gas smell - BMW Forum

bigred318 · 09-16-2004, 04:09 PM

okay this is happening to both mine and my girlfriends 325i! first i would like to say im very proud i searched before posting this and i could find nothing so now im asking the experts! So sometimes when the car is cold or even when it is not the whole car will smell like gas, even when you stand outside the car! its more noticable on the drivers side. any thoughts of what is making the smell and what needs to be replaced to make it all better!

David

dutchbmw · 09-16-2004, 04:15 PM

Check the connection of the fuel line to the fuel/injector rail

nycbmw325is · 09-16-2004, 04:28 PM

there are several hoses that carry fuel on that side of the car... check them as follows: two hoses underneath car, attached to front sub frame where the hard lines from the fuel tank bend up.. these guys are pretty short like maybe three inches long, and they are right next to each other. next there is a much thicker line that goes from underneath to the fuel filter, and then from the fuel filter to the fuel rail, and also another line (the return line) that goes from the fuel rail to the return back under the car and back into the gast tank...

bigred318 · 09-16-2004, 04:32 PM

okay thanks for the help, its been doing this for a while now and i relaly want to get this figured out! the smell can be really gross at times!

David

Gator · 09-16-2004, 05:23 PM

It's not the smell you should be worried about, but the fire hazard. With a gas leak your beautiful BMW could go up in flames.

gaijin1 · 09-16-2004, 07:55 PM

Is the smell stronger after a complete tank fill?

If so it's probably a crack in the gas tank sending unit. This item is made out of a rigid plastic and is subject to stress fractures.

How do you check ?

Fill the tank with gas. Pop your rear seat. Remove the two inspection panels on either side of the rear seat floor pan. Look at both the fuel pump/sending unit on the passenger side and the second fuel sending unit on the driver's side. If they're cracked, fuel will puddle on the top of either unit.

Replacement is easy and cheap.

I just did this a few weeks ago.

See HERE for step by step instructions and photos/diagrams.

HTH,
Fred