Bad E39 Experience

Can someone tell me what could happen if a E39'a engine is revved up in a harsh manner while the car is in Park? I just took my car to the car wash and one of the workers pressed hard on the gas while it was in park and now my radiator is leaking like crazy. It wasn't like that before I took the car there. What did he do, blow a gasket in my car? I swear I had to leave that place because I would be in jail right now. If anyone can respond to me ASAP, I would greatly appreciate it.

Sounds like its time to do a cooling system overhaul.

Sounds like a crack in the radiator.

E39 radiators are not know for their durability. It was probably inevitable for it to start leaking. Revving it didn't help, but it didn't push the engine past any operational limit. The engine computer will protect the engine from damaging itself. The only thing the computer can't protect against is a forced over-rev when a manual transmission car is put into a gear too low with a road speed too high, like jamming it into 2nd gear at 70 mph.

+1 Your rad was probably already saying goodbye. The increased pressure when the engine revved just accelerated the process. Your engine should be fine as long as it didn't overheat.

More likely cold water on hot radiator that was close to going any way. Time for cooling overhaul and be glad your not stranded on the side of a highway with a cooked engine.

Fulltrottle540
We wonder why we have problems with our cars. Duhhh? On the other hand all can see why we drive them. Nice vid Boss, thanks for the show.

You don't say how many miles are on your car or if any service to the cooling system has ever been done. If your car has over 100K and the cooling system components are original, that explains why your cooling system is leaking. The guy revving your engine had little or nothing to do with it. Replace everything in the cooling system (Search for why) or you will be back again replacing another cooling component shortly.

Rev did not cause it. Being a old BMW did that.

^burnout vid. Guessing you had your foot on the ze brake. Wonder how those rear pads and rotors look after that.

Originally Posted by FLE39

Rev did not cause it. Being a old BMW did that.

^burnout vid. Guessing you had your foot on the ze brake. Wonder how those rear pads and rotors look after that.

Judging by the apparent condition of the car, i.e. the trim hanging off the bumper. He doesn't care. Appears to treat his BMW worse than I treat my 95 grand prix...

Thanks for all if your feedback. I'll be back in business soon. The cooling overhaul is underway. I bought the parts and plan on installing them on Monday.

Sent from my MB855 using Bimmer App

Originally Posted by 1st_Time_BMW

Thanks for all if your feedback. I'll be back in business soon. The cooling overhaul is underway. I bought the parts and plan on installing them on Monday.

Good Luck! That is a long day of working on your car.

Yep, good luck and happy wrenching. Maybe the idiot at the care wash did you an unanticipated favor.

Originally Posted by oltom

Fulltrottle540
. Nice vid Boss, thanks for the show.

Not my car, just wanted to show how much stress the 540 can really handle.


(I would never do this long of a burnout. Even when I was young & dumb, 10 second of burnout was enough to stink up your car and throw melted rubber everywhere!!!)

Originally Posted by fullthrottle540

Not my car, just wanted to show how much stress the 540 can really handle.


(I would never do this long of a burnout. Even when I was young & dumb, 10 second of burnout was enough to stink up your car and throw melted rubber everywhere!!!)

And yet you were doing it...

I bet your 'friend' was real happy with you then...

Originally Posted by Reuvers

And yet you were doing it...

I bet your 'friend' was real happy with you then...

I am thinking when he said "not my car", he meant that this was some random clip he found on youtube and posted it here, not that he thrashed the crap out of someone elses car. I could be wrong, but that's the way I took it.

Originally Posted by 1st_Time_BMW

Thanks for all if your feedback. I'll be back in business soon. The cooling overhaul is underway. I bought the parts and plan on installing them on Monday.

Sent from my MB855 using Bimmer App

Lots of DIYs and help here, don't be afraid to ask. Best of luck, your experience is normal for an E39 overdue for a cooling overhaul. List the parts you are buying and use OEM bmw if you can afford it

You can pull your hair out looking for minor leaks. Good luck on the cooling overhaul. I must agree with those above who said short interval high revving doesn't matter. If in fact this one brief event did play a part in your leak I agree that the event surfaced a monster hiding under the bed. My philosophy about car repairs is this any time I am fortunate enough to see trouble coming or by the luck of the draw I'll take being broke down in my driveway in lieu of the side of the road any day of the week. Being broke down 100 or so miles away from home base and no resources to work except blind luck is kink a like dropping the soap in a prison shower. There's usually someone waiting for you to pick it up. Sounds like your a DIY guy. The cooling system leak was probably on the horizon. One short note about pressure testing a cooling system. Be VERY careful on who you select to perform this test. When a cooling system radiator cap or tech. info says system pressure 16psi. That's what it means not 18psi or 20psi. Had a shade tree mechanic pressure test a Chevy truck some years back. I figured how hard can it be. System pressure was 16-18psi he pumped it to 20 and left it there. After about 15 minutes I when and checked the gauge. End result he ruptured my radiator and the heater core. When I asked him how come he pumped it up so high he said a few extra lbs. doesn't hurt anything and it makes the leak show up quicker. I think related to video producer above.

Throttle:

that's an awesome vid. Definitely lays claim to how powerful and robust the 540 actually is.

Originally Posted by Andreas540i

Judging by the apparent condition of the car, i.e. the trim hanging off the bumper. He doesn't care. Appears to treat his BMW worse than I treat my 95 grand prix...

At 1st i thought u were fos, but after freezing a frame & seeing it for myself, i take it back... you nailed it. looks like a teenage driver to me, most likely in a car his parents gave him for school...reminds me of what my car is currently going under now that
i've given it to my 16 yr old for good. oh, the abuse!!! yolo!