Help! cant get fuel nozzle in

[Eastsix]

My wife is on way to Stansted to pick up family in our recently bought E46 - we've both put petrol in once, but she has called saying she cant get the nozzle into the pipe properly at the station, apparently when she started pumping it just started gushing out. She swears blind she'd using the petrol not the diesel pump, and she called a guy over for help - he said it seemed something was blocking it.

Hopefully she'll have enough to get home, but any ideas?

Has someone maybe vandalised it? The cap isn't lockable, so that's my fear - or is this something anyone has experienced before? Ive never had that with my Z3, or any other car ive ever owned.

Grateful for any advice.



Bill

[Badman gee]

Hope she removed the cap first!

[Gazza]

You may have to angle the nozzle, I have to do that with the 'Stangs or I get fuel all over my feet

[Robert T]

I think pretty much all modern BMWs have a locking flap and rather than a key operated cap. As long as the locking mechanism is working, I'd doubt anyone has touched it.

A diesel nozzle will simply not fit into the opening of a modern petrol car, not that I've tried it, but I think you'd notice. I wonder if the petrol cap came off in one piece, or if it has separated and left part inside the filler neck? The only other possibility I can think of is that the cap locks electrically, and she was trying to fill the car up with the door locked - possibly locking them after removing the cap? I think you need to RTM on that one.

@Gazza - I think your stangs will be the same as my frog and have a wide filler neck, but which somehow doesn't allow the petrol to flow in very quickly. If you try to fill it too quickly it seems to develop a froth and comes back up the neck. You just have to put the petrol in slowly - doesn't take long with a 4 gallon tank! With mine I can actually see the petrol level when it starts to up the neck, but I do also carry an accurate fuel gauge, otherwise known as a clean piece of dowel.

Cheers R.

[Eastsix]

She's saying the nozzle wouldnt go past the metal flap, but when she got back i poked it and it opened fine. No idea what she was doing.

[2 zed]

I had this problem with my Z3, what happens is according to the till lady some people drop the nozzle to the ground and it goes out of shape and then it won't fit BMW's, Audi's and mercs, she came out and checked the other pump nozzles and found an undamaged one, problem solved. It scared me first of I also thought it was my car.

[Del]

I always feel the onslaught of a slight panic attack if Mrs Del phones me and says something like “my car’s making a funny noise when I turn the key” – could be anything from a flat battery to a seized engine.

[gookah]

She's saying the nozzle wouldnt go past the metal flap, but when she got back i poked it and it opened fine. No idea what she was doing.

I would strongly suspect a diesel nozzle .....

[Eastsix]

She's saying the nozzle wouldnt go past the metal flap, but when she got back i poked it and it opened fine. No idea what she was doing.

I would strongly suspect a diesel nozzle .....

That's what I kept asking her, but she said she asked a guy to help her and he told her she wasn't doing anything wrong.
Of course she didn't think at the time of maybe trying a different pump, but she took it to fill it up today and of course there was no problem. Its not something ive come across before, but googling it, it seems there are quite a few reports of damaged nozzles not fitting.
Phew! No expensive problem to solve.
In other news, I just watched my Zed being driven away by the new owner. I got to use it one last time with the roof down this morning, but I am officially no longer a zedder

[pingu]

I had this problem with my Z3, what happens is according to the till lady some people drop the nozzle to the ground and it goes out of shape and then it won't fit BMW's, Audi's and mercs, she came out and checked the other pump nozzles and found an undamaged one, problem solved. It scared me first of I also thought it was my car.

^^^This^^^

I had the same. I could see the damage to the end of the nozzle and told the teller who didn't know what I was on about until I showed him.

[Desperado]

This is quite a common problem with lots of cars. I had a Jeep a few years ago and if I went to the Tesco garage I could not get 3 of the 6 pumps to work, it was fine at other garages. I had the same with my XC90 at other places. I don't know what it is, I suspect the end of the pump is somehow warn or broken - I've not spent very long looking at it though as people would start staring.

[Southernboy]

....I find this thread seriously sexist...why always blame the nozzle....

[seasurfer]

Because thats usually the culprit

[Southernboy]

.......I guess you would know....

[seasurfer]

You guess wrong - i read alot

[Southernboy]

.....I guess you have to pass the time somehow....

[seasurfer]