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Changing The Fuel Filter

2K views 13 replies 8 participants last post by  supark 
#1 ·
hey all,

i have a 1995 325is with about 90k miles on it. i don't think it's ever had its fuel filter changed and wanted to do it. i have the filter on hand and it is surprisingly large, most filters i've changed myself have been about the size of a soda can or even smaller. the one for my car is about twice as long :blink: . anyway, i have a bentley service manual and it says that the filter is attatched to the frame just under the driver's seat. when i jacked up my car and looked the inner portion of the frame is covered with plastic shields. and seeing as my car is about 10 years old, those shields much like the rest are quite brittle. has anyone else changed their fuel filter? and did you encounter any problems? any help would be great! thanks in advance.
 
#3 ·
It's easy, just a pain in the ass working underneath it.

The book tells you to disconnect the negative battery cable and clamp the fuel lines to reduce fuel spillage.

I did not disconnect the battery nor did I clamp the lines and I only get a few drops of fuel spilling out. That is up to you on whether or not you want to do those two steps.

Jack the car up enough to get under the driver seat side and support the car. Remove the shield and then the bracket holding the filter. There are two hose clamps on each end of the filter inlet and outlet side.

The old filter itself will have fuel in it and more fuel will come out of it than the lines.

Installation is just the reverse.

Remember there is an ARROW for fuel direction which should face towards front of car.

Also, after you install the filter, it will take a few attempts to start the car and get the fuel to the engine.
 
#7 ·
Originally posted by hocuzanden@Dec 3 2004, 09:06 PM
awesome guys. thanks for all your input. i'll do it on sunday and get back to you. have a good weekend!
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Hocuzanden -

For sure let me know how it goes. I've had a fuel filter sitting in my garage for a couple of months...and I need some compelling reason to replace it...like "man it was easier than I thought"!
 
#8 ·
ok, so i tried and unfortunately failed to change my fuel filter on sunday afternoon :wrench . and i feel like a dumbass. i just couldn't get the car high enough with the jack i have at home, so i guess i will have to do it at work when i can get myar on the lift. i have no doubt though that it is possible to do, i just couldn't get the car high enough to move around under the car without spilling fuel all over my face. but yeah, i'll do it at work, thanks for all your advice anyway.
 
#9 ·
bummer!! i was hoping you would say it was easy. I was going to do that this weekend. I scoped out under the car but i don't see how to get all the way up into the engine, bc you can't from the top. I guess i have to take off the x-brace. Mine sits right above the driver side control arm and is hard to access. I'm also wondering how to clamp the out take side of the fuel line bc i can't see it w/o pulling the filter first.
 
#10 ·
depending on how your fuel line is attatched to your fuel filter, you may not need to clamp it at all. if it is the fuel line that supplies the "in" side of the filter, and hopefully is pointing kind of up...the fuel should not spill out too much. if anydoes it shouldn't be a huge amount either. i managed to disconnect the lines from the filter without too much trouble and spillage. the main problem i had was that the bracket holding the filter to the body of the car was also attatched to the fuel return line. since the fuel return line is an aluminum hard line, i couldn't move it out of the way without risking putting a kink in it.

youngexec-

by the looks of it your car is a 92 or 93 correct? so does that mean that your fuel filter is in the engine bay attatched to the fender well? if it is you might want to take off the caps on your new filter and keep them handy for when you take off your fuel lines so you can cap off the ends of the filter to keep the fuel from spilling out. especially because of the considerable size of the filter it holds quite a bit of fuel in it. so good luck with that, because if i'm right, you don't really have to get under your car to change it, and you should have an easier time reaching the fittings, with the exception of that bottom fuel line you mentioned. you also might want to think about getting some new hose clamps while you're at it too. that should make the job of tightening them up a little easier. and you can also hit the lines with some silicon spray when you take the hoses off and put them back on. that should decrease the chances of you breaking the lines. ok, let me know how it goes, hopefully i'll have the time to change mine at work. ok, take it easy...
 
#11 ·
my fuel filter is located in the engine bay on the driver side below the intake manifold and above the left control arm. It is not in the fender well. it is difficult to get to. thanks for the help though
 
#12 ·
You might also want to change the fuel lines go to and from the filter while you're at it - it's cheap and safeguards against fuel leaks due to old cracking fuel line. Also, it's a good idea to replace the hose clamps as well - but that's just me being the neurotic mechanic.
 
#13 ·
ok, so i finally changed my fuel filter today. it's kind of sad, i tried changing it for an hour in my garage and gave up, but i took it to work and once on the lift, it only took 5 min to change. i'm just lucky it was under the driver's seat and not in the engine bay like yours is youngexec. i'm really glad i changed it though, i don't think it'd ever been changed, and it was really clogged. anyway, that's that with that. good luck youngexec, by the sounds of it, and from what my boss tells me, you will need it. but definitely change it, with the amount of crap that must have been in mine, it's well worth the extra time. ok, shoots
 
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