I think you can leave the rear beam in place actually and work around it, but it will make the job harder. Bear in mind that the fuel tank is around the prop shaft, near where it connects to the diff.
Thanks for this video! I know the E30 has a “saddle type” gas tank, with a drain plug on one side. Might be a noob question, but how does the other side with no drain plug get drained?
Cheers Andrew, there's an S-shaped pipe that connects the two halves at their lowest point. I mention it in my later vid where I refinish the tank. Mine was in a good shape so I left it alone, but if you have to replace it they are expensive from BMW. Hope that helps!
@@SPANNERRASH Thanks for the reply man... I was going to ask you this exact question... Your videos are great and it's good to see other Euro spec guys, im from Australia so Euro spec... What model is your E30?... Im onto your next video about the rest of that tank, keep em coming man!
@@thisisyaren Cheers mate! Mine is a 1990 E30 316i coupe, so facelift with the M40B16 engine. Hope you enjoy the vids, I'm in deep on this E30 build now! Plenty more to come though 😅
I was watching this in the hop that it would enlighten me to how I can replace all the fuel lines ontop of the tank without dropping the tank from the car - but I don't think it's possible! I'll add dropping to tank to my long list of jobs to do...
hey man I can't get the drain plug out... I went with a H5 on ratchet and it just stripped it, like its almost as if the drain plug is seised into the thread or something... Ive tried pliers on it and it just wont budge at all.. Seems like it was fully screwed in hard like almost over done or something and seemed like there was some type of sealant over it... it looks stock though its not something external its the same type of material that goes around that area over the tank... Man im stuffed now. I really need to get that bolt off to do a wash in my tank. My tank is riddled with rust... put it this way my e30 has been sitting for 14 years untouched...
Sounds like a huge pain in the arse that. Maybe I got lucky with mine or someone had removed it before, but to be honest after 30 years if it's never been out I can imagine it would be seized. I think my suggestion would be to clean the area off with a wire brush and get some penetrating fluid into it. Consider heating it right up (but don't have a petrol fire or the whole car will go up). Then hammer the next size hex in and try again. if that fails, I'd carefully use an angle grinder cutting blade to cut a slot in the head and then use a big hefty manual impact driver to coax it out. She'll come out I'm sure. If the tank is super rusty though you might need to cut your losses on it and buy a replacement. If my tank was a mess inside that's what I'd have done. If you just want to take old fuel out of it, then you could use one of those super big syringes to extract it like some do with oil. Hope that helps!
Hey mate, finally my fuel tank leaks and it leaks badly. Remember weeks ago I mentioned the tremendous pressure (vapor) build-up in tank despite not using the car. Somewhere along the ventilation lines is stuck. And just when I wanted to go under the car to investigate the leaks happened. I got to do what you did - removing the fuel tank to service and fix the leaks. 1. I want to ask you if it is okay to fix leaks by welding or it is advisable to get another good used one. 2. Also, is it necessary to dismantle the prop shaft U-joint coupling in order to remove the fuel tank? 3. Is it advisable to use high pressure water jet to spray the inside of tank to remove any crud or rusts there maybe? Thanks for your advice.
Hey, sounds like bad news about your fuel tank leaking, sorry to hear that. Maybe you can blow the vent lines through with compressed air to fix that? I think it depends on the condition of the tank, if it is generally sound but has one rust hole or at least nothing major, I would be comfortable repairing it. Check my back catalogue of videos I showed how to do a repair using solder which is easier and safer than welding. If you weld you'll need to be sure the petrol fumes won't ignite. Flushing the tank out is a good idea, but if there are big chunks of rust in there, that is probably a sign that the tank is too far gone. I was lucky as despite a hole in mine, the inside looked great.
Hi mate, I'm not sure there's an official torque spec for that unfortunately. If I recall I think I went for around 50 Nm on mine which should be fine for an M10 size screw. Hope that helps! 👍
Do you have to drop the rear subframe to do this job
I think you can leave the rear beam in place actually and work around it, but it will make the job harder.
Bear in mind that the fuel tank is around the prop shaft, near where it connects to the diff.
Thanks for this video! I know the E30 has a “saddle type” gas tank, with a drain plug on one side. Might be a noob question, but how does the other side with no drain plug get drained?
Cheers Andrew, there's an S-shaped pipe that connects the two halves at their lowest point. I mention it in my later vid where I refinish the tank.
Mine was in a good shape so I left it alone, but if you have to replace it they are expensive from BMW.
Hope that helps!
@@SPANNERRASH Thanks for the reply man... I was going to ask you this exact question... Your videos are great and it's good to see other Euro spec guys, im from Australia so Euro spec... What model is your E30?... Im onto your next video about the rest of that tank, keep em coming man!
@@thisisyaren Cheers mate! Mine is a 1990 E30 316i coupe, so facelift with the M40B16 engine. Hope you enjoy the vids, I'm in deep on this E30 build now! Plenty more to come though 😅
Super clean car!
It's definitely a scruffy E30, but so far, I'm finding way less rust than I expected to! :) The rear arch is the only bad bit I've seen really.
would not say that is clean at all lol
Whats the size of the Allen for the drain plug?
Hard to remember exactly, maybe something like a 6. It's an M10 screw.
Thanks. Really informative & helpful 👍.... Have the exact same one, same colour too ❤️😎
Thank you Rob, awesome that you have the same one! 😁
I was watching this in the hop that it would enlighten me to how I can replace all the fuel lines ontop of the tank without dropping the tank from the car - but I don't think it's possible! I'll add dropping to tank to my long list of jobs to do...
I really don't think it's possible as its extremely tight around the tank and the lines are pretty inaccessible.
@@SPANNERRASH it's do able I just did it!
@@thisisyaren Nice, either you have very small hands, or there's a knack to it. 😂
hey man I can't get the drain plug out... I went with a H5 on ratchet and it just stripped it, like its almost as if the drain plug is seised into the thread or something... Ive tried pliers on it and it just wont budge at all.. Seems like it was fully screwed in hard like almost over done or something and seemed like there was some type of sealant over it... it looks stock though its not something external its the same type of material that goes around that area over the tank... Man im stuffed now. I really need to get that bolt off to do a wash in my tank. My tank is riddled with rust... put it this way my e30 has been sitting for 14 years untouched...
Sounds like a huge pain in the arse that. Maybe I got lucky with mine or someone had removed it before, but to be honest after 30 years if it's never been out I can imagine it would be seized.
I think my suggestion would be to clean the area off with a wire brush and get some penetrating fluid into it. Consider heating it right up (but don't have a petrol fire or the whole car will go up).
Then hammer the next size hex in and try again.
if that fails, I'd carefully use an angle grinder cutting blade to cut a slot in the head and then use a big hefty manual impact driver to coax it out. She'll come out I'm sure.
If the tank is super rusty though you might need to cut your losses on it and buy a replacement. If my tank was a mess inside that's what I'd have done.
If you just want to take old fuel out of it, then you could use one of those super big syringes to extract it like some do with oil. Hope that helps!
Hey mate, finally my fuel tank leaks and it leaks badly. Remember weeks ago I mentioned the tremendous pressure (vapor) build-up in tank despite not using the car. Somewhere along the ventilation lines is stuck. And just when I wanted to go under the car to investigate the leaks happened.
I got to do what you did - removing the fuel tank to service and fix the leaks.
1. I want to ask you if it is okay to fix leaks by welding or it is advisable to get another good used one.
2. Also, is it necessary to dismantle the prop shaft U-joint coupling in order to remove the fuel tank?
3. Is it advisable to use high pressure water jet to spray the inside of tank to remove any crud or rusts there maybe?
Thanks for your advice.
Hey, sounds like bad news about your fuel tank leaking, sorry to hear that.
Maybe you can blow the vent lines through with compressed air to fix that?
I think it depends on the condition of the tank, if it is generally sound but has one rust hole or at least nothing major, I would be comfortable repairing it.
Check my back catalogue of videos I showed how to do a repair using solder which is easier and safer than welding. If you weld you'll need to be sure the petrol fumes won't ignite.
Flushing the tank out is a good idea, but if there are big chunks of rust in there, that is probably a sign that the tank is too far gone. I was lucky as despite a hole in mine, the inside looked great.
mate, do you happen to know the torque spec on the fuel drain plug?
can’t find it anywhere
Hi mate, I'm not sure there's an official torque spec for that unfortunately. If I recall I think I went for around 50 Nm on mine which should be fine for an M10 size screw. Hope that helps! 👍
@@SPANNERRASH
That’s enough for me!
Thanks so much, I appreciate it, cheers!
Thanks this helped!
Cheers! Glad it was useful
О, я тоже буду снимать бак этим летом, спасибо за инструкцию 🤜🤛
Спасибо, надеюсь, видео поможет!
thank you sir
You're welcome, hope it helped!