[M Nectar]

Good DIY. Did mine for the new year without a hitch. Man, that 19mm bolt was on tight! Took my time with the plastic clip and used a combination of needle nose and my hands to get the back of the filter loose. All good now! Thanks everyone for the tips.

[maruscmn]

Thanks for the DIY! With the fuel line tool it took more time talking the shields down.

[fussychicken]

Many thanks for this DIY!

It is funny how controversial this white clip is becoming. I was somewhat worried, but it was super easy. Just make sure you push the hose up as close as possible to the filter, then push the clip back into the hose. I did it all with one hand on the hose and the other pulling the filter with no problems.

Also like others have mentioned, just position the two wrenches (the 19mm and the 15/16) so that all you have to do is squeeze. Also no problem.

The biggest annoying thing is all the plastic shields! Also, I didn't listen to others and didn't pinch my lines and fuel got everywhere. Maybe next time I'll try and pinch them? Hopefully it won't stress these now somewhat old fuel lines?

[slick1474]

Thanks for the DIY.... 10mm open ended spanner sorted the white plastic clip to gentley push it into the fuel line.... 19mm spanner plus another ring spanner hooked onto the end to get some mechanical advantage... boy that sucker was on tight.... just kept pushing and knew something had to give... fortunately no issues and just unscrewed...

Found leaving the fuel filter in place, putting an adjustable spanner on the square bolt and when I pushed with the 19mm spanner the fuel filter rotated slightly until the adjustable spanner was pushed against the underbody then gave the 19mm everything I had...

[anomaly]

it wasn't terribly hard to break the old filter loose from the fpr, it definitely snaps back a bit when it breaks loose. Just wear proper gloves and make sure you're turning in the right direction. It took me a couple times of watching the video to make sure I was turning the right way. I suggest getting the right size wrench to fit over the fpr body instead of a adjustable wrench, I found all the adjustable did was chew into the fpr which kinda bugged me. The suggestions people had about depressing the white clip were great, I used a 12 mm open ended wrench to press the clip back and pop it loose rather quickly! Thanks for the DIY!

[anomaly]

Originally Posted by fussychicken

Many thanks for this DIY!

It is funny how controversial this white clip is becoming. I was somewhat worried, but it was super easy. Just make sure you push the hose up as close as possible to the filter, then push the clip back into the hose. I did it all with one hand on the hose and the other pulling the filter with no problems.

Also like others have mentioned, just position the two wrenches (the 19mm and the 15/16) so that all you have to do is squeeze. Also no problem.

The biggest annoying thing is all the plastic shields! Also, I didn't listen to others and didn't pinch my lines and fuel got everywhere. Maybe next time I'll try and pinch them? Hopefully it won't stress these now somewhat old fuel lines?

Lol I didn't pinch mine tightly at first and it dumped quite a bit of fuel, I highly suggest pinching that short piece of rubber line on the white clip end unless you want to get gas every where. I highly suggest doing this with an oil tray below to catch excess fluid.

[GotE92M]

Great writeup, gotta do mine soon. Anyone noticed any big improvements as far as gas mileage?

[thestigCLT]

I changed my fuel filter last weekend and followed the DIY which BTW is great. I first unscrewed the forward end of the filter that connects to the regulator and then let the filter-gas drain into a can. I had a heck of time releasing the snap in connection. You have to push the filter and hose connection together pretty firmly and at the same time with one hand pull on the white connector and wiggle it the filter all the while pulling on the filter and hose connection. It finally came free. Reassembly was straightforward. I didn't feel any improvement in performance but didn't expect any. Just piece of mind that I don't have to deal with this again for a long time.

[shimmy]

great thread guys

has anybody replaced the fuel regulator at the same time and if so what was needed?

[YGOSLO03]

Did this yesterday. I was disappointed to find that my 03 M still had a fuel filter in it dating from June of 03. Thanks PO. But this was very easy, too easy to have not been done already. Thanks for the write up, clear concise and simple. I did reuse the crush washer from my oil change because I didn't find my wash for the filter until after I was done. So far, so good.