Has anybody out there any information about fuel contamination. My car (3years and one month old with 50,000 miles on the clock) broke down with the dashboard indicator showing "Fuel injector". The local BMW dealer said it was caused by contaminated fuel (white spirit he believed from the smell). I had the diesel analysed and all was in order except that the sample contained "a significant quantity of free water". The dealer, nevertheless, wants to replace the whole fuel system from tank onwards, at a cost to me of £6,000. I have no idea how water could have got in - the garage where I bought the fuel from deny liability and anyway the car ran perfectly for over 400 miles on that last tankful before breakdown. (And obviously I can't prove that it was the last fill - nobody else drives or could have had access to the car). Has anybody experienced a similar problem? Do they really need to replace everything? If so is the cost reasonable? Have I any other course of action? Any comments would be gratefully received. PS the sample was not taken under laboratory conditions - the garage merely siphoned some of into an open jar and kept it on the garage floor for 4 days before pouring it into my cleaned, sealable jar.
- posted
18 years ago