Fuel Tank 77 530i

[philipj]

Hello again,

Does anyone know if I all e12 fuel tanks are interchangeable, or mount the same way? 16 11 1 176 554 (63 LTR/w screw cap) is NLA. I believe the newer tanks hold 70 liters and use the newer style cap... Any suggestions as to what part number to order?

Thank you.

[Robert Bondi]

Hello again,

Does anyone know if I all e12 fuel tanks are interchangeable, or mount the same way? 16 11 1 176 554 (63 LTR/w screw cap) is NLA. I believe the newer tanks hold 70 liters and use the newer style cap... Any suggestions as to what part number to order?

Thank you.

They're definitely not all interchangeable since the gas door was in the rear by the license plate before 77. However, still a good question on the two P/Ns you are considering. I've asked the same question, although I was considering if it was possible to add the later pre-pump into the 77 tank which has no pre-pump. There wasn't a clear answer on that aspect.

[wkohler]

All US tanks from 1977 model year on are interchangeable. E28 tanks are the same too. Basically, All US E12, E24 and E28 tanks are 63L. 70L tanks are only found in Euro cars.

[Mike W.]

They're definitely not all interchangeable since the gas door was in the rear by the license plate before 77. However, still a good question on the two P/Ns you are considering. I've asked the same question, although I was considering if it was possible to add the later pre-pump into the 77 tank which has no pre-pump. There wasn't a clear answer on that aspect.

While I don't see a whole lot of benefit I believe it is possible to use an E21 Pickup/sending unit/prepump. I did some measuring and they both seemed to use the same twist mount and be the same length. I don't think all years work, and it might even just be a narrow range. You would probably have to post on an E21 forum for details, it was a long time ago I was looking into it.

[philipj]

16 11 1 176 518 fuel tank is available and fits 78 528I as well as e28 and e24... I don't see a reason not not fit it to a 77 model... Thoughts welcome. Thank you.

[Robert Bondi]

They're definitely not all interchangeable since the gas door was in the rear by the license plate before 77. However, still a good question on the two P/Ns you are considering. I've asked the same question, although I was considering if it was possible to add the later pre-pump into the 77 tank which has no pre-pump. There wasn't a clear answer on that aspect.

While I don't see a whole lot of benefit I believe it is possible to use an E21 Pickup/sending unit/prepump. I did some measuring and they both seemed to use the same twist mount and be the same length. I don't think all years work, and it might even just be a narrow range. You would probably have to post on an E21 forum for details, it was a long time ago I was looking into it.

Mike,
Interesting. If/when I get to this project, the idea was to just use all the 528i parts. Lingering question is whether or not the 528i prepump would fit in the 77 530i gas tank w/o issues. The tanks are interchangeable, so I've been wondering what the difference is. Is the 528i tank somehow lighter or is it just the different gas cap as mentioned earlier?