I'm currently broke down in my '04 R53, in a less than savory part of downtown. 40 miles from "home".
At a 1/4 tank; The Mini started to sputter and stall.
With traffic being too loud; I cannot hear/tell if my fuel pump is running. But It appears that my 22y/o fuel pump finally went out. I pulled the intercooler and expelled all the fuel from the fuel rail at the shader. Tried to start the car again, re-checked the fuel rail for any fuel but nothing but air came out. I swapped the fan relay with the fuel pump relay to no avail. Not certain that the fuel pump relay is the problem. My back seat is packed with work gear So it's probably not the best surroundings to unload my Mini in this particular environment...

2wo Questions:
1_Is there another fuse that might be blown for the fuel pump?
2_The closest auto part store is Auto Zone/ 8 miles away.
Is a Dorman fuel pump a viable option to put in these cars?

 

i dont know the answers to the questions you asked

i would not put an autozone part in it.

try this. smack the back seat base (left side behind the drivers seat) with your hand. smack it good. start car

 

Hit the tank, see if that wakes it up. You will need a new one.

 

Since my fuel pump went out while driving through downtown today; I found myself stranded in a cellular dead-zone. No GPS signal strong enough to pinpoint my exact location to the nearest auto parts store. The best/source I could get was a google search - Auto Zone, 5.6 2.6 miles away. So began the trek. 87° under sun beaten cloudless skies....
When I finally got to Auto Zone - They had no Delphi nor off brand fuel pumps in stock. Delphi would take 18 days from order date to arrive. The auto parts associate was kind enough to tell me that there was an O'Reilly 2mi up the road (more like 3mi but nonetheless...).
Their Delphi fuel pump ($379) would take 20 days from order date to arrive...but they had an off brand; 'Import Direct' in stock.
And that's what I walked away with.
17 ​​​​​​ 11mi walk / round trip.
Going to try to get this thing installed...before nightfall.

Btw: This is my first time dealing with/replacing the fuel pump in my Mini - with regard to the fact that this fuel pump is not OE - Is there ANYTHING You might advise before I dive into this replacement/repair?
*In hindsight - I think my first mistake was probably draining the fuel rail. With no fuel in the line; It might take longer to prime...with any luck.

 

An update as to yesterday's fuel pump fiasco:
By the time I was able start R&R-ing the fuel pumps the sun was beginning to set. I had to spend the night downtown.

This morning I installed the off brand ("OE" Import Direct) fuel pump. Everything went well with the installation of the new pump. The Mini fired right up - But now the RPMS are fluctuating/bouncing back and forth between 1,200 RPMS and 1,900 RPMS CONSTANTLY at idle. It''s like the yo-yo effect. The car accelerates fine (if not quicker) but will not return to 800 RPM / idle.
I am not quite sure but - Could this symptom be indicative of a vacuum leak? Perhaps a By Pass Valve issue?
I did remove the intercooler confident that I put it back on properly/triple checking the boots.

Edit: Vacuum leak. Bottom rubber boot inverted into the horn.
As I'm getting on in years I'm going to have quadruple check my work from now on.

One note about the Import Direct fuel pump:
Although they are fairly similar but with a couple obvious differences -



The Import Direct did not have the top retaining tabs and hole = for the large "cross over" "regulating" hose, (e.g.: from fuel filter side to pump).
I'm guessing that this hose allows fuel from the fuel filter side to flow into the pump chamber to aide in keeping the pump chamber filled (???).
With no way to place or connect that hose into the pump - So I just left that hose submerged inside the pump side of the gas tank.




Edit II:
This OE Import Direct pump comes with a lifetime warranty. Yes it got me back on the road but regardless of the LT warranty; It's not OEM, So I consider it a band-aid.
As soon as I can get my gear out of the backseat again; I will pull the pump and bore a hole into the pump chamber to accommodate inserting the large fuel line/crossover hose from the filter side to properly feed fuel to the pump.
I'll be ordering the OEM or Delphi pump from one of our trusted vendors.

 

EPILOGUE :
After having successfully installed this 0E generic fuel pump (@ 1/4 tank) - I hit the gas station and filled my tank w/91 to the max level. However: (after doing so), my fuel gauge was only reading 1/2 tank with this new fuel pump...
One main concern I had while installing this pump - was it's accuracy. Sure enough my concerns were valid.
I dreaded the thought of having to unload all my gear in order to access, pull and or rectify this off brand pump again.

Luckily; after several starts and 10 mile drive cycles, parking uphill and down hill, the fuel gauge finally resolved itself and is now reading a full tank.

In all fairness, although it's still too early to tell - I don't feel much comfort in wondering if this pump will ever be accurate enough for me to chance any long distance road trips at this point.

The moral: I feel fortunate to have this pump get me out of a bad situation...but....
You get what you pay for.

 

One last note:
After extracting the original factory fuel pump; I was absolutely astounded by how clean my gas tank was.
I mean clean. Absolutely no decernable signs of dirt or mineral deposits. I had changed my fuel filter about 9years ago/89,000 miles - Now at 126,000 having run nothing but Chevron 93, 91and 3 bottles of Techron a year seems to have really paid off! (?)

 

Side note:
Does the topic of the post also have a reference to a song by Oingo Boingo?

 

Every moment has its music.
When all is said and done - after all it''s really "Just another day"...