Fuel Pump DIY postmortem

2001 330Ci 160k

I've owned the car since 2011, had a bit of difficulty cranking the car a few times. Battery voltage looked ok. Also had a couple instances of the car feeling sluggish.

DIY videos can make it look so easy sometimes.

Did the job with 1/2 tank of gas, seemed fine (the pump wasn't soaked)

The sound deadening was already cut, but there was an OEM pump, with OEM Clamp and a dab of glue between the ring and pump. (So maybe pump was replaced at dealer in the past)

Hardest part was the circular ring holding everything down. It seemed like I was hammering forever but getting nowhere - I marked the rings location before starting, so I saw that I was making a bit of progress.

Dropped the small brass punch I was using into the gap. Not getting that back, I just hope it doesn't rattle.

I didn't disconnect the pump + run the car, there wasn't much pressure when I took it off. My dad had a cone-shaped thing that I used to plug the line while I removed the pump. (I've read that some people can use a bolt)

Tried to snip the hose clamp, didn't work - it was easier to pry it apart.

New seal - getting the seal in-place then dropping the fuel pump into it worked well.

I didn't get the circular ring quite back to original position, but it seemed close/tight enough (maybe an inch off)

Replaced with VDO pump, (140$ from fcp euro) same brand as the OEM one, just without a BMW symbol on it.

only bled a little bit when I slipped hammering the ring off :-p