[R3dLeader]

Does anyone offer a bucketed Walbro 450? Otherwise I'm thinking to go with the Fuel-it stage 1 inline pump. My LPFP is healthy at only 55k miles, mostly stock tune. Don't want to run without a bucket.

This eBay offering looks temping. Thoughts on this?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/363420538004

[335i54n]

everyone makes a bucketed versions it seems

https://www.turnermotorsport.com/p-1...p-kit-stage-2/

[Serf27]

I did bucketless 525 walbro for e85 on stock turbos.

[Serf27]

Originally Posted by TerminatorStout

any problems? whats all the fuss about no bucket in these cars? people drag racing with under 1/8th tank with stock tank?

No issues. Stock EKPM.
Have ran the car at 1/8 or less with no issues, but that was on my way to get fuel.
I think a few times I did WOT at 1/8 tank and no issues.

If you misfire or go into limp mode for a reason unrelated to fuel with 1/8 tank, the dme will throw a misfire due to low fuel code. Maybe some complaints of bucketless come from that.

The setup cost me ~$160 a few years ago.
Walbro Pump from Amazon or eBay, filter/strainer kit and BMP fuel fitting and I either modified my bucket or used a different bucket.

[R3dLeader]

Originally Posted by TerminatorStout

Are you planning on going for more power?

Been doing quite a bit of digging on the fuel system and it seems the stock pump is fine with stock car and even with some minor mods (stage 1).

If you do upgrade, you might start experiencing the EKP module problems from higher amp draw. So something to consider if you are not going for more power.

But yeah, the ebay post doesn't look half bad if your looking for a drop in unit. You could probably swap the float assembly if it's chinese or whatever. The main thing is the bucket and the walbro pump, so should be fine.

If your going to mess with power then it would be in your best interest to modify your fuel pump because then you can swap pumps easier for only $90 (walbro), and you could easily modify it again to fandangle a 2nd pump in there.

Planing on e50-e60 on stock turbos for now.

[iqraceworks]

I went with a bucketless Walbro 450 for my stock turbos on E40....now I'm running the same pump with RB TWO Turbos at 25psi on E40....and it keeps up with them just fine

The only time I've had any fuel starvation issues is when I hit an offramp pretty fast and took the long sweeping turn with less that 1/4 fuel in the tank. At the top of the ramp I stomped the gas, and the let out a hell of a backfire and threw a misfire code. I'm assuming the hard cornering just pushed all the fuel to the other end of the tank where the LPFP couldn't get it.

I've never had any issues with straight like pulls on a low fuel tank. I would do bucketless again....

[R3dLeader]

Fuel starvation freaks me out which is why I'm ruling out a bucketless setup.

Will the ECU always catch the lean condition in time? I'm not so confident.

[iqraceworks]

Originally Posted by R3dLeader

Fuel starvation freaks me out which is why I'm ruling out a bucketless setup.

Will the ECU always catch the lean condition in time? I'm not so confident.

No, it won't catch it. That's why when I stomped on the gas it instantly went lean and made a huge backfire......as soon as the throttle opened and the HPFP demanded a bunch of pressure and flow, it went lean.

Luckily the DME does sense the misfire, and puts the car into a limb mode until you restart it so it's pretty hard to cause any damage.

[R3dLeader]

Correct, this is not a race car.

The eBay one looks nice as long as it is genuine and not counterfeit. It has good feedback and the seller in general has good feedback.

[witty]

Originally Posted by R3dLeader

Correct, this is not a race car.

The eBay one looks nice as long as it is genuine and not counterfeit. It has good feedback and the seller in general has good feedback.

my opinion, make it yourself companies charge 2-3x the price of you making it yourself. buy yourself a walbro 450 or 535 and DIY it for about 130$ using your old bucketed system.

I would only run bucketless if you know you'll never go down to 1/4 of a tank

[iqraceworks]

Originally Posted by sliver 335

my opinion, make it yourself companies charge 2-3x the price of you making it yourself. buy yourself a walbro 450 or 535 and DIY it for about 130$ using your old bucketed system.

I would only run bucketless if you know you'll never go down to 1/4 of a tank

That's what I did. It's pretty easy to build your own setup and save a good amount of money.

[R3dLeader]

Originally Posted by sliver 335

my opinion, make it yourself companies charge 2-3x the price of you making it yourself. buy yourself a walbro 450 or 535 and DIY it for about 130$ using your old bucketed system.

I would only run bucketless if you know you'll never go down to 1/4 of a tank

Agreed, but the eBay one I linked above for $350, if legit, is worth it if it saves me 2 hours of DIY time and I can keep my current LPFP as backup. Might just take a chance on this, would want to verify it's a legit Walbro 450.

Originally Posted by iqraceworks

That's what I did. It's pretty easy to build your own setup and save a good amount of money.

I guess my main question is I havnt seen a DIY bucketed Walbro 450. The DIYs I have seen are bucketless. Is it possible to easily put a Walbro 450 in the stock bucket?


Is an EKP upgrade needed when running a Walbro 450? What upgrades are possible? As far as I know, only cooling (passive and/or active) are possible upgrades.

[iqraceworks]

Search Google..there are some good bucketed 450 walbro videos. Lots of people do that.

[iqraceworks]

Originally Posted by R3dLeader

Agreed, but the eBay one I linked above for $350, if legit, is worth it if it saves me 2 hours of DIY time and I can keep my current LPFP as backup. Might just take a chance on this, would want to verify it's a legit Walbro 450.



I guess my main question is I havnt seen a DIY bucketed Walbro 450. The DIYs I have seen are bucketless. Is it possible to easily put a Walbro 450 in the stock bucket?


Is an EKP upgrade needed when running a Walbro 450? What upgrades are possible? As far as I know, only cooling (passive and/or active) are possible upgrades.

I've been running a Walbro 450 on the stock EKP for well over a year with no issues at all. My car puts down some decent power, and has been down the drag strip several times with several back to back passes. No issues with the EKP at all.

[Dino335]

I plan to go the bucketed route aswell when I get the chance but I’ll be buying from this company rather than ebay, they’ve got a nice selection of performance bits if you were looking at any other upgrades
https://onefastshop.com/products/bmw...-lpfp-upgrade#

[Navykiller]

Has anyone here considered just getting your stock pump upgraded? Thats what I did with FUEL IT, as a stage 2 upgrade, and it has been working well.

[iqraceworks]

Originally Posted by Navykiller

Has anyone here considered just getting your stock pump upgraded? Thats what I did with FUEL IT, as a stage 2 upgrade, and it has been working well.

Thats pretty much what all the Walbro 450 pumps are....they are the same size as the stock pumps, just with more flow. You remove the stock pump and swap it for the Walbro 450.

I went bucketless so I could get some more flow out of if, but you can do the stock bucketed setup also.

[ab987]

For not much more than a 450 you can get a 535... which is a 450 with no check valve. Great pump if you are aiming for 600whp or less (with one pump). PFS makes a fantastic DIY bucket so you can run whatever pump you want. I've been running this setup on stock EKPM for a year and a half now on both stock turbo/E60 and now hybrids/93, up to 15 hour drives, down to 0.5 gal, no problems at all and tons of pressure. Has a Venturi sized for the bigger pumps too.

[Navykiller]

Originally Posted by iqraceworks

Thats pretty much what all the Walbro 450 pumps are....they are the same size as the stock pumps, just with more flow. You remove the stock pump and swap it for the Walbro 450.

I went bucketless so I could get some more flow out of if, but you can do the stock bucketed setup also.

For some reason I thought I read he was price conscious. Yeah its the same thing, just more budget friendly if he doesnt want to do it himself.

[lemansbluen54]

i did a diy 535 and kept the bucket and my rail pressure is fantastic, did it when i was on stock turbos and had no complaints besides one problem of the diy. Fuel gauge is nowhere near where it should be for most of the time and where it is off stays inconsistent. saved a pretty penny but have to watch how far ive traveled like a hawk

[dreyo27]

So I have lots of experience with this.
1st buckless pumps suck. Had a dual 450 walbo setup and it was terrible. Take an off ramp to quick especially to the right and anything below 1/3 tank will cause the car to sputter, maybe even die.

Bucketed 450s are tried and true. With that said 21PSI of boost and e60 mix is at the upper range of it capabilities. However its cheap. They also have check valves so you can run 2 of them. Here is the LOG of it being pushed passed its capabilities on OEM turbos. https://datazap.me/u/dreyo27/bq-e60-...-12-21&mark=66

Bucketed 535 pumps are 525s without the check valve so they flow more. However the problem is the EKPM tends to over heat. I found a 3D printed part that integrates a blower fan to keep it cool, picture below. I tried EKPM2 and 3 and both overheated. However with the blower fan there was no problems.
Also if you want to make your own pump its quite easy. I have a 3d printed bracket that fits in the OEM bucket and lets you use the the factory float. Would also recommend picking up the BMP fitting so you can use the OEM line. Here is a log of that a walbro 535 pump running e77 mix without a hickup. https://datazap.me/u/dreyo27/overboo...1-4-17&mark=73

[whyzee125]

Originally Posted by dreyo27

So I have lots of experience with this.
1st buckless pumps suck. Had a dual 450 walbo setup and it was terrible. Take an off ramp to quick especially to the right and anything below 1/3 tank will cause the car to sputter, maybe even die.

Bucketed 450s are tried and true. With that said 21PSI of boost and e60 mix is at the upper range of it capabilities. However its cheap. They also have check valves so you can run 2 of them. Here is the LOG of it being pushed passed its capabilities on OEM turbos. https://datazap.me/u/dreyo27/bq-e60-...-12-21&mark=66

Bucketed 535 pumps are 525s without the check valve so they flow more. However the problem is the EKPM tends to over heat. I found a 3D printed part that integrates a blower fan to keep it cool, picture below. I tried EKPM2 and 3 and both overheated. However with the blower fan there was no problems.
Also if you want to make your own pump its quite easy. I have a 3d printed bracket that fits in the OEM bucket and lets you use the the factory float. Would also recommend picking up the BMP fitting so you can use the OEM line. Here is a log of that a walbro 535 pump running e77 mix without a hickup. https://datazap.me/u/dreyo27/overboo...1-4-17&mark=73

Got any info or a source on that fan setup? I'm running a Fuel It stage 3 (not sure what pumps are in there actually, both are upgraded) on a stock EKPM3.

I'm on the 3rd EKP, the second was a used one and the most recent was a brand new one with warranty but I'd like to keep it alive even if warrantied.