[leeuk10]

Yesterday my car was running short of fuel, I went and put in £20 worth of petrol in!

A mile later it dawned on me that I had used petrol and not diesel so I pulled over to the side of the road. While wondering what to do the engine started sounding unwell. So I then turned off the engine and called BMW Roadside Assistance to get the car towed back to BMW.

Because the Automatic gearbox was in P the car couldn't be moved. So the tow man tried to start the car so that we could move it into Neutral. The car wouldn't start but at least we got it in Neutral

Car is now at BMW, they going to look at it tomorrow but at the moment they saying that if the car has been driven, which it has, then a flush wouldn't work and that I need a whole new fuel system which will cost between £6000 - £7000.

Has anybody made this mistake before? Do you think I would be best off taking the car to a back street garage and seeing if they can flush it?

Any advice would be very much appreciated.

[BTM]

I was under the impression that gas nozzles were incompatible with diesel tanks and vice versa?

[BlackBimmer1991]

maybe different in the UK?

[F32Fleet]

General rule of thumb with misfueling (entire fill with gasoline) is to not start the car. Once started it's game over.

[sickem]

OP, sorry to hear about this. I'm sorry, but I must do this:

GL and I hope you get lucky and there is no damage

[335e92tx]

Sorry for your predicament - how much fuel was it? How long was it driven?

I would think that if it cranked, it would not cause excessive combustion pressure to the point of damage.

Yep, I would start with the flush. But, the injectors will still probably have some gas - there might not be a way to purge them with out removal.

[Barbera335]

Originally Posted by leeuk10

Yesterday my car was running short of fuel, I went and put in £20 worth of petrol in!

A mile later it dawned on me that I had used petrol and not diesel so I pulled over to the side of the road. While wondering what to do the engine started sounding unwell. So I then turned off the engine and called BMW Roadside Assistance to get the car towed back to BMW.

Because the Automatic gearbox was in P the car couldn't be moved. So the tow man tried to start the car so that we could move it into Neutral. The car wouldn't start but at least we got it in Neutral

Car is now at BMW, they going to look at it tomorrow but at the moment they saying that if the car has been driven, which it has, then a flush wouldn't work and that I need a whole new fuel system which will cost between £6000 - £7000.

Has anybody made this mistake before? Do you think I would be best off taking the car to a back street garage and seeing if they can flush it?

Any advice would be very much appreciated.

My advise is to take it somewhere else, have the fuel tank flushed and the fuel filter replaced and you will be fine. Make sure you fill the tank all the way up with fresh diesel after flushing. There is absolutely no reason to replace the entire fuel system for this.

[cb1111]

A simple flush won't do as you've damaged a significant amount of bits in the fuel delivery system and may have done in some other engine parts as well. 6-7k (about $9-11k) seems a bit on the high end though. You might want to call around to a few places that have experience with that sort of thing.

OTOH, £20 in petrol is only about 2 ounces, right?

Good luck and keep us posted

[Barbera335]

Originally Posted by cb1111

A simple flush won't do as you've damaged a significant amount of bits in the fuel delivery system and may have done in some other engine parts as well. 6-7k (about $9-11k) seems a bit on the high end though. You might want to call around to a few places that have experience with that sort of thing.

OTOH, £20 in petrol is only about 2 ounces, right?

Good luck and keep us posted

Not necessarily, I've personally seen an E70 xdrive35d filled to the brim with gasoline and then driven until it would'nt run anymore. That car had the tank flushed and the fuel filter replaced. It was then filled with fresh diesel and after awhile of cranking the car fired up and ran perfectly. It has driven 1000 miles since then with no issues whatsoever. I think it is a worthwhile try for the OP before he goes and throws a bunch of money at the car for no reason.

[DnA Diesel]

Full fuel system flush for starters. Likely include replacement of injection pump and injectors. Could also be valve and piston damage due to the detonation of gasoline in the engine.

How much diesel was in the tank before you put the petrol in? I suppose a potential saving grace was that £20 is only about 20L and may have been diluted by whatever diesel was in the tank prior to the fill.

Good luck.

p.s. £6000-7000 does seem a little steep for a fuel system. Heck, that should get you a short block motor!

[cb1111]

Originally Posted by Barbera335

Not necessarily, I've personally seen an E70 xdrive35d filled to the brim with gasoline and then driven until it would'nt run anymore. That car had the tank flushed and the fuel filter replaced. It was then filled with fresh diesel and after awhile of cranking the car fired up and ran perfectly. It has driven 1000 miles since then with no issues whatsoever. I think it is a worthwhile try for the OP before he goes and throws a bunch of money at the car for no reason.

Clearly, it makes sense to do the simple things first, since they need to be done in any case, but I'm afraid that there will be actual damage.

I think we're doing the OP a dis-service by saying "drain it and refill with diesel - you'll be fine."

[Barbera335]

Originally Posted by cb1111

Clearly, it makes sense to do the simple things first, since they need to be done in any case, but I'm afraid that there will be actual damage.

I think we're doing the OP a dis-service by saying "drain it and refill with diesel - you'll be fine."

I agree with you, it was my mistake in the words I chose. What I meant to say is the OP should be fine as I have personally seen this exact scenario but with a far higher concentration of gasoline in a diesel E70 and it was fine after a flush and fuel filter. Of course every car and scenario is different.

[Karlb]

my wife filled 3/4 of a 36 gallon tank of gas into our 2006 f250 power stroke diesel once and drove it till it died while pulling a gooseneck 5 horse horse trailer full of horses, fuel system flush and refilled with fresh diesel along with both fuel filters changed out and the truck has been fine for approx 25k miles since.--- Note to any that hadnt noticed---- BP has green pump handles on their gas pumps. this was in Tenn. and the shop that she got to come get her told her it happens all the time at that particular station ( actually told her about once a month) and not to sweat it she and the truck would be fine. so far they were right

[leeuk10]

Well thanks for all the feedback guys.

Let's hope that the flush works then.

Tomorrow I'll arrange for it to be towed to a local garage and flushed.

I'll keep you posted.

Thanks again,
Lee

[kaishang]

I'm going to say - it may be OK. I definitely would NOT go out and spend GBP7000 on changing the entire fuel system without trying simple and much cheaper solutions first.

You drove 1 mile you say. That is about 100 millilitres of fuel, probably about the amount of diesel already in your fuel lines from your previous fill. The engine started to sound unhealthy but you haven't described anything which sounds like detonation, backfiring etc.

So get someone to siphon off the petrol/diesel mix, drain anything which is in the fuel line now, put on a new fuel filter and put some diesel in.

See if that works. It probably will work.

If the BMW service centre refuses to try a simple solution like that first, I'd piss them off and have the car taken somewhere where they will try a simple solution. Remember there is no shortage of people willing to tell you the easiest (for them) and most expensive solution of changing the entire fuel system when something else will probably work fine.

As an FYI since you couldn't get it out of Park and into Neutral to move it without attempting an engine start - READ THE MANUAL. The procedure to take it out of Park without an engine start is described in the manual. It requires taking off some of the trim around the gearstick.

[kaishang]

BTW if I were ever to do a mis-fuel, esp if the car was under warranty then the LAST thing I would do is contact BMW. There are only two outcomes if you contact BMW: either you lose any warranty on your fuel system and they charge you to drain your tank - or - they replace your fuel system for GBP7000 and let you keep your warranty.

I'd push the car off the pump without starting it and call an independent mechanic to drain the tank and dispose of the contaminated fuel. If the guy behind the counter wanted me to start it to hurry up and move it out of the way, I'd tell 'em to wait while I pulled the trim off and found the Park release switch.

[mr p-j]

Originally Posted by leeuk10

Well thanks for all the feedback guys.

Let's hope that the flush works then.

Tomorrow I'll arrange for it to be towed to a local garage and flushed.

I'll keep you posted.

Thanks again,
Lee

don´t forget to update here after the flush!
good luck to you. i think that you are going to be fine actually!

[Coolieman1220]

why did you have to "start" the car to tow? is there not a shift lock? and can't you just put the car in the start position without cranking it to put it in neutral? weird i tell ya.

[OBI_agent]

Man...I hope your car recovers! Keep us updated.

[HoustonScott]

Clean and flush the fuel system. Your going to be fine. The engine will not run on gasoline long enough to heart it...don't worry. I have read a few dealers have put gasoline in 335d's here in USA when delivering them, stupid but true, they were all fine.

HS

[kcgman]

Originally Posted by HoustonScott

Clean and flush the fuel system. Your going to be fine. The engine will not run on gasoline long enough to heart it...don't worry. I have read a few dealers have put gasoline in 335d's here in USA when delivering them, stupid but true, they were all fine.

HS

Really? Based on prior experience, I believe you are a good source of info, but I confess that this runs counter to just about everything I've heard about running a diesel engine on gas. Worst of all, I've been told that the BMW's tend to be a more sophisticated "fussier" sort of diesel which doesn't deal well with gasoline whereas older diesels just might manage to get through the indignity of being forced to run on gas. Anyway, you've made me question what I thought I knew, but I'm still having a bit of trouble entirely letting go of what I thought I knew.

[leeuk10]

When the gearbox is in PARK you are unable to move the vehicle. I don't know why but it's as though the breaks are engaged.

I was unable to move the gearstick to any other position unless the start button was pressed. I didn't know about the manual release switch under the trim. We should have read the manual, thanks for the tip.

Anyways, the car was collected from BMW this afternoon and taken to a local garage. They said they will flush the tank and lines, install a new filter and fill with diesel. The bloke said he's done plenty of these in the past and hasn't experienced a problem as yet and that he thinks everything will be fine.

I'll call up tomorrow and see what progress has been made.

I'll keep you posted.