Tonight the allure of the golden hour seduced my ‘73 Tii, Sahara, to pull over for a quick portrait. Mind you, I had little control over this. Having savored the moment, I hopped back behind the driver’s seat for the transcendent glide back to the home base, about 10 minutes away. Alas, I turned the key, she rolled over, misfired a time or two and left me to decide whether I should stop before I ran down the battery. After waiting about 15 minutes, she finally cranked. Initially, I was parked on the uphill side of a slight knoll. On the successful restart attempt, I had pushed the car to the downhill side of the slight knoll. I ran out of gas about a week ago. Prior to that incident, the fuel pump offered a slight melodious whine when the ignition switch was activated. I think that since that time, the whine may have gotten more pronounced. The increased volume of the fuel pump melody be what they call the power of suggestion or just all in my mind so to speak. Here are a few queries I have for the FAQ/BMW brain trust:
1. Why would a car start easily when cold but after sitting for 10-30 minutes be somewhat difficult to start?
2. Is a whining fuel pump normal or might I have damaged it when I ran out of gas?
3. Should parking the car with the nose pointing downhill have any affect on a quick start when warm?
4. Should I go ahead and replace the fuel pump before it fails?
This is just for fun. As always, any responses will be appreciated. Having owned a base model ‘72 about 10 years ago, I should have known, each one sort of has it’s own personality.