Good info!

 

I didn't even remove the surge tank when I did mine, just the air boxes. You can't see it and work at the same time, but it wasn't that bad.

 

I pulled the air boxes and tb to change mine yesterday, too easy. ( I only wish I had tried this before replacing all of my injector o-rings!)

 

Excellent thread, do not know how I missed this!!!

 

Did anyone ever find the part number or provide the O-ring size for the dampener/diaphragm? I have my fuel rail off the car right now and want to replace the O-ring just because.

ECS Tuning has the diaphragm for like $56.
http://www.ecstuning.com/ES1636383/

 

I threw mine away, but it looked to be about 1".

Just pop it off and take it to a parts store?

 

I'm just going to replace the whole thing as preventative maintenance.

 

Yesterday after about an hour slow drive and traffic with low fuel level, the smell become very strong even the people on the street smell it and looked at my car.

I was on the way back to garage and open the bonnet and smell nothing, I also took away the back seat and smell nothing from the sending units, and I have the fuel tank changed 2 yrs ago, the smell was actually coming from the right rear wheel.

Has anyone change the charcoal filter and the regeneration valve?

 

For those with the leaky o-ring, I'm working on it right now. I can tell you that it's pretty challenging to reach, especially for those of us who are not a giraffe.
Here's what I did to make the job easier.
First, press the spring loaded pins on the sides of the hood hinges so you can release the hood and swing it up higher, you'll want plenty of room to see.
Next, take the air filter boxes up and out; take off the intake tubes first, then lift out the "lungs" and be sure to release the clip from where the plastic y-tube connects to the throttle body. Be careful as there's a plastic clip underneath that's hard to see and easy to break (which I did). A mirror on a stick might be helpful.
Once you get the intake out of the way use a T30 torx bit to remove the four fasteners holding the throttle body on. The TB should come out without too much fuss, I did have to use a wooden block and a mallet to whack mine once or twice before it popped off. You could remove the wire and connector to take it out completely, but there's plenty of length on that wire to just place it on the cowl without any issues. On the passenger front of the fuel rail is a Schrader valve covered by a black plastic cap. Take the cap off and get a bunch of rags to stuff underneath the valve. Wearing goggles, put something pointy in the valve to release the fuel pressure being careful not to spray fuel everywhere. If you try this shortly after the car is off, you'll get WAY more than if you leave it overnight. To get the diaphragm off, I used a flathead screwdriver to pry out the c-clip (don't let it fall into the intake!). Stuff a VERY absorbent rag down into the space below, more fuel will come out than you thought, even after releasing the pressure. A pair of plumbers pliers are helpful to grab and twist the damper, be patient and it will come out. Be aware it's full of gas so try not to dump it out once extracted. As soon as you get it out, change the rag you put underneath as it's probably soaked by now.
During this whole procedure, I had to kneel on the valve covers since there was no way in hell I could reach this spot from the ground. I mean, I'm certainly not tall, but you'd realistically need to be able to touch the windsheild cowl while your knees were on the bumper to get to this thing! From the side is a little better, but you can't see anything. Putting it back together is reasonably simple, stuffing the diaphragm back in with the new ring can be challenging; I used the same plumbers pliers to wedge it into place by pressing against the face of the pliers and using the intake portion as leverage (wrap the pliers in a rag). It took me about 20 min to get this apart and out so this shouldn't be a terrible job for those inclined to tackle it.

Hopefully final edit: I tried Viton red/brown rings from O'Reilly (it fits without issue) but it started leaking again a few days later. I purchased the Harbor Freight HNBR (green) o-ring assortment, but came to realize that none of them fit and they're not metric anyway. Found that AutoZone had an "AC Pro" branded 25-piece HNBR ring set hidden behind the counter. It was $5 and contained what I'm hoping is the (correct) 17.8mm x 2.5mm ring that looks to fit. I've just installed it and am crossing my fingers that it is the right one this time. If not, I'll just have to spend the $50 and order the entire diaphragm just to get a silly o-ring.

 

It did not work. It's leaking again.
On a ranty note, I'm getting mighty grouchy with these German cars (also have a BMW) and their crummy seals. Usually it's a leaky buna-n seal (as is the case with my leaky valve blocks, my BMW's multiple oil leaks) but plenty of the time it's finding the right HBNR or Viton seal. In my searching I've come to understand that it's not only the ring material, it's the durometer (stiffness) which is almost never noted on any packaging. All the big things seem to hold up pretty well, but it's the seals that ruin things. For my BMW the valve stem seals turn hard and cause oil to be consumed by the engine which is a major PITA to fix. For all that's wonderful about these cars, it's the stinkin' seals causing all this trouble.
/rant

 

As a final kick in the nuts, I got the new diaphragm and as I was pushing the clip on, the motherfcker popped off and pinged away somewhere. No clue where it went, took off the belly pans, hunted everywhere, that car ate it. So NOW I have to wait two days for a stupid metal clip that is no an e-clip, not a circlip, not an anything clip that I can find anywhere and I'm not brave enough to use a freaking coathanger as a temporary replacement with a fuel leak as a potential result. I tried shaving down an e-clip, but it's too fat. I can't believe all the time I've wasted messing with this stupid thing. Angry guy's recommendation: buy the stupid overpriced part, don't mess around trying to fix it with o-rings, permatex, boogers, glue etc. This is the price of admission.
Finally, if you're a ham fisted moron like I am, order a spare clip for $1.50. Part #0009848161. I shall be in the corner with a glass of whiskey and all of the swear words I know.