Early fuel tank in later model?

[spencer_e30]

Hello! Of course my 88 iX was owned by someone who liked to raise it by the fuel tank. Years later, its got a nice dent with a leak to go with it. So I can't fill more than 1/2 a tank at a time without it eating my driveway. I have an early model tank that I can put in the car, but have a few questions wondering on how it would/if it would work.

I know that I'll lose about 8 liters of capacity, and I have come to terms with this.

Fitment itself shouldn't be too much of an issue from what I've read. I've seen threads where people go from the smaller early model to the bigger later model. Any confirmation?

The later model tank has two senders, I found a thread that said that the person with the early to late swap was always going to be a half tank off unless they change the gauge.

Would I be able to use the single sender that comes with the tank and put in an early gauge? Or could I add in the other sender somehow? I've always had issues with it reading off, (Worked for a little while after I reflowed the solder). So anything that would give me more of an accurate reading other than waiting for the low fuel light to turn on would be key.

Since usually people do the opposite of what I'd like to do, any guidance would be great!

Thanks for your help!

[TobyB]

Yes, it works. Yes, you need the early gauge.

The tinwork underneath that protects the tank is different, so you'll need that
if you want to retain it. It does quite a bit to protect the tank.

I THINK that's about it. You'll need to use your pump, of course, and
probably need to reroute the lines.
You MAY come up short one return fitting- I forget exactly, but you may end up needing
a '91 318i sender plate that has it in the sender.

hth,

t

[jlevie]

Why not just get a new Spectra Terne metal tank (as I recall ~$200 from rockauto), or a good used tank?

[spencer_e30]

Cool I'll check out both options and figure out what works best! I was looking at oem tanks and $800 scared me away a bit, but knowing it's only about $200 for a new one of those I might go that route. Thanks guys!

[jlevie]

That would be the easiest. I just looked up the Spectra tank on rockauto.com, essentially $207. I would have passed you a link, but could not find a way to get one. If you get one, I highly recommend that you spray on a couple of coats of Eastwood Chassis Black. That paint holds up extremely well for things under the car.

[spencer_e30]

I found it! Seems like a real good deal. I saw another thread a few below mine about tanks that someone said to paint it with the same stuff. Thanks for the help!