F1 pump relay BMW alternative

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007

New Member
Messages
28
Parisien said:
007...why better than the original Alfa one?






Well Frank, its because BMW has a much better reputation than Alfa reliability wise. Even if the Alfa one is a nicer colour no one will see it being in the boot!

(how's it going? We met at Greypaul Nottingham a couple of years ago- you were in a Fiat 500 I think)

Cheers! Message to short? Well the weather is bad and so is the recession but we have a new Pope so hopefully our cars and other aspect of life should get better.
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B

BRR

Junior Member
Messages
222
Very useful thread, I presume it will be the same part number for an 06 GS?
 
DaveT

DaveT

Member
Messages
2,831
I've been having problems with the CC light coming on and off periodically - so if in Neutral when it happens you are stuck as I've found out a couple of times.
When the light comes on its normally followed a second or two later by the electronic suspension light.

Have had a look in the GS Spyder RHS above the battery and my F1 relay is BLACK (!?!) in colour not red or grey - 50A. Definitely the right relay though. Also not attached to the body as with coupe due to the roof mechanism.

Have ordered BMW part and hopefully that will fix things otherwise its off to Shiltech.
 
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V

v8chimp

New Member
Messages
70
DaveT said:
I've been having problems with the CC light coming on and off periodically - so if in Neutral when it happens you are stuck as I've found out a couple of times.
When the light comes on its normally followed a second or two later by the electronic suspension light.

Have had a look in the GS Spyder RHS above the battery and my F1 relay is BLACK (!?!) in colour not red or grey - 50A. Definitely the right relay though. Also not attached to the body as with coupe due to the roof mechanism.

Have ordered BMW part and hopefully that will fix things otherwise its off to Shiltech.
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Hi Dave

FYI - I had similar symptoms and I thought it self resolved, but a few months later my pump got me stuck in the middle of nowhere.

Normally the symptoms you describe are because the brushes in the pump wear down and thus the pump doesn't engage to change gear.

I got my pump for about £220 new (Alfa part from one of the many suppliers out there for the original equipment part), relay was £18 and about an hours labour.

Would personally swap it given my new found knowledge and being stuck on the side of a road for 3 hours in the middle of nowhere.

PS: Like the Maserati/Alfa combo! :D
 
CatmanV2

CatmanV2

Member
Messages
48,793
Surely the pump will only engage when pressure is required to build up, not on any specific gear change. I'd *expect* (although I have no evidence other than logic) that it would not spin the pump at at least one door opening / ignition on cycle. Of course, it may happen after the CC lights start flipping up :)

An hour's labour for the relay is robbery. In fact the £18 is pushing it :) I'd estimate 10-15 minutes to swap the relay out.

C
 
S

SpyderNick

Junior Member
Messages
326
Hi Dave,
I had my cc light coming on intermittently last week, when I took it in to autoshield it turned out to be the brake light switch, which apparently is a know cause of this happening. They replaced e switch and all is fine now. My first thoughts had been the pump,relay or fluid.
 
DaveT

DaveT

Member
Messages
2,831
SpyderNick said:
Hi Dave,
I had my cc light coming on intermittently last week, when I took it in to autoshield it turned out to be the brake light switch, which apparently is a know cause of this happening. They replaced e switch and all is fine now. My first thoughts had been the pump,relay or fluid.
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Nick

Many thanks for that really useful info.
Will report back in due course when I get to the bottom of it.

Cheers

Dave
 
DaveT

DaveT

Member
Messages
2,831
v8chimp said:
Hi Dave

FYI - I had similar symptoms and I thought it self resolved, but a few months later my pump got me stuck in the middle of nowhere.

Normally the symptoms you describe are because the brushes in the pump wear down and thus the pump doesn't engage to change gear.

I got my pump for about £220 new (Alfa part from one of the many suppliers out there for the original equipment part), relay was £18 and about an hours labour.

Would personally swap it given my new found knowledge and being stuck on the side of a road for 3 hours in the middle of nowhere.

PS: Like the Maserati/Alfa combo! :D
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Thanks mate.

Yes, it may well be a new pump. Just trying the simpler and cheaper fixes first to see if that does it.

Thanks for the info re the pump - may have to do that in due course!

Cheers

Dave
 
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v8chimp

New Member
Messages
70
CatmanV2 said:
Surely the pump will only engage when pressure is required to build up, not on any specific gear change. I'd *expect* (although I have no evidence other than logic) that it would not spin the pump at at least one door opening / ignition on cycle. Of course, it may happen after the CC lights start flipping up :)

An hour's labour for the relay is robbery. In fact the £18 is pushing it :) I'd estimate 10-15 minutes to swap the relay out.

C
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When my old pump issue was temporarily resolved with the tap of a hammer (ha yes...really does work if stranded). I was driving back and the light would come on even whilst staying in one gear, then the light would go off (thank god) and I just about managed to crawl it home. Seemingly it constantly monitors the pump some how (even when not called upon) and when there is a problem, the light comes on and if you try and change gear it will switch straight to neutral. However if you on a motorway and in 6th, the light comes on...keep in that gear in the hope that it fixes itself. If not, any gear change will stick it straight into neutral and your stuck.

Agree about the relay (not sure if the hour referred to a previous comment or mine, but the 1 hour stated was for the pump change and I did the relay when it was dropped off the ramp), I changed mine in 2 minutes. Literally pull down the battery cover (know which relay it is from previous investigation). Grip it hard and wiggle it out, making note of way it came out and push new one into the slot.
 
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DaveT

DaveT

Member
Messages
2,831
When my light comes on if you are in gear it will still change gear without issue.

But if you put it into neutral or it is in N when the light comes on you cannot engage a gear.

Agree about relay - its a two minute job.
 
DaveT

DaveT

Member
Messages
2,831
Put in the new relay worked fine for a few days.

Then yesterday car wouldn't start and the CC light came on. Pump not priming when I open the car.
Took relay out, put it back in - car fires up.

Shiltech will be getting their hands on it so hopefully I get to the bottom of it before my drive to Spain in June.
 
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