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-   -   Genuine BMW or Continental/Siemensl VDO fuel pumps ?? (http://forums.carmudgeons.com/showthread.php?t=142086)

3LOU5 11-28-2017 04:15 AM

Genuine BMW or Continental/Siemensl VDO fuel pumps ??
 
Anybody here have any experiences with replacing theirs with these brands ??

Why on earth does the Genuine BMW one cost twice as much ?? Is it made out of space-age material that makes it last longer than the other cheaper brands ??

How about durability ??

Any advice is sincerely appreciated, thanks !!

(BTW, many have an unfavorable opinion on Uro parts, so that choice was intentionally omitted).

bren 11-28-2017 07:27 AM

I haven't had to swap one of these, but BMW isn't in the fuel pump making business, so it's probably the same pump.

rumatt 11-28-2017 08:10 AM

Genuine OEM BMW parts are often significantly more expensive just by slapping the BMW label on it. Google "who makes BMW fuel pumps" and see if it's the same brand.

I assume part of the reason is because they come from a dealership somewhere and that dealership takes a big cut.

Josh (PA) 11-28-2017 08:44 AM

I assume this is the pump in the tank of an e46. I had mine fail in the wagon a couple of years ago about 50 miles from my house. I replaced it on the side of the road with whatever was in stock at the nearby autozone and have had no issues since. I wouldn't spend the $$$ for BMW OEM on a part like that personally.

3LOU5 11-28-2017 01:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bren (Post 517481)
I haven't had to swap one of these, but BMW isn't in the fuel pump making business, so it's probably the same pump.

That's what I figured.

Just another way for them to make $$, I suppose.

3LOU5 11-28-2017 01:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rumatt (Post 517483)
Genuine OEM BMW parts are often significantly more expensive just by slapping the BMW label on it. Google "who makes BMW fuel pumps" and see if it's the same brand.

I assume part of the reason is because they come from a dealership somewhere and that dealership takes a big cut.

I hear you.

I had to buy a fuel pump on my 1/2-ton a few years back. The dealership wanted $300, so I bought mine online for 1/3 of the price and replaced it myself.

Been running ever since....

3LOU5 11-28-2017 01:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Josh (PA) (Post 517486)
I assume this is the pump in the tank of an e46. I had mine fail in the wagon a couple of years ago about 50 miles from my house. I replaced it on the side of the road with whatever was in stock at the nearby autozone and have had no issues since. I wouldn't spend the $$$ for BMW OEM on a part like that personally.

Yes, it is.

It's got 150k miles and the second pump failed on me on the way to work. Check out my Facebook status update yesterday:

So I'm cruising to work on I-80 doing about 75 mph (hey, I'm just keeping up with traffic here), and my BMW decides to lose power. It starts to buck and misfire, and I decide that I better take the next exit and find a suitable parking lot. As soon as I exit, my car stalls out, I start it, move about 20 feet at no more than 10 mph and stalls out again. I repeat this process about 8 times and I finally make to an empty parking lot, all the while pissing people off behind me.

When I get to the parking lot, my car won't start anymore. The starter keeps spinning and the engine won't catch. Because I'm blocking traffic, I quickly jump out and start pushing my car, but the driveway to the lot has a slight incline (yay me). Of course, I can't push it up by myself. Luckily, three guys jump out of their cars and help me push it up and onto the parking lot (gotta love Nevada !!). They quickly turn back to their cars before I can repay them for their kindness with some (holiday) cash.

Of course, this has to happen just about a mile from work. Which means that I have to call AAA and have my car towed back to my house about 14 miles away so that I can work on it. Yay me.

So my car is on a flatbed heading back to my house. The driver is a 20-25 year old kid who has only been a tow truck driver for 8 months. Long story short, I was intrigued with his skydiving experiences, he was intrigued with what I did for a living, and we had a great time talking to each other. I've probably called AAA about 3 times (perhaps it's time to trade in my beloved BMW.....nahhhh) and this was one of the best conversations I've had with their drivers.

We get to the house and I ask him, "Hey, do you think you can put my car back in the garage ??". He says, "Sure, I like a challenge". So he backs up his flatbed, rolls my car about half-way inside the garage with me steering the car, and pushes my car the rest of the way in without hitting ANYTHING. Before he leaves, I shake his hand and say, "Thanks for a great job and good company". He feels something funny in the palm of his hand, so he finishes our handshake and opens up a folded $20 bill. I can see in his face that he is reluctant to accept it, but I just assure him that he deserves it due to his towing expertise and treatment of customers.

Well, I guess I'll be buying myself a new fuel pump and fuel filter for my birthday. Yay.

And I'll probably install them myself the day after my birthday. Double yay...."

Josh (PA) 11-28-2017 01:18 PM

At least the story has a making a new friend happy ending.

My experence was similar, except I was in York, PA and pushed it into an illegal parallel parking spot in a sketchy neighborhood.

The fuel pump is an easy job and I think non OEM ones are less than $100, so it could have been much, much worse.

equ 11-28-2017 03:06 PM

You don't need "genuine BMW". This plays out over and over in most parts. Hard to imagine you could get more name brand than Siemens or VDO.

To VDO's discredit though, they once made the worst bicycle computer in existence. I bought one thinking I'm secure with the brand with their gauge history & engineering, but oh man, what an interface.

rumatt 11-28-2017 03:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Josh (PA) (Post 517518)
At least the story has a making a new friend happy ending.

My E46 fuel pump failing resulted in my meeting new friends as well. :lol:


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