BMW M3 Forum (E90 E92)

BMW Garage BMW Meets Register Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read


Go Back   M3Post - BMW M3 Forum > E90/E92 M3 Technical Topics > Track / Autocross / Dragstrip / Driving Techniques
 
European Auto Source (EAS)
Post Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
      06-13-2011, 09:37 PM   #1
ajvee
Major
118
Rep
1,451
Posts

Drives: None
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: None

iTrader: (13)

fuel starvation during hard cornering?

Guys,

I did an autocross event that had a couple of sections with some pretty sharp corners. As I was ending my first run I got a fuel pump failure light along with reduced power. I turned the car off and once I turned it back on the error was gone and the car drove fine. I did notice that I only had about a quarter tank of gas so I went ahead and filled up. I did two more runs and had no problems.

Any ideas on what may have caused the error following my first run?

Thank you.
Appreciate 0
      06-13-2011, 09:41 PM   #2
Martin_D
Lieutenant Colonel
Martin_D's Avatar
United_States
102
Rep
1,787
Posts

Drives: Ford Super Duty
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Raleigh, NC

iTrader: (34)

gas in tank goes to one side - levels out then comes back to life

Solution - FILL UP. You are not going to win a medal with less gas in the car
Appreciate 0
      06-13-2011, 09:44 PM   #3
ajvee
Major
118
Rep
1,451
Posts

Drives: None
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: None

iTrader: (13)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Martin_D View Post
gas in tank goes to one side - levels out then comes back to life

Solution - FILL UP. You are not going to win a medal with less gas in the car
I figured as much Martin and didn't intentionally run the car with only a quarter tank

I appreciate the input.
Appreciate 0
      06-13-2011, 09:50 PM   #4
Martin_D
Lieutenant Colonel
Martin_D's Avatar
United_States
102
Rep
1,787
Posts

Drives: Ford Super Duty
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Raleigh, NC

iTrader: (34)

Make it a habit because on track it can be detrimental
Appreciate 0
      06-13-2011, 09:56 PM   #5
ajvee
Major
118
Rep
1,451
Posts

Drives: None
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: None

iTrader: (13)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Martin_D View Post
Make it a habit because on track it can be detrimental
Definitely. I didn't think about it prior to having this issue. I appreciate the advice again.
Appreciate 0
      06-13-2011, 10:03 PM   #6
Martin_D
Lieutenant Colonel
Martin_D's Avatar
United_States
102
Rep
1,787
Posts

Drives: Ford Super Duty
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Raleigh, NC

iTrader: (34)

Quote:
Originally Posted by ajvee View Post
Definitely. I didn't think about it prior to having this issue. I appreciate the advice again.
no problem amigo
Appreciate 0
      06-14-2011, 12:38 AM   #7
RickyBobby
Captain
RickyBobby's Avatar
107
Rep
697
Posts

Drives: M3
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: NorCal

iTrader: (3)

Interesting, I have run my car on track on fumes with r-comps (pulling over 1g) and have never had fuel starvation issues. I just figured that BMW finally figured it out and put multiple pickups in the tank. I'm curious to hear if anyone else has had this happen.
Appreciate 0
      06-14-2011, 07:57 AM   #8
Gearhead999s
Major General
Gearhead999s's Avatar
812
Rep
7,888
Posts

Drives: RR Velar R=Dynamic M2C R1200GS
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Toronto

iTrader: (0)

I always try to run with as much fuel as possiable in the tank because when you are getting starvation you are not doing any good things to your fuel pump.When we raced Camaro's they started fuel starvation at 3/8th tank on RH corners so the last 15 minutes of your run was pretty frustrating.
Appreciate 0
      06-14-2011, 09:31 AM   #9
Groundpilot
Banned
Groundpilot's Avatar
United_States
476
Rep
1,711
Posts

Drives: 135I DCT , e92 M3 DCT, Audi A6
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: long island,ny

iTrader: (0)

I had fuel starvation on the track once going into a sharp left corner with a quarter fuel tank. But it was E46 m3. Never had the same problem with 135i but after that incident i pit right away if i see a fuel gauge is close to quarter mark.
Appreciate 0
      06-14-2011, 11:22 AM   #10
von_zoom
Captain
von_zoom's Avatar
30
Rep
915
Posts

Drives: 2010 Z06
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: North Carolina

iTrader: (0)

Martin D - good advice

Quote:
Make it a habit because on track it can be detrimental
Maybe this is why you cannot get good track times. I never thought to ask if your car was missing. Try running with a full tank next time out.

Best, vz
__________________


Previous Track Toy
Appreciate 0
      06-14-2011, 11:25 AM   #11
Martin_D
Lieutenant Colonel
Martin_D's Avatar
United_States
102
Rep
1,787
Posts

Drives: Ford Super Duty
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Raleigh, NC

iTrader: (34)

Quote:
Originally Posted by von_zoom View Post
Martin D - good advice



Maybe this is why you cannot get good track times. I never thought to ask if your car was missing. Try running with a full tank next time out.

Best, vz


Lucky me CMP Fri/Sat/Sun then back home for VIR with Zone 2. You going to come out to that one?
Appreciate 0
      06-14-2011, 05:45 PM   #12
JAJ
Captain
80
Rep
961
Posts

Drives: 2014 Shelby GT500
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Vancouver, BC

iTrader: (4)

Going back to the OP's question, the E92 M3 has a fairly complex fuel pickup system that keeps working until you're pretty much on fumes. It sounds to me like there was some other problem that caused the error condition.

The fuel pump is at the bottom of a tubular inner reservoir inside one side of the saddle tank. It pressurizes the engine plumbing and the overflow from the piping goes through a venturi that siphons fuel from the other side of the saddle into the reservoir. If there's too much, the reservoir overflows and the cycle repeats. Both sides of the saddle have to be really low for the pump to run dry.
Appreciate 0
      06-14-2011, 11:21 PM   #13
ajvee
Major
118
Rep
1,451
Posts

Drives: None
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: None

iTrader: (13)

Quote:
Originally Posted by JAJ View Post
Going back to the OP's question, the E92 M3 has a fairly complex fuel pickup system that keeps working until you're pretty much on fumes. It sounds to me like there was some other problem that caused the error condition.

The fuel pump is at the bottom of a tubular inner reservoir inside one side of the saddle tank. It pressurizes the engine plumbing and the overflow from the piping goes through a venturi that siphons fuel from the other side of the saddle into the reservoir. If there's too much, the reservoir overflows and the cycle repeats. Both sides of the saddle have to be really low for the pump to run dry.
Thank you for the information. So if I understand correctly, regardless of how severe one might corner, if the fuel level is relatively high (quarter tank), each side of the saddle should have sufficient fuel to not cause starvation?

I have not seen the issue again but do you think I should still take the car into the dealer?
Appreciate 0
      06-14-2011, 11:37 PM   #14
JAJ
Captain
80
Rep
961
Posts

Drives: 2014 Shelby GT500
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Vancouver, BC

iTrader: (4)

Quote:
Originally Posted by ajvee View Post
Thank you for the information. So if I understand correctly, regardless of how severe one might corner, if the fuel level is relatively high (quarter tank), each side of the saddle should have sufficient fuel to not cause starvation?

I have not seen the issue again but do you think I should still take the car into the dealer?
There's no way to know what happened, so I wouldn't worry about it unless it happens again. Defective BMW fuel pumps are not totally unknown - they're rare in the M3 community, but the 335i folks have been dealing with them for a while now.
Appreciate 0
      06-15-2011, 10:49 AM   #15
stega
Captain
28
Rep
666
Posts

Drives: 2011 M3 E93
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Boca Raton, FL

iTrader: (3)

Quote:
Originally Posted by ajvee View Post
Thank you for the information. So if I understand correctly, regardless of how severe one might corner, if the fuel level is relatively high (quarter tank), each side of the saddle should have sufficient fuel to not cause starvation?

I have not seen the issue again but do you think I should still take the car into the dealer?
If you had a 1/4 tank and this happened, something else is wrong there...

I have been on literally like 3 miles to empty at an Auto-x and had no issues at all, other than thinking I was going to run out of fuel my last run.
Appreciate 0
      06-15-2011, 01:05 PM   #16
paradocs98
Lieutenant Colonel
paradocs98's Avatar
United_States
392
Rep
1,519
Posts

Drives: M2C
Join Date: May 2009
Location: NY

iTrader: (0)

Interesting thread. Our cars eat gas like crazy at the track. I've learned in the short time I've been doing this to bring a 5-gal gas can to the track, because each 20-25 minute session seems to burn a quarter of a tank. Even with the extra gas can, I've had to cut a final session short when I've been on fumes for fear I'd sputter out on track.
Appreciate 0
      06-15-2011, 01:10 PM   #17
stega
Captain
28
Rep
666
Posts

Drives: 2011 M3 E93
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Boca Raton, FL

iTrader: (3)

Quote:
Originally Posted by paradocs98 View Post
Interesting thread. Our cars eat gas like crazy at the track. I've learned in the short time I've been doing this to bring a 5-gal gas can to the track, because each 20-25 minute session seems to burn a quarter of a tank. Even with the extra gas can, I've had to cut a final session short when I've been on fumes for fear I'd sputter out on track.
I do the same thing. I bring a 5 gallon jug w/ me now.
Appreciate 0
      06-15-2011, 09:09 PM   #18
leo95se
Captain
United_States
126
Rep
938
Posts

Drives: '09 e92 M3, '15 F15 X5d
Join Date: May 2009
Location: CT

iTrader: (3)

If the pump is submersed i believe the fuel in the tank is used to keep it cool. Hence, having an adequate amount of fuel in the tank is beneficial.
Appreciate 0
Post Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 03:44 AM.




m3post
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
1Addicts.com, BIMMERPOST.com, E90Post.com, F30Post.com, M3Post.com, ZPost.com, 5Post.com, 6Post.com, 7Post.com, XBimmers.com logo and trademark are properties of BIMMERPOST