M42club.com - Home of the BMW E30/E36 318i/iS
DISCUSSION => Electrical => Topic started by: colin86325 on January 27, 2012, 03:58:41 PM
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The US 318iS has a 55-Liter fuel tank. The ETK shows two parts for the fuel gauge: 62 13 1 374 822 (55L) and 62 13 1 381 886 (60L).
The ETK also says the following, which confuses me:
Part number: 62 13 1 381 886
Old part number: 62 13 1 374 822
Interchangeability: Nonexchangeable retrospectively
What does this "Nonexchangeable retrospectively" statement mean? You can use the 60L gauge in a 55L car, but not the other way around??
I have both types (55L and 60L) of gauges in front of me. The 55L has a small dot below the "F" on the gauge face, and the 60L has another half of a line under the "F". I suppose this is an easy way to tell the two apart without disassembling the cluster.
In playing with the needle, when I deflect the 55L needle to full and then release it, the needle returns switftly to below the "R" position. When I deflect the 60L needle and let it go, the needle very gradually coasts back to below the "R" position. It would seem that the slower sweep would result in more buffering of the fuel level, which would be more accurate in situations with lots of curves or elevation changes.
Anyway, just a few observations I made.