[Eric@AMS]

I always say If you can't laugh something off you are setting yourself up for an early demise. Well it's time for me to put my words to work

On friday the shop installed my third HPFP as we noticed during testing my car was going lean as we turned the boost up. Turning the boost down would negate the problem. After a day the problem went away. Well I get a call while I am on the road that on monday they think the problem has come back again. I am scratching my head...."well surely it can't be the pump again" I tell myself. So when I get back to the shop tuesday morning we toss it back on the dyno and start doing some testing...SURE ENOUGH the pump failed yet again! I called our local dealer and get a new one on the way. unfortunetely part of being an AMS employee is that they KNOW what we are doing and that there is no warranty whatsoever on my car or the pump. Sooooo time for a new pump.

Thankfully as I was talking to my parts guy at the dealer he leaked a little info that the pressure sensor prior to the pump has been giving them problems. This is a little guy that sits about 8 inches up stream in the feed line to the pump. Looks like a simple three prong brass pressure sensor. Well he reports that they have been going bad and causing pump failure. I had never heard of this prior on here nor from BMW. So I ordered up this $70 sensor and we are going to toss it in. With the help of CPE we are going to try and source what it workload this sensor goes through. what it communicates and if by some reason this stupid little sensor has been the cause of some pump failures. The good news is that if that is the case it seems to be a fairly easy piece to replace/upgrade. I will let you know as we play around with it some more. I am REALLY hoping this gets us somewhere with this problem as it is really taking a toll on us being able to test products to produce for you guys.

Eric

[jrsbeamer335]

FINALLY!

woooohooooooooooo!!!!

im crossing my fingers that this will finally fix it!!!!

[Eric@AMS]

Well no promises but it certainly is suspect. It might just be a simple sensor but if its barely failing where its affecting pressure at the pump and overworking it then it could be a big problem. We will see

Eric

[hotrod2448]

Well, since it sounds like you've got a few bad pumps laying around (unless they are doing core swaps for you) have you guys cracked one open to see what exactly is failing on them?

[Eric@AMS]

we have and the sad part is almost every pump shows a sign of something different going bad. Typically as I get a bad one I shoot it over to CP-E where they can examine it and compare it to the other failed units. I think the two I have here we are going to crack open as well to see if we can find something..then send them over to CPE

Eric

[MuchMoore]

Very interested in the results of this, it would be great if a solution could be found.

[Jonny550]

OMG a shit sensor worth $70 is the problem for multiple people loosing their warranties /screwing up their cars/preventing enthusiats from buying a 335's............................................. ........wow i hope you could get something going here lol.

[smack]

Hopefully we can get a solid understanding as to what is going on with these pumps.

[cn555ic]

Originally Posted by Eric@AMS

we have and the sad part is almost every pump shows a sign of something different going bad. Typically as I get a bad one I shoot it over to CP-E where they can examine it and compare it to the other failed units. I think the two I have here we are going to crack open as well to see if we can find something..then send them over to CPE

Eric

Is this the sensor thats on the fuel rail towards the back of the engine near the the blow by hoses?? I have a faulty sensor code and I just ordered that sensor, but there is another fuel pressure sensor on the low end side thats under the intake manifold...Can you please clarify which one!

[brianhn1]

Originally Posted by cn555ic

Is this the sensor thats on the fuel rail towards the back of the engine near the the blow by hoses?? I have a faulty sensor code and I just ordered that sensor, but there is another fuel pressure sensor on the low end side thats under the intake manifold...Can you please clarify which one!

The sensor upstream that he is mentioning is definitely the low pressure pump sensor. Would like to hear him confirm however.

[skate_E92]

i was told my new pump had this sensor and its going strong now.. knock on wood!

[Clap135]

When my 2009 pump failed bmw replaced the pump and the sensor according to my spec sheet, so you might be on to something. My car hard a hard time starting, stored low pressure codes however not once threw any sort of check engine light, or ses light even though the code was there three times once i scanned it.

[Former_Boosted_IS]

Originally Posted by Eric@AMS

I always say If you can't laugh something off you are setting yourself up for an early demise. Well it's time for me to put my words to work

On friday the shop installed my third HPFP as we noticed during testing my car was going lean as we turned the boost up. Turning the boost down would negate the problem. After a day the problem went away. Well I get a call while I am on the road that on monday they think the problem has come back again. I am scratching my head...."well surely it can't be the pump again" I tell myself. So when I get back to the shop tuesday morning we toss it back on the dyno and start doing some testing...SURE ENOUGH the pump failed yet again! I called our local dealer and get a new one on the way. unfortunetely part of being an AMS employee is that they KNOW what we are doing and that there is no warranty whatsoever on my car or the pump. Sooooo time for a new pump.

Thankfully as I was talking to my parts guy at the dealer he leaked a little info that the pressure sensor prior to the pump has been giving them problems. This is a little guy that sits about 8 inches up stream in the feed line to the pump. Looks like a simple three prong brass pressure sensor. Well he reports that they have been going bad and causing pump failure. I had never heard of this prior on here nor from BMW. So I ordered up this $70 sensor and we are going to toss it in. With the help of CPE we are going to try and source what it workload this sensor goes through. what it communicates and if by some reason this stupid little sensor has been the cause of some pump failures. The good news is that if that is the case it seems to be a fairly easy piece to replace/upgrade. I will let you know as we play around with it some more. I am REALLY hoping this gets us somewhere with this problem as it is really taking a toll on us being able to test products to produce for you guys.

Eric

Eric, you get a huge thanks for working to try to find a fix here! If you come up with a solution, then you will have the single highest selling part in N54 history in my opinion!

[GreenPlease]

^
+1

Post up some pics of the internals when you pull one of those pumps apart. I'd be curious to see what the inside looks like.

[klipseracer]

This would make my decision to buy a 335 so much easier. I test drove a black/black 335i Sedan... The HPFP failed WHILE I was test driving. I had to limp it back to my house which was the nearest safest place and BMW Assist came and towed it away.

[Eric@AMS]

Some more updates. The sensor I am referring to is indeed the low pressure sensor. What final effect it might have on the HPFP is still up in the air. HOWEVER because we were looking at a pressure issue ourselves and CP-E have stumbled on a possible problem that we want to look a little bit farther into before we go getting all excited. It is promising. It might result in offering a stronger and higher volume factory pump. Keep your fingers crossed. I know I am because if this is the case I'm putting a big turbo on this son of a bitch in the near future.

Eric

[GeorgeSmooth]

I am just throwing a idea out there and something that has been a suspicion. Most the cars that have had the HPFP fail are guys that run racing fuel. You might say I am mad but I am not thinking of the fuel. What I am thinking is running the tank dry to fill the fuel. Maybe the pump doesn't like running dry? A lot of the car I have reset codes have got the fuel pressure fault due to empty tank and all these dudes are the HPFP change regulars.

[TexAg06]

Originally Posted by GeorgeSmooth

I am just throwing a idea out there and something that has been a suspicion. Most the cars that have had the HPFP fail are guys that run racing fuel. You might say I am mad but I am not thinking of the fuel. What I am thinking is running the tank dry to fill the fuel. Maybe the pump doesn't like running dry? A lot of the car I have reset codes have got the fuel pressure fault due to empty tank and all these dudes are the HPFP change regulars.

no race gas for me and mine just crapped out.

[klipseracer]

Originally Posted by Eric@AMS

Some more updates. The sensor I am referring to is indeed the low pressure sensor. What final effect it might have on the HPFP is still up in the air. HOWEVER because we were looking at a pressure issue ourselves and CP-E have stumbled on a possible problem that we want to look a little bit farther into before we go getting all excited. It is promising. It might result in offering a stronger and higher volume factory pump. Keep your fingers crossed. I know I am because if this is the case I'm putting a big turbo on this son of a bitch in the near future.

Eric

I swear I have to get a new pair of underpants every time you post.

[Eric@AMS]

Originally Posted by klipseracer

I swear I have to get a new pair of underpants every time you post.

hahahahahaha I think that has to be the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me. Thanks!

Again, I am most certainly not trying to get everyone overly excited yet but between AMS and CP-E we have about 40 of the industry's best people looking at the problem. We don't like losing and I would like to think we can find a way around this.

Also in response to the race gas comment. I am on pump number 4 and my car has never seen a drop of anything above 93 octane so I would think that is a variable we can toss out at this time.

Eric

[Zeph]

there are tons of stock soccer mom's dropping HPFP's as well. It is a bad pump design, pure and simple. It is not very common in Europe so I can only assume the #1 issue is related to running vegetable oil here in the USSA

[Joeb427]

Any chance heat can be troublesome for the HPFP?
Plastic covers on both the top and bottom of the engine seems to really keep heat in.
I opened my hood the other day in my garage and the heat that escaped was unreal.