An end to all this fuelishness

I borrowed my wife's 1-year-old BMW 318d this morning and when the fuel warning light came on (70 miles left, approx 2 gallons) I pulled into the petrol stations and filled it up. I pulled out of the station and drove gently down the hill, then the car started to stutter. I knew instantly that I had filled with petrol rather than diesel. The car has been recovered to a BMW dealer and they have just called to say the entire fuel system must be replaced, due to magnetic metallic filings, at a cost of £5,104.28p. Do you think they are having a late April fools joke, or is this serious?

Asked on 22 August 2009 by

Answered by Honest John

Highly likely. Very little lubricity left in just the few litres of diesel in the tank diluted by the large amount of petrol you filled it with. The fuel pump will have shredded itself, sending particles into the injectors. Gizmos to prevent misfuelling are £30, from: www.misfuelpreventiondevice.com; www.caparorightfuel.com;
www.sol-ace.co.uk; www.fuelsure.com

Tags: misfuelling technical issues owning

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