Anyone Retrofitted A Larger Gas Tank?

[george graves]

You know - I don't understand the difference between "race gas tanks" and just a Al welded tank.

I think in the race stuff there is a rubber batter? Yea, no clue. I can't see that really working - but I think NASCAR has it figured out.

I know that in crash testing, that the best thing is to have a re-enforced gas tank next to the passengers. The thinking is, that if you build the tank strong enough, that a crash that could crack it, the g-forces would have already killed the passengers. So a fire would just be secondary. Sad but true.

If you were clever, you could weld up a spare tire side gas tank, and plumb it in.

[decay]

I can't put the aux tank in because of my sound system haha!

It does sound like a mostly-straight swap. I will look at some wiring diagrams and see what needs to be spliced to accommodate the dual level senders.

How long does it usually take to drain and pull the tank?

found a walkthrough (just remove/replace, nothing on switching from one type to the other):

http://www.e30zone.net/e30zonewiki/index.php/Replacing_Fuel_Tank

so the big stuff is drop exhaust/driveshaft.

i'll feel a little silly swapping to save 12 pounds, but that's weight reduction- eventually you get down to the incrementals. :)

[bmwman91]

Strictly speaking, removing weight from below the car's CG is a something that you may not want to do. It effectively raises the CG, which increases body roll. I'll give the swap some thought, but in your case I don't think that there is really a tangible benefit.

[decay]

whether a 12 or 14gal tank, the engineers had to make the car work with it full and empty, right? if they handled all the possible states between 0 and 14 gallons... you get what i mean.

i'd be doing this mostly because you've done a lot of M42 research that i was a beneficiary of, and we could probably make a meet/hangout day of it in someone's driveway, and then there'd be beer.

i like beer.

[bmwman91]

Beer is good. I like beer.

[///M42 sport]

i'm interested in seeing if this is possible. Although why do you really want a larger tank vs looking into fuel efficiency mods?

[bmwman91]

i'm interested in seeing if this is possible. Although why do you really want a larger tank vs looking into fuel efficiency mods?

Because I put a very expensive fully built 2.1L M42 in the car and it it might just be that it eats gas faster than a stock one!

[///M42 sport]

hey just fyi, the OEM extended fuel tank that sits in trunk is pretty reasonably priced.

[decay]

hey just fyi, the OEM extended fuel tank that sits in trunk is pretty reasonably priced.

we discussed that already; he's got a sub (lukebox?) in that location.

[diegom6]

Chump drivers might want to consider the E30 extended range tank. Added 20 liters.

I have that one from factory in my M3, think is 15 litres capacity.

[bmwman91]

Chump drivers might want to consider the E30 extended range tank. Added 20 liters.

Is this a special, extra large gas tank for the E30?

[diegom6]

Is this a special, extra large gas tank for the E30?

It goes in the trunk when ordered as a OPTION from factory the e30. Also, the fuel gauge is special/different, since the fuel tank has fuel level sender unit as well. 3/4 if full for the main tank, and the last 4/4 range is the level of the extended fuel tank in the trunk.

Here are some pic of my cluster fuel gauge (from factory) and a random internet pic of the said fuel tank in the trunk

[bmwman91]

Interdasting...do you have to do anything special when filling up at the gas station?

What is the thing in the lower-left of the steering wheel?

[diegom6]

Interdasting...do you have to do anything special when filling up at the gas station?

What is the thing in the lower-left of the steering wheel?

Yes, it's kinda tricky sometimes to ful fill the whole tank. Usually the the pistol stop pumping fuel, then you need to wait a little to let the fuel settle down and the start pumping fuel slowly (slowest speed of the pistol) to start filling up to a complete state the extended fuel tank, if desired, otherwise, just fill up the main tank normally (speed) and you are good to go.

That's the aim headlight control system that let you adjust the position of the low beams from the cockpit, pretty cool device. But basically the idea of this is if you use to load and unload weight of the car (the back specially) this device will let you adjsut the headlight direction according to your needs/loads. Another special option when ordered the car, many euro and worlwide e30's got this option.

-Diego