Betty the Black E21 BMW 320i

[Senor_Taylor]

I take the E21 to cars and coffee about 40 minutes from my house every Sunday. I've made friends with another E21 guy out there and have been bringing him little parts he needs for his beautiful hennarot 320i. This weekend he returned the favor with some 323i trailing arms with disc brakes! I can't wait to get these installed.



Later that day I took the E21 on a trip about an hour away to buy an E39 for my roommate (Tyler).



The car did well the whole way back until I was 4 miles from home on a dark, narrow, steep hill with lots of traffic. Engine died halfway up a hill and I couldn't make it into any driveway and there was nowhere to turn off so I dumped it in a ditch and partially blocked traffic. I waited a while for traffic to die down and I rolled back down the hill and into someone's driveway. Knocked on the door of the house and explained my situation, and the lady's little puppy came out to see me, then peed on my shoes. I went back out to the car and started checking things and figured maybe the ignition module had died, so I asked Tyler if he could bring me a spare from the house (thanks parts car!). I posted on an E21 group asking for suggestions for things to check and someone suggested I check the fuel pump fuse. It seemed way too simple and I had overlooked it. Popped a new fuse in it and we were good to go. It's funny because I was checking voltages at each fuse the night before and noticed the fuel pump fuse was a newer style glass fuse and it was running pretty hot. I may clean up the contacts on all of the fuses and see if the car runs better. It seemed peppier, so I think the fuse may have had too much resistance and the fuel pump was not getting the amperage it needed. E21 adventures!