<E36> another victim of the fuel gauge woes

[Jarchow Dennis <JarchowDennis@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi,

Today my 96 328i was down to about a quarter tank. I filled it up and
started up the car but the fuel gauge didn't move above where it was before
I filled it. On the way home (70 miles) the needle continued it's journey
toward empty just as if I had never filled the car.. 

Once home I read all of the archived posts about others having the same
problems and finally disconnected the battery and that solved the problem. I
did run the instrument console diagnostic routine as described in the Bently
manual before unhooking the battery and the fuel gauge responded OK.

So was this just some glitch or am I on the way to replacing a fuel sending
unit. I read the explanation on how the system works and have a question or
two that might help me diagnose the problem. 

If this is a sending unit getting a "bad" spot in the windings shouldn't the
fuel gauge have went to at least half full or moved once the fuel dropped
past the bad spot? 

If this is a sending unit going bad why does unhooking the battery restore
the gauge to it's proper reading?

Finally how much does it cost to have one replaced?

Thanks for all the help.

Dennis Jarchow
96 328i sport

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