Please help, metal gas tank?

[LSUBimmer]

Hello everybody,

My wife and I recently purchased our first BMW, it is a 2005 325i sedan. These vehicles are nothing short of amazing. Having driven only American cars our whole lives nothing compares to the ride and finesse of a BMW.
A little history about the car: We purchased the car from a bank here in town, it was a repo. Just because its a repo doesn't mean that its in crappy shape. The car is in immaculate condition new matching tires, no dents/ scratches, the inside is super clean, not a stain nor smudge it has only had one owner and only had 74,000 miles. I ran the carfax and it came back clean. The couple that owned it had moved from New York to Shreveport, due to the military. Before purchasing the car i took it to our BMW dealership here in town and had it checked out, nothing negative came back! We purchased the car for 10k! we have been happy with it it has been our new baby.
Now to the problem at hand. Yesterday my wife left the house stopped by the gas station and filled up for the week, when she tried starting the car it would turn but not start. We had it towed it to the nearest European repair shop and as the day went on they found out that the fuel pump was bad and that the car has a metal gas tank. Nothing these people have ever seen before. They called the BMW dealership and they too were dumbfounded. Finally this morning I received a call informing me that the car is a ULEV (ultra low emission vehicle) they come from New York or California. Since we are WAY down here in Louisiana, the dealership and local luxury garages have not seen a metal tank nor do they know how to remove the pump from the tank. the "only" option is to replace the whole thing. to which i say NO, just the tank itself costs $6,400! They say it is a "sealed system." now my question : "is there no way of getting the pump out to replace it or to put a traditional plastic tank in the car?" any help would GREATLY be appreciate!

[witeshark]

(Moved to E46/E90) Have you tried checking breaker yards for a used tank? I know this is no fun, best of luck to you!

[LSUBimmer]

Thank You, for your reply. Yes, I have and the closest one i found is in California