Patrick E61

I am posting this in the E60 section, even though I drive an E61... And I did SEARCH before deciding to post this.

2005 530d Touring, driven 112,000km and no other (known) electrical problems.

I put 70? of diesel in the tank about 10 days ago. We are now out in the middle of no where, at our summer cottage until next weekend.

There is now about 40km of fuel in the tank, and I went to the filling station this morning for more fuel. However, I could NOT get the fuel door to open! This has never happened before.

Following the instructions from the owner's handbook, I tried pulling on the green manual fuel door opener on the rear right of the car. I pulled it so hard, that I was afraid that I would actually rip it off. The fuel door did not move.

I have tried locking and un-locking the doors with both keys, but nothing has worked. Obviously, I cannot pry the fuel door open and break it.

If anyone has experienced this bizarre problem before and knows a solution, I would be happy to hear about it.

whoyuwit

when this happened to me over the winter, pulling the green handle worked like intended. Did you try following the linkage to make sure everything is connected?

seanjordan

Try slamming on the door hard and it should open. Make sure the car is unlocked whenyou do it. If that doesn't work you have to find the actuator in the trunk on the side the door is on. It will be behind the plastic near the door. Take it off and the door will open. If it opens when the actuator is out then it needs to be replaced.

inktoxicated

i went to gas once and the fuel door wouldnt open. i had to press the button on the dash to unlock the doors. took me like 15 minutes to figure it out. stupid me

luigi524td

Sounds like the latch is jammed a bit. You've already discovered the emergency release ... while you're pulling it try pressing the fuel door inward a few times (as if you were poking it) and see if that helps. Once you do get it open try cleaning the latch with some WD-40 or a similar product.

DanL

I was filling the tank the other day, went to close the fuel door, and couldn't. That's when I noticed the locking pin sticking out about an inch. I have comfort access and must have brushed a door handle and locked the car accidentally. I didn't realize until then that the fuel door locks as well.

Wolrab

Turns out when something similar happened to me, it was a little rubber pad that had fallen off the inside of the door. Without the pad, the door wasn't pressing on the spring-loaded deal that pops it open. I pressed and pressed on the door, and never activated the pop-out spring. After fooling with it for 15 minutes, discovered that a finger-nail behind the door edge would actually open it if I pulled. Silly me. This was at 5 AM on the way to a bike ride, so it was pretty serious.

Patrick E61

Got it open with my Leatherman tool.

However, the spring release for the fuel door does not open (pop up to release the door) unless you push it with your finger. And the pull cable (manual over-ride) from inside the trunk makes no difference either. I am glad that I didn't rip it out of the car!

I will figure out something for that, but in the mean time, I need to drive 25km to get to the filling station... with 30km of fuel reserve left!

Thanks for the replies!

Robban78

Walrab where is the little pad supposed to be? Is it just glued or? I have the same problem as you had.

Crckrjck

I had the same issue. The rubber piece on mine had deteriorated into nothing. I ordered a new one from Bavauto for $8.95 + shipping. The rubber piece just slips on, not glued or anything.

Fuel Door Buffer Stop

I can't seem to attach the picture at the moment, but search bavauto.com for the above item.