Found out on another site http://www.fileoffset.com/bmw/e34_sender_unit.php that you unclip the tube (which is spring loaded) and the innards will slide out. Very similar design with respect to opening up the sender.
http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj225/kibokojoe/sender6.jpg

http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj225/kibokojoe/sender5.jpg

Don't know why this did not happen the first time but when I unclipped it, the second time it just slid out. I cleaned the three wires using electronic contact cleaner and a medical q-tip. Got a little bit of brown off the wires. Sprayed the float contacts and tried to clean their contact surfaces the best I could with the wires in place. This design is much easier to work on then the old style. All I did was remove the sender and left the fuel pump in the tank.


http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj225/kibokojoe/sender4.jpg
Make sure the spring is in its proper place before reassembly.

I was wrong about the tang and nut. You need to work from the other end and pry out the clips to remove the tube
http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj225/kibokojoe/fuelsender002.jpg

http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj225/kibokojoe/fuelsender001.jpg

[genphreak]

Grrr. No user-sericeable parts inside eh? Looks like the way in will require a lot of petrol-safe glue to be used on the way out...

What glue can one use in the tank anyhow?

[Kibokojoe]

Yeah found out that I was looking at the wrong end. Don't need to bust it open. On the other end it simply slides open once you get the wires free from the clips

[yaofeng]

There are at least two different versions of the feul pump/level sender. On both of mine there is a nut to remove to take the level sender apart.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b274/yaofengchen/BMW_95_540/DSC_6316.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b274/yaofengchen/BMW_95_540/DSC_6295.jpg

I notched a flat blade screw driver to remove the nut.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b274/yaofengchen/BMW_95_540/DSC_6294.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b274/yaofengchen/BMW_95_540/DSC_6293.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b274/yaofengchen/BMW_95_540/DSC_6292.jpg

[Kibokojoe]

Looks like the guts are the same. The only thing different is how you get to them