My E36 petrol leak

[VNP]

Hello all, Last Saturday when I was near the Malacca Jusco, someone spotted petrol leaking from under my car and signal me to stop. Quickly I turn off the engine and went to inspect the leak. It was dripping from somewhere underneath the back seat. Since M'cca was unfamiliar grounds, I had the car towed back to Seremban straight to my Mech's workshop. He checked and found the return hose underneath the back seat had become loose hence petrol was oozing out from there. My mech put a new hose clip and it's done in less than 10 minutes.Is this a common problem in E36? May I know what are the common problems with E36?Any inputs from all the sifus here are most welcome. Thank you.

 

[meetoo]

Deteriorated hoses and fastener in a 10yrs+ car is common in any car, not just BMW or E36. 10 yrs is a long time for a hose transporting a corrosive, volatile liquid like petrol. In my line of work, some transport hoses for our equipment are scheduled to be change every 12 months.

Hoses deteriorate from the inside out, so it's hard to see damages until it crack or break. As a precaution, it's good to get your mech to check all petrol, brake fluid and coolant hoses & fasteners and replace before they break. Cheap maintenance compare to the consequences. A petrol leak onto your exhaust system could have caused your car to go up in flames like we see occasionally in the news.

Hope this helps VNP.

 

[INNOVATOR]

Is this a reason why there were quite a few BMW fires reported over the last few years? Is there a remedial that can prevent this from happening on any model?

 

[meetoo]

It can happen to all cars, Innovator. The remedy is to check your hoses & fasteners and replace before they leak. A hose can't last forever even if it's armoured. After 10+ years what do you expect?

 

[VNP]

Thanks Meetoo for your input . Will ask my mech to check and tighten all the hoses and clips before any tragedy happen. Dread to think what will happen if the whole car catches fire . Also intend to get a small fire extinguisher in the car.

 

[kennytoo]

Hi VNP, great to hear you from Seremban and me too, may i know which bmw shop you go? please give some info. thank you very much..

 

[Bailey]

the same prob happened to my E36 as well, u r rite lah meetoo irrespective yr ride is more than 10yrs the most important is tat we need to check some of the hoses periodically

 

[anxious]

This happened to me too so pls guy check ur hoses.

 

[nawtyboy]

it happened to me too, but not as serioud as dripping la. i smelled petrol whenever i pour full tank and drive it.

so my mech traced it to the rear seat and detected that the fuel pump was the source of issue, so i had changed and it cost me RM500 with labour charge...