Hi folks... sorry my first post is looking for a bit of advice. Purchased my first BMW 118d last weekend... private sale... all went well till i brimmed the tank... and then drops of diesel from below the rear drivers side rear door,,, google search revealed an issue with the breather pipe passing through the chassis rail and rubs through. Quite common i understand.

I have today picked up the new pipe from BMW... its been modified to prevent this happening again. I am going to tackle the change this weekend but is there anything i should look out for.

I will run the tank as low as i dare before starting, wheel arch liner out on OS...back seat out and release the connections to the tank on both sides... release the filler neck from the tank... undo tank straps and lower it down on a trolley jack to access the vent pipe .. swap and refit everything...

Any thing obvious that ive missed... and once its back together will there be any issues with with starting it again... air in the diesel lines etc..

All advice welcome... thanks

To be honest you will more than likely get air in the lines,if it doesnt re start,crank it ovrr for 10th-15 sec then undo the air box and squirt some brake cleaner up the inlet mainfold.then crank it over again and it will fire.

You don't actually need to run the tank low as the breather-pipe originates from the topmost part of the tank !

Thanks for the answers guys... all went well... did it last friday night... 2 hours start to finish.. the hole in the vent pipe was miniscule... no starting problems afterwards either... had more fun trying to find diesel afterwards due to the mad rush caused by the fuel loonies...

Another Crime Solved... Well done Phooey :D