My 1997 BMW 318ti gauges have gone crazy. Gas gauge & Temp gauge, both float around. Gas tank is full, and engine is running as it should, not too hot or cold. Oddly enough, the speedometer and rpm are both working just fine, these, of course, are the ones inbetween the 2 that are acting up. What's up? Please help, I love this little car.

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May 31, 2012 - download bmw 318ti pdf user manual - BMW 318 question. ...SOURCE: 1995 BMW 530i Owners Manual in PDF? .... 1996 BMW 318.

Your gas tank has a float inside that is kart if tne. Fuel. Pump assembly that indicates the amount of fuel in the tank..it sends a message to the gauge...sounds like the float is sticking when the gas is sloshing around when moving..causing a false read being sent to the gauge. Most times the tank has to be removed to replace..good luck..

You should invest the $25 in a repair manual from the auto parts store. It has wiring schematics in the back of the book. Get yourself a decent digital volt ohm meter and start tracing the wires for your oil gauge, or you could try changing out the oil sending unit on the motor. It may be bad and they're not that expensive. As for the gas gauge, it sounds like you have a sticking float in the tank. As far as I know they do not sell the float and the fuel pump separate from each other. I would just watch the miles per tank of gas on the trip meter, unless you absolutely have to have a gas gauge then it's time to change the whole pump assembly.

Hi,
Check both the gas float and the fuel gauge. The terminal wire on the fuel float when grounded on the bare metal body of your car it will register on your gauge as "FULL ", if not the fuel gauge is malfunctioning and have to replace. When it register to your gauge as "FULL", the problem would be the gas float inside the fuel tank.
A technician could replace it for you.
Hope that helps you out.
Thanks for asking FixYa!

There are a couple of things it can be, either there is a bad gauge, or the float in the gas tank is sticking. If the gauge is good you will have to drop the gas tank and repair the float. hope this helps

Float in tank is bad. You need to pull sender and float and replace.

Sending unit gas gauge in the gas tank has gone bad and will need to be replaced. The gas gauge wire is grounding out causing you to have full full indicated and when there is no ground you get empty signal.

This is caused by the gauge in the tank having a bad spot on the float, which is common from wear and tear. Also if your lucky, it may just be the wire harness from the gas tank to the frame might be the issue and will need to be replaced. It worst, it's going to be the sending unit it self.

Thank you for using fixya and good luck

sounds like the float isnt sitting proplery in the tank

Depending on the severity of the problem, Sea Foam fuel additive can fix this (or at least lessen the crazy jumping around). It's available at NAPA. It worked on my Jimmy. However, in my case gauge started jumping around with less than 1/4 tank (worked fine when full).

Do you mean that the gauge registers as empty, even after the tank is filled? Probably the sending unit needs to be replaced (it's in the tank, likely partially attached to the fuel pump).