Fuel System Problem?

[kpuff]

Hi, I need some help please. I have a 2010 128i convertible with about 110k miles on it. About 2 months ago, the car just died on me - it felt like it ran out of gas, but it had 1/2 tank. Luckily I was turning into a shopping center and was able to coast into a parking spot. The car would start after an hour but puttered out and then wouldn't start again. Had it towed to the my friends repair shop (not a bmw repair shop) where they replaced the fuel pump but it didn't fix the problem so they put the old one back in and I had it towed to a BMW/Mercedes specialty repair shop. They said it's the fuel pump and even though I told him it wasn't, he insisted so he replaced the fuel pump and...it didn't fix the problem. After 2 days, he finally figured out the issue - his words: there is a line that is a permanent part of the fuel tank which goes from pump to pump that has come off and the proper fix is to replace the fuel tank which will be $3800. Or, he could clamp it for $400 labor and no guarantee as to how long it will hold. I went with the second option because I flat out don't have almost $4k to put into this problem. That worked for about 5k miles. Then the same thing happened while I was driving a canyon road with no cell service and had to wait for 2 hours in a remote location for a tow truck. Had it towed back to the same guy, he said yeah the clamp came off and he reclamped it and I took the car home. It is running like crap - sounds like a diesel engine and I'm now very reluctant to drive it - so I went back to my friends repair shop to get a price from him to replace the fuel tank. Here is the reason for my post-my friend said there's only 1 pump in this car and there is no sign of anything being disconnected or clamped - there was a broken O ring which he replaced but otherwise he can't find anything that looks out of the ordinary. He called the repair shop that did the work but they wouldn't call him back. So, whatever that repair shop did fixed the problem but it doesn't seem his description is accurate.

Before I invest any more money in fixing this - does anyone have any ideas? My dad (a trained mechanic but retired & living out of state) said it sounds like the sender unit isn't getting enough fuel to the tank, but isn't that part of the fuel pump & if it was the sender unit the replacement fuel pump would have worked?

Thanks!

[Breeze1]

Welcome to the forum!

I'll let the pros give you an input on this, but IMO 1) replacing a fuel tank on a 10yo/110K miles doesn't sound right to me and you should take the time to establish a proper diagnosis before doing anything at all 2) If there was that big an issue the car would probably have thrown a CEL light at you 3) either way you should hook it up to a good scanner and look for any error codes that would give you a hint at what to look at.

Good luck, I hope it gets fixed without much hassle!