Owners of lowered e30's - look here

[bravo 35]

My e30 is lowered - 105mm off the ground to be precise. A day or two ago with a car full of passengers I scraped over a speed bump as usual. This time however, the weight in the car and the angle on the bump I put a good sized dent in the fuel tank on the passenger side - no biggy me thinks as it has been dented before and it didn't crack or stress the tank too much.

The next day I got a WOF and the dented tank passed.

I filled up with gas yesterday and went on my merry way - a couple of kms on I came to a roundabout and proceed to go round it at around 20km/h - half way round the back just lets go and I'm into a full opposite lock skid - at 20km/h in the dry!!!!

I carried on carefully trying to figure out what happened - I thought diesel on the road, but then why didn't the front let go.

A couple of corners later - this time at 70km/h in the 100 zone the back starts to let go again so I stop and have a look at the car - there is a puddle of fuel under the car and a trail behind me. Fuel is dripping onto the hot exhaust and then the cause of my problems - it is spraying back onto the rear tyres creating a total skidfest.

The source of the leak? When the tank was dented it pushed up on the bottom of the fuel guage sender (some models will also have a transfer pump here) and it pushed up onto the tabs it screws down into. This meant that it didn't screw down tight on the top of the tank and fuel was splashing up around the sender all over the electric terminal for the guage and then down onto the hot exhaust and tyres. I hadn't noticed until I filled up as there wasn't enough gas in the tank to spill out.

A quick panel of the tank and a tap on the locking tabs to bend them back down so the sender could screw down tight was all that was required to fix it however I couldn't help but think of what might have happened had the first sign been the back letting go at 100km on the motorway...

Was scary as f**k...

Edited March 29, 2006 by bravomikewhiskey

[Deftones 0]

Scary. Glad it didn't result in anything more serious (ie. life threatening).

Was it quite a big speed bump? Some of the ones down here I will scrape even if only two in the car (and my car is not half as low as some around here).

Thanks for the headsup.

[*sic 1]

harden up.

scary is when your bike starts to let go at 100km...

least your in a cage.

[Gus 5]

awesome

raise it. DO it. call me (did you get my txt or you change yo numba?)

[318is 0]

Damn - wicked. I would of been under the car first spin myself.

A little tip for those who do come across this - it helps a little ( and if the hole/leak isnt HUGE ) to only tighten the fuel cap half ie: loose enough to let the pressure out the filler hole.....obviously, this is a getya home thing if it's not dribbling over your exhaust!!!!

What did the fix cost?

Edit: Oh - seems you used a hammer and stuff to fix it yourself..heh

Edited March 29, 2006 by 318is

[E30stz 0]

Your afterburner exhaust will come in handy IPLEZR

[Guest Andrew]

damn - i'd be loving any chance to get that sideways.

[bravo 35]

Deftones - biggish bump and the very end of the bump as I was trying to go sort of around it and at an angle as you do - hence why it hit the tank not the chassis rail.

sic - I rode a bike for 4 years in Dunedin. Dunedin = cold. Cold = black ice. I've had a few near-death one's down there I can tell you including a proper 180 at close to 50km/h with no harm done and dropping the bike totally on the higway with it sliding to a stop under the car in front - no injuries thank god.

Gus - yeah new celly - PM'd you the numba.

318is - yup - self diagnosis, and the old BFH cure - Big f**king Hammer (piece of clean wood tapped with a hammer through the hole to panel the dent, and light taps with a hammer on the locking tabs).

Andrew - got your funny undies on bro? Tim still beats me.

Edited March 30, 2006 by bravomikewhiskey

[kiwi535 538]

I wonder why cars dont come from the factory that low?

Edited March 30, 2006 by kiwi535

[nz320i 0]

meh does anyone else go through balljoints like me? this is obviously a sign of crap springs--compresses..still havent got new ones like progressive or whatever

[Palazzo 464]

The convertible is the same height, maybe that thin metallic scraping noise on the way back from Coromandel wasn't a muffler. Hot exhaust and petrol, you were lucky.

[bravo 35]

Hot exhaust and petrol, you were lucky.

That's why the second I realised what was happening the fire extinguisher came out from under the drivers seat where it lives ready just in case.