Bloke at work told me his wife's BMW diesel company car had needed thewhole fuel system replaced due to someone in her firm having used itand mistakenly filled it with petrol. He had realised his mistake andhad it drained on the forecourt before actually running the engine.However the draining could not have been 100% as a few months laterthe high pressure pump failed, it had worn due to small traces ofpetrol and produced very fine swarf that was returned to the tank.BMW dealer said only way to fix it and not have it come back deadagain and again was to replace the whole fuel system includinginjectors, 3 pumps, tank and all fuel lines. Total £5000 and not awarranty job. As it was a few months later it's impossible to provethat the draining had not been done right or that no one else had putpetrol in it.This sort of mishap is clearly expensive on modern common raildiesels. Even worse for 2nd or 3rd private owner who buys a car justafter it had been filled with petrol so it dies horribly in the firstmonth of ownership, they would wind up with this massive expense. Howwould someone that had just bought a 2nd hand one prove they hadn'tput the petrol in themselves and that it was sold defective?--Peter HillSpamtrap reply domain as per NNTP-Posting-Host in headerCan of worms - what every fisherman wants.Can of worms - what every PC owner gets!

The message from Peter Hill contains these words:I'm surprised that the filter wouldn't take out this alleged swarf. It'dhave to be incredibly fine to get through a diesel fuel filter. Thesethings run with all sorts of crap in the tank for year. The rusty narstygritty grot you get in most tanks is taken out easily by the filter.Sounds like bullshit to me.

£5000! - cost of putting petrol in a diesel BMW?

Oct 16, 2004 43 Replies

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James Dore 21 years ago

If you read your policy documents they will tell you. But of course you do this upon receiving them, right?

Cheers,

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Ian Johnston 21 years ago

: In article , : snipped-for-privacy@btinternet.com says... : : > : > Fair enough. Just surprises me that they cover a deliberate and : > non-driving act. Do they cover stuff ups during maintenance: if I drop : > a nut through a sparking plug hole, will they pay for the engine to be : > stripped to get it out? : : If you read your policy documents they will tell you. But of course you : do this upon receiving them, right?

Read them? I learn them off by heart.

Ian

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Chris Street 21 years ago

Mmmmm. Where do you draw the line!?! I can understand them paying out for a diesel/petrol screwup as it is easily done, and is entirely accidental for the most part. Maintenance issues tend to imply a certain acceptance of ability and therefore risk I suppose.

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John 21 years ago

The damage would have occurred inside the high pressure pump, which is after the fuel filter. But a flush out of the rest of the system would be enough.

John

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