MyE28.com

I was confused looking at your issue. Is the feed a 12mm outlet and the return smaller? I have an e30 with the S50B32 engine which I swapped over 20 years ago. The pump cradles on Euro cars have the same size of feed and return and also on some models a single feed and the return is to an inlet on the tank.
The walbro pump connects with an 8mm hose between the pump and the outlet that issue does not arise. The pump came with an in tank hose that connected the pump and the outlet.

I had a look at the fuel pump cradles in for sale in the US and the they have the large outlet and small return. I think it comes from the cars that had an external pump. The version in Euro cars with an internal pump used the cradle with the inlet and outlet the same size.
Here is a link to that version
Fuel Pump Module Assembly For BMW E30 316i 318i 318is 325i 1988-94 1.6L 1.8L. | eBay
 

///M wrote: Mar 14, 2026 5:48 AM I was confused looking at your issue. Is the feed a 12mm outlet and the return smaller? I have an e30 with the S50B32 engine which I swapped over 20 years ago. The pump cradles on Euro cars have the same size of feed and return and also on some models a single feed and the return is to an inlet on the tank.
The walbro pump connects with an 8mm hose between the pump and the outlet that issue does not arise. The pump came with an in tank hose that connected the pump and the outlet.

The larger tube is the metal line going up and out of the tank, and is still big at the top going to the fuel lines. The outlet from the pump itself is around 9mm, which is bigger by 1mm from the stock/OE pump. (my shop measured them)

Here's the situation:


The later E30 assemblies have smaller hard lines, but there were two pumps in the tank. I'm guessing I could get away with a later assembly physically, but this is a conversion from a single in-tank lifter pump with an inline pump (like most if not all 80's BMWs had) to a single in-tank hi-pressure pump. I did that because I had a series of fuel-delivery hiccups, and with the S52 swap I felt like simple was better. I'm loath to start messing with volume/diameters in the lines with the high-pressure pump, hence the conversion.

The shop has an idea that is more permanent than what you see in the other post. My plan is to use the part my buddy is sending me to get a solid M20 part and give them the temporary setup back to do the permanent fix (which I think is creating a stepdown in the pipe itself so the connecting rubber can be the standard diameter). If I can find a nice assembly with a bad pump, I might just have them do that one with a new pump and have what's currently in there as a backup/spare. Or serially convert two with Walbro pumps and have a really nice early-E30 M20 OE setup for someone who needs it since new ones are crazy expensive.

fuel pump from a '91 318i has twin 8mm inlet and outlet. Walbro is a drop in conversion with that setup.

The twin pump was common on the US cars but lots of Euro cars had a single external pump. The feed to the external pump is 12mm and the feed from the pump is 8mm

With regard to pressure the S50B32 Euro engine runs on 5 Bar pressure. I use the the pump cradle with the same size inlet and outlet. The 9mm mentioned may be what they measured but the hose sizes are 12 and 8mm nominal sizes. My set up is the same pump as in your picture which connects to the pump outlet of the type in the Ebay listing with an 8mm id hose. The feed is 8mm hose to a filter with an 8mm inlet and 8mm outlet and then to the hard lines(8mm) up to the engine bay.
There is no issue with fuelling on the car. It is the same set up used in the donor car which was e36 M3 evo. There is no change in pipe diameter from pump to engine. The feed and return are the same size throughout. The internal submersible hose is easily available so no step up or down.

That is why I found the issue on your car confusing. Your set goes from 8-12mm nominal out put back again to 8mm. Using my method you use a single pump.  But it is a US car and what is available is different and it keeps standard US parts.

 

Firstly - really appreciate the info/perspective.  I'm not sure I'm fully following though.  Is your suggestion to use the aftermarket assembly as a carrier for the Walbro?  You're right about the sizes - they weren't worried about fitting the pump outlet, but 12mm high-pressure in-tank submersible ethanol-rated fuel hose isn't apparently a thing - at least commonly.

The car is already converted to a single, in-tank pump, so my main concern is height - there are at least two (and I'd guess more than that) gas tanks between early and refresh E30 (which used two in-tank pumps if I understand correctly), and the height of the assembly needs to be pretty much spot-on so it pulls from the true bottom of the tank.  The linked one looks to be '91-'94 318i/is  That's the reason I was leaning toward using an OE assembly - I know it fits and sits properly and I know it has room for the pump.

But I can be a bit of a tunnel-thinker, so appreciate any thoughts/recommendations!  
 

I cannot speak to all US cars but the difference in depth of E30 tanks is not in my experience of Euro cars. There are two tanks in the E30 the smaller 55 litre tank and the larger 63 litre. There are none with twin in tank pumps.  There are however the  tanks with twin level indicators which are wired to the fuel gauge and some may think there are twin pumps and they could be converted by using the single outlet cradle.

There were two different lift pumps of different lengths the E30 and the e28. The E30 is shorter but could be fitted to E28/24 but if not lengthened then it will not pick up at very low fuel level. Only applies to the twist on type, I am not familiar with the US bolt on.

The listing is to show the type of cradle I use and a Walbro high pressure pump inserted into it.

There is no 91-94 E30 318/318is production stopped in 91, so the listing is not correct
Without knowing your year model I do not know what tank you have. 55 or 63 litre, twin level indicator or single. The pump cradle looks like a lift pump similar to E28/24.
What I was trying to point out is that by using the cradle like in the listing with your Walbro with the twin pipes of the same size the fuel system is simpler and more reliable in my experience. 

You can use an OEM or aftermarket unit. I have a spare aftermarket unit and the reason is the metal cradle is new unlike used units. The high pressure pump can be swapped in.
I believe the 318 had the twin pipes, but may be less common in the US


 

Thanks for all the thoughts. I suppose I have the 55l tank, though I only ever seem to get about 47l in it (12.5-ish US gallons).  I drove it across the US (CA-->NC via a liesurely route ~4800km/3K mi) and that seemed pretty consistent.  A mystery for another day...

I was able to locate an OE BMW assembly without the pump for a good price, so I'm going to go ahead with that known-fit and use a Deatschwerks DW200 pump since it's said to be quieter and my shop will do a permanent reduction/conversion on the pipe that's serviceable.  I'll probably have them do the same conversion on the existing Walbro setup just to have a spare.

That should leave me a nice original E30 pump I can sell to defray a bit of the cost and hopefully save someone else this journey.

CATuned or RaceGerman should really make the rubber step as an aftermarket part...

Decided that the Towncar has been sitting in the garage for too long. Battery was bad, so in with a new. Got it out and found that a squirrel had moved in. I know it was a squirrel because it was dead in the glovebox. Half the vac lines for the HVAC were chewed up and there is chewed wiring somewhere evidenced by the chunks of wire I found on the floor. 

Got rid of the tree rat carcass, cleaned up everything I could with the vacuum and ran the ozone generator to deal with the smell. Now I can work in there. Got the HVAC stuff fixed last night. AC was dead empty, threw in a can that I had on hand but its not enough. Need something in there to figure out where the leak is though. Battery was dead in the leak sniffer so I haven't done that yet. I sort of hope its the compressor, its been obnoxiously noisy since it went on but since it worked well I was leaving it be. I have a re-sealed spare on the shelf that I know is quiet, and an NOS one that I expect to be quiet but being 40 years old the seals may not be any good at this point. Probably would be smart to re-seal it before use. 

Will pull the top of the dash off tonight to see what other damage may be lurking. I haven't found where the chewed wires were, but I suspect its what fed the speakers. Glovebox also needs to come out for a scrub. 

I have verified it still runs just fine, and the trans works properly. Tires are lumpy and it has a good shake over 50 but I know one went flat at some point. They are about 10 years old anyway. If I can rotate them to smooth out the shake I'll do that for now but it will need tires in the near future. Need to find the registration too. There was a partial in the glovebox that got eaten but I don't know if it was current. I can see that excuse if I got pulled over. "Sorry officer, a squirrel ate it". 

The Mark VII decided it wanted a radiator replacement.  it informed me of this 2 hours from home on my way to Steamtown to go look at the big choo choo.  Nursed it there and back with multiple stops to let it boil off and re-fill. Swapped in the (hopefully) good used radiator from my wrecked car.  It holds coolant, can't really tell on the cooling capacity without a long run in the mountains.  I think I plugged it when the intake got swapped since it worked absolutely fine in the fall when I took a trip to North Carolina prior to the intake job. I stirred up a bunch of crud in the block with compressed air and the vacuum cleaner, guessing it migrated to the radiator and plugged off enough tubes to cause problems. Fair guess they were already at least partly plugged too, and this was just the final straw. When it was running the few tubes above the coolant level were spraying coolant pretty hard, which didn't seem normal if all of them were flowing. I got one block drain out without anything serious coming out but the coolant was definitely cloudy. It was fresh 2000 miles and 6 months ago.  The block drain on the other side didn't want to let go. 


Gave it an oil change while I was under there.  A couple weeks ago it got hot, and I found the coolant level was considerably down. Pressure test found a leaky hose. I figured the heat was because the radiator was mostly empty and it was mostly empty because of the leak. It had been fine until this weekend but I haven't really been anywhere either. After the first getting hot incident I noticed some top end rattle on startup after sitting for several days. After yesterday it was making unhappy noises at each startup. Oil felt thin and it was definitely darker than it should have been at 2000 miles. Fresh oil and filter, no noise at startup so hopefully that problem is resolved too. 

HVAC stuff fixed in the Towncar, glove box out and scrubbed multiple times. Still need to recharge the AC. Its got lingering urine smell too, not sure where that is coming from. Might have to drop the headliner since i'm not getting anything from the seats or carpet.  

AC recharged in the Towncar, had a partial can left over and handily the Continental was just a little bit low. The partial can seemed to be exactly the right amount so now its got decent AC again too. 

 

Cleaned up the elephant skin wheel arch covers and installed them in the trunk of the e9 again after having them lay around 3 different garages over the last 10 years. Also cleaned up the trunk floor boards and tidied up a few odds and ends while I was in there. I still need to 'weld' some cracks in one of the arch covers but overall, I'm happy to see them back in the car. 

Finally changed the timing belt on Maytag. Only 6k on engine, but almost 9 years of time. I'm sure the belt was fine, but it just stressed me out. FWIW, the old belt did show some minor signs of cracking, likely due to dryness. 

The M20 deserves a little care and feeding from time to time. 

On vacation in the new to me, '08 Toyota 4Runner, '08 Bought specifically for reliability. Check engine light comes on today,

Stored:
P0012 Intake Camshaft Position Timing - Over-Retarded (Bank 1)

Actually it still is running ok, can't tell any difference except for that blasted light on the dash, and my wife's near panic about it.

This is the third Japanese 4WD bought for vacation and each of them has tripped the OBDII light on it's maiden voyage.
1st '03 Infiniti QX4. Forget the code, but it was for a weak cat. Fortunately it was BS, they were still good when I sold it 50K later.
2nd '07 Nissan Xterra. Started with a code, then a no start due to tranny issues. I should left it in Colorado, it would have been cheaper.
3rd. Toyota 4 Runner. The above. Grrrrr.

added some sound deadning to the roof of the Towncar while the headliner is still out. 

Also ordered an auto-dim mirror. It will never be easier to wire than now with no headliner in the car. The mirror in the car is getting splotchy so it needs replacing anyway.  May as well upgrade while I'm at it. 

gadget73 wrote: Jul 20, 2026 9:33 AM added some sound deadning to the roof of the Towncar while the headliner is still out. 

Also ordered an auto-dim mirror. It will never be easier to wire than now with no headliner in the car. The mirror in the car is getting splotchy so it needs replacing anyway.  May as well upgrade while I'm at it. 

Unless you're familiar with them, approach with caution. I've had them in a couple of newer BMWs and I don't like them. It's less effective if someone has real bright lights at night, you pretty much lose any use of it at night, and daytime if someone, like a pickup has high beams or even just aftermarket LEDs to be cool, it's useless, you've got to tilt the mirror down, then readjust it later. I much prefer the old 2 position one that I manually flip up and down, it just works better IMO.

The CR-V needed some much deserved love this month. I finally got tired of looking at the failing/failed paint and finish on the exterior trim and decided to try to do something about it. The clearcoat and some of the paint is long gone, but at least I could try to save the trim.

I have been trying to resuscitate the bumper covers over the last few months with various product but most don't last. Before tossing in the towel and just painting it (they are dark grey, not black so you have to find the right color and product), I am trying CeraCote right now. I applied about a whole box of wipes a few weeks ago and am waiting to see how it holds up.

On deck was the roof rack and lower door side strips. There was no bringing back the door strips so those got painted. Turns out Duplicolor makes a dark grey trim & bumper paint that is a great match. Turned out well and looks 1000% better.







Next up was the roof rack. Disassembly, cleaning, refinishing (scraping & sanding), painting (a few coats of SEM Trim Black) and reassembly. Pretty straight-forward, but it took a few Saturdays. I repainted the wiper arms at the same time.

























I still have a few pieces to do like the lower window trim and a firewall panel under the wiper arms but that is down the road as a bunch of other "stuff" is crowding my schedule this summer.

Mike W." wrote: Jul 20, 2026 1:21 PM

gadget73 wrote: Jul 20, 2026 9:33 AM added some sound deadning to the roof of the Towncar while the headliner is still out. 

Also ordered an auto-dim mirror. It will never be easier to wire than now with no headliner in the car. The mirror in the car is getting splotchy so it needs replacing anyway.  May as well upgrade while I'm at it. 

Unless you're familiar with them, approach with caution. I've had them in a couple of newer BMWs and I don't like them. It's less effective if someone has real bright lights at night, you pretty much lose any use of it at night, and daytime if someone, like a pickup has high beams or even just aftermarket LEDs to be cool, it's useless, you've got to tilt the mirror down, then readjust it later. I much prefer the old 2 position one that I manually flip up and down, it just works better IMO.

I actually picked up another hobby car this past weekend - a 1995 Alpina B3, Edition 30 5sp. It's blue with blue alcantera. I'm loving it so far!!!!

Headliner back in the car, mirror in and working well. No rodent stink, so I think I won.  Need to put away the rest of the tools and give the thing a deep clean but its just too swampy to feel overly motivated.  

Etip wrote: Jul 23, 2026 2:22 AM I actually picked up another hobby car this past weekend - a 1995 Alpina B3, Edition 30 5sp. It's blue with blue alcantera. I'm loving it so far!!!!

Here you go. It's a 5sp 1995 B3 30th edition. One of 20 Sedans made (most are Switchtronic, waiting to see if Alpina knows how many manual transmission were made).
 I purchas


 


 

 

Installed Euro tail lights on the 2015 228i MSport.  Amber illumination of turn signals vs. red.