BMW E60 Fuel Pump Replacement And Diagnostic Guide

Changing the fuel pump on a BMW E60 model can be challenging if you have not replaced it a few times in the past or don’t understand the system. In this article, I will be explaining to you how the fuel pump actually works, what possible fault codes you might encounter and how to properly diagnose the system plus show you how to replace it.

But first, here’s a list of the tools you will need.

[su_list icon=”icon: wrench” icon_color=”#FE8E48″]

• Flashlight
• Rubber mallet
• 10MM socket and ratchet
• Lots of rags or catch can in case fuel spills
• Big Flathead screwdriver if you don’t have pump removal tool

[/su_list]

BMW E60 case study.

Today a nice looking dark blue 2008 BMW E60 535i showed up on the back of a local tow truck and was dropped off with a crank but no start condition.

Usually, technicians quiver and get upset when this happens because they have to deal with the headache of figuring out what is wrong with the car.

For me, when I see a car in the back of a flatbed I get excited about two reasons. one being that I get to figure out what exactly is wrong with the car and two I get to bring it back to life.

I get that feeling when the mad scientist from the Frankenstein movie gets when he brings him to life on the operating table.

This particular vehicle has about 144,000K miles on the instrument cluster so its no surprise the pump failed and actually lasted this long.

We immediately pushed the car onto my lift after the car was dropped from the flatbed and I quickly scanned the DME to retrieve fault codes and the picture below shows you the fault that was registered.

 

 

Let’s start the BMW E60 fuel pump replacement process by drawing up a game plan and actually executing it properly.

Most of the time when mechanics get fault codes like this they usually make the mistake of assuming that the pump has in fact failed and start the replacement process.

I’ve seen countless times where a mechanic gets a car then reads the fault memory and it displays oxygen sensor faults and they go ahead and replace the sensor go out on a test drive and the fault code comes back.

Early in my career, I’ve noticed this pattern in other techs and I decided not to be that guy that just changes parts and prays to the car gods that it fixes the problem on the vehicle.

I started studying and reading my butt off and soaked in all the information I can get from my automotive textbook and watched countless youtube videos on technical topics of everything automotive technology.

Now many years later I have fine-tuned my diagnostic procedures and I actually have fun figuring out problems and fixing them.

For this article and case study, the spoiler alert here is that the low-pressure fuel pump has in fact died and I did end up replacing it. but I do still show you how I came to this conclusion.

So as you read along I will show you my exact process of how I came to the conclusion that the low-pressure fuel pump in this car failed and I will show you exactly what failed within the pump.

 

BMW EKP Fuel Pump Control Unit.

 

 

Installation location.

The installation location for the BMW EKP fuel pump control unit for the E60 is located on the passenger side rear trunk space behind the upholstery cover as you can see in the picture below.

 

 

Once you have removed the cover the module will be exposed and will be fastened by two 10mm nuts. you can simply remove the nuts and then remove the unit if you ever need to replace it. remember you have to code the new unit so keep that in the back of your mind. After this step we will move forward to the BMW E60 fuel pump replacement procedure.

For the BMW E63 and E64 models, the control module is located on the base plate underneath the rear seat.

 

There are 2 versions of the EKP module

[su_list icon=”icon: car” icon_color=”#FE8E48″]

• EKP control module with a total of 8 pins (until 03/2004)
• EKP control module with a total of 20 pins (from 03/2004)

[/su_list]

How it works.

The actual EKP fuel control module stores the required fuel maps in order for the car to run properly. it is also encoded to match the specific engine and model type.

It uses the fuel mappings as the basis to calculate the correct fuel amount to be used when the DME demands it and the volume it wants. it also calculates how much fuel volume and pressure to send and lubricate the high-pressure pump in the diesel system.

This type of functionality is achieved by a pulse width modulated voltage supply from the control module. what actually supply’s the output voltage of the low pressure in tank fuel pump is the EKP module.

The actual speed and RPM of the low pressure in tank pump is controlled this way and it has become standard technology as BMW moves forward with their vehicles.

So basically the control unit sends a voltage supply to the pump via (pulse width modulated) current. the voltage is then viewed as a specific ripple according to the individual armature windings of the rotating electric motor.

The ripple corresponds with the number of segments in the commutator part in the assembly (= the actual number of armature windings in the electric motor).

Scope pattern of the fuel pump looks like waves and that is produced by the number of existing commutator segments and the RPM of the unit. check out the picture below to get an idea of what I mean.

 

Scope pattern of a good fuel pump at idle. (new pump installed).

 

 

The picture above was taken after I actually changed the low-pressure side fuel pump and its a perfect example of a good looking fuel pump wave pattern of the commutator segments.

For this, I snapped a picture using my snap-on vantage two channel scope and uploaded it from the machine to my computer. I love technology.

 

Properly diagnosing a bad BMW E60 fuel pump.

Now for the meat and potatoes of this article. I’ve explained what’s involved in the fuel pump system as far as the electronics and the technical aspect of the system but now as you read below I will show you the steps I took to find the problem with this vehicle’s no start condition.

Some of the symptoms of the pump actually failing I have listed in my other article called BMW E46 fuel pump replacement done right(professionally) so you can check that out for a reference.

But for this particular case study and vehicle, the condition here is a “crank” but “no start” problem so I treat it differently. the E46 I worked on was running but had lean conditions. not enough fuel for the demand.

First thing is first we have to verify the problem but that was easy because I knew it did not start to begin with so next step in the direction I wanted to take with this car was to check the actual fuse located in the trunk.

The fuse for the low-pressure fuel pump is number (72) and good thing I checked there first because I found the fuse blown which indicated an obvious problem. check out the picture below of the fuse I found.

 

Most of the time when a fuse is blown it is usually due to a short to ground or excessive current within that circuit so I already had an idea where I was going to go with this diagnostic procedure.

After I found this blown fuse I went ahead and replaced that fuse with a good one I sat in the driver seat and cranked away at the ignition switch only to result in the fuse being blown again. confirmation.

Next step I did was to replace the blown fuse again but not start the car. what I did next is hooked up a fuel gauge reader and check if I had any type of pressure whatsoever when I just switch the ignition to accessory mode.

The picture below shows a zero psi reading with a new fuse in the circuit and just placing the ignition switch in the on position.

 

 

After re-confirming that there is no fuel pressure whatsoever coming from the fuel pump with the ignition switch being turned on I went ahead and tried starting the car again only to have another fuse being blown and no movement from the needle of my fuel pressure gauge.

At the same time if you do have access to a proper scan tool like the one I use in my case studies then pull up the data PID for fuel readings like the picture below and take note that no pressure is present upon key on engine off.

 

BMW E60 Fuel Pump Replacement Procedure.

 

Now we are definitely moving in the right direction. After all that now is when I walk to the back of the car and remove the back seat and placed it in a clean location so it won’t get dirty. customers hate to see dirt and grime in their cars.

After removing the back seat you will notice two black covers underneath a carpet like material. Remove both covers. One on the driver side and the other on the passenger side. The passenger side is the pump and the driver side is the sender unit.

 

First Step For BMW E60 fuel pump replacement procedure.

Remove all eight 10MM nuts and you will see the top of the fuel tank and both units installed in them with the famous BMW lock ring holding them in place.

The picture below is the actual fuel pump unit on the passenger side with the black cover removed and exposed.

 

 

That is the fuel pump and the connector coming from the EKP control unit. notice the big red and brown wires going to it? that will be your power and ground coming from the control module. BMW did great by placing the module near the pump to save the length of wire.

Next step I took was to remove the connector and remove the actual lock ring holding the pump in place in the fuel tank.

 

Fuel pump side(passenger side)

Sender side(driver side)

 

I removed both the sender unit and the fuel pump unit. you have to because as you will see in the upcoming steps the pump has plastic hoses running inside the tank going across to the other side.

Basically, the fuel pump sends the fuel from one side of the tank to the other side via the plastic hoses then the fuel sender on the driver side rear send that fuel towards the front of the engine which is pretty cool.

 

 

Now after you have removed the lock rings on both sides of the fuel tank what you want to do next is be careful pulling up the sender and fuel pump because they have some hoses attached within the tank.

 

 

The picture above is the driver side fuel sender unit so what you want to do here is slowly and carefully detach the two hoses and the one harness connector.

Then pull the driver side sender unit out of the tank and place it somewhere safe but be careful that you might leak fuel all over the place. use a pan or a bunch of rags to catch any fuel.

Next, you will have the hoses dangling inside the fuel tank as I show you in the picture below. after that then go over to the passenger side and remove the fuel pump slowly without breaking any of the plastic hoses.

 

 

Now that you have successfully removed both the sender unit on the driver side and the actual fuel pump on the passenger side all you have to do is work backward from here in reverse order.

Basically, install the new fuel pump unit and make sure you feed the plastic hoses into the tank and feed it to the other side of the tank so it might mean you have to stick your arm in the tank and guide it to the other side.

Then attach the same sending unit you previously removed on the driver side and put it all back together close up the lids and lock the lockrings back into place.

Verify the problem is fixed.

Now that you have performed the BMW E60 fuel pump replacement procedure you now have to verify that the problem is fixed.

In this case study and this car, I verified a few ways. since I own a snap-on scan tool and snap-on scope I am able to use these tools to test systems and make proper repairs. they do help a ton but they are not necessary.

The first way I verified that the fault was gone after I replaced the low-pressure side fuel pump was to actually install a new fuse and crank the engine.

The picture below is of a fuel pressure reading with the engine running and fault memory cleared.

 

 

This is the right pressure reading the low-pressure fuel pump should be reading as a normal running pump. now after finding the fuse popped and replacing the fuel pump now the car is able to start and run properly.

Now for my conscious and my OCD, I went one more step further so I would be able to sleep at night and attached my scope to visually see that the new fuel pump was running properly. the pic below is a scope pattern of a good pump.

 

Don’t mind the double wave scope pattern it is actually a single wave pattern but i think it was a camera issue when it captured the image. I did use my android phone.

The picture below is the picture taken from my scope machine and it was a BMP file and converted to JPEG so it looks better but this is a good strong wave pattern here.

 

 

And the picture below is a picture taken on my scan tool from the data PID and I uploaded it here for you guys. but this is a proper fuel pressure reading of a good running pump on the low-pressure side.

 

 

Here is why the fuel pump failed.

And now to wrap things up here, I show you the reason why the fuel pump failed. in the picture below is the actual pump inside the unit itself.

A fuel pump or in other cases an electric motor can fail for few reasons but in this case, the actual magnet within the fuel pump assembly deteriorated and broke leaving pieces everywhere.

As I usually do I went a step further because from an engineering perspective I want to know why things failed and how they failed so I took it apart to see what happened exactly.

Plus this is just me being the nerd that I am. anyways here are the pictures I took below.

 

 

 

 

And there you have it. You finished the BMW E60 fuel pump replacement procedure. I explained to you the different parts of the system and how they work,  how to diagnose,  how to change the fuel pump and I showed you what actually failed.

I really hope this post has helped you in your diagnostic procedures and was able to solve your BMW e60 dead fuel pump problem.

If you enjoy this type of content please share on your social media platforms and forums. any type of exposure to my content will be greatly appreciated. I enjoy teaching and helping others with their problems related to European cars.

If you haven’t yet please subscribe to my newsletter here to stay up to date on a weekly post on subjects like diagnosing,  repair,  industry news and much much more.

Thank you for reading and happy motoring!