HELP!! Radiator hose install..

Hi bimmer lovers!! I'm new to this forum, and it was suggested by another user from bimmerforums to post my issue here as well:


My husband and I made an impulse buy ( I know..big no no) on our Alpine white 2002 530i in March of 2010 with a little more than 94000 miles.

I loved the way it drove up until it started overheating at random 6-7 months later! We had it inspected at the dealer and was told we had a crack in the t-stat and leaks in almost every hose in the cooling system.

We took it an indy shop that was recommended to us by a friend who takes his bimmer there for some work. All the hoses and thermostat were replaced as well as the water pump. But then, some bad news!!!! We were told that it was probably a blown head gasket that was also causing the overheating! He would have to really take the engine block apart to find out!! Get a call back a few days later: IT WOULD BE BETTER OFF TO FIND ANOTHER ENGINE FOR YOUR CAR! Frustraaaation!!!!

With no money put aside for that kind of job, my poor baby sat on the driveway for over a year!!

Got a new engine (nothing special) but with equivalent mileage to our old one. Took our car back for the install and had our radiator replaced as well. This was in May of 2012...

Fast forward to now...OVERHEATING AGAIN!!! Took the car to the dealer for an oil change and had an inspection done again!! Our radiator hoses-both upper and lower are leaking!!

I'm about to buy both hoses, a new expansion tank, and fan shroud from ecstuning/autohaus. I know there's many posts about diys..but I'm a very visual learner and wanna try to tackle this job myself--with some help of course! I'm really afraid of making things worse!!

No one I know is mechanically inclined!! I was wondering if there's anyone in the San Jose/Bay Area that's about to start the same project and is willing to let me watch and learn!! ..or if anyone is willing to help me start it!

Please help!! I love my car but hate what it's doing to my wallet!! Haha.

Sorry for the long post btw!!

Originally Posted by shayrodE39

Hi bimmer lovers!! I'm new to this forum, and it was suggested by another user from bimmerforums to post my issue here as well:


My husband and I made an impulse buy ( I know..big no no) on our Alpine white 2002 530i in March of 2010 with a little more than 94000 miles.

I loved the way it drove up until it started overheating at random 6-7 months later! We had it inspected at the dealer and was told we had a crack in the t-stat and leaks in almost every hose in the cooling system.

We took it an indy shop that was recommended to us by a friend who takes his bimmer there for some work. All the hoses and thermostat were replaced as well as the water pump. But then, some bad news!!!! We were told that it was probably a blown head gasket that was also causing the overheating! He would have to really take the engine block apart to find out!! Get a call back a few days later: IT WOULD BE BETTER OFF TO FIND ANOTHER ENGINE FOR YOUR CAR! Frustraaaation!!!!

With no money put aside for that kind of job, my poor baby sat on the driveway for over a year!!

Got a new engine (nothing special) but with equivalent mileage to our old one. Took our car back for the install and had our radiator replaced as well. This was in May of 2012...

Fast forward to now...OVERHEATING AGAIN!!! Took the car to the dealer for an oil change and had an inspection done again!! Our radiator hoses-both upper and lower are leaking!!

I'm about to buy both hoses, a new expansion tank, and fan shroud from ecstuning/autohaus. I know there's many posts about diys..but I'm a very visual learner and wanna try to tackle this job myself--with some help of course! I'm really afraid of making things worse!!

No one I know is mechanically inclined!! I was wondering if there's anyone in the San Jose/Bay Area that's about to start the same project and is willing to let me watch and learn!! ..or if anyone is willing to help me start it!

Please help!! I love my car but hate what it's doing to my wallet!! Haha.

Sorry for the long post btw!!

Did the original engine really had a headgasket leak? Are you buying OEM parts or not? You also need to make sure that you change the fan and fan clutch as part of the cooling system overhaul.

Go to Besian Systems website and under the Vanos seal replacement DIY--you will find the how too on getting the fan shroud and all off of the car so that you can start the work your needing--On the bleeding of the system afterwards--do a search and you will find the correct way to make that happen--you want to check into the bleeding that allows you to just cut on the ignition and fill--no need to start the engine to bleed with your model

Nothing in the original story sounds right.... These cars are high maintenance as you figured out, but sitting in the yard for a year? I would of gotten a 2nd or 3rd estimate and opinion. And if your engine did have a HG leak, pulling the head would be cheaper and quicker than all the labor putting a new engine in. Especially being you are only around 100k miles. On these cars the big thing is do the cooling system overhaul, properly, with quality parts and bleed it correctly. As stated above you need to change the clutch, fan blades, belt tensioners etc. Next, change out the whole CCV system. Then you can move on to oil leaks and all the other fun items. Honestly, if you're not a DIY.... when you started getting the bad news about this thing you should of dumped it and chalked up your bit of loss to not doing your HW and bought something more reliable and easier to maintain like an Accord or alike. Just my 2 cents. I would never own this car if I did not DIY. Worst money pit I could find.

Originally Posted by poolman

Go to Besian Systems website and under the Vanos seal replacement DIY--you will find the how too on getting the fan shroud and all off of the car so that you can start the work your needing--On the bleeding of the system afterwards--do a search and you will find the correct way to make that happen--you want to check into the bleeding that allows you to just cut on the ignition and fill--no need to start the engine to bleed with your model

I will look over this..thanks poolman!!!

The impulse buy was fine as you chose a great car. However, not confirming the diagnosis of the dealer/indy was not so smart. Unless the car had severely overheated, the gasket may have been fine. But that is water under the bridge.

Cooling system failures are a common problem on the e39. They typically start after 100K, one component at a time. It is recommended that the entire cooling system (radiator, exp tank, hoses, thermostat, WP, fan clutch & blade, belts and all pulleys and tensioners) be replaced at the 100K mark for the M54 I6 engine. This should restore the original cooling system reliability for another 100K. While this approach may seem excessive, it is the best way to avoid getting stuck by the side of the road somewhere or more importantly, avoid blowing your engine (as you already know about). The aluminum block of the M54 does not take kindly to overheating.

The entire parts cost of this job is less than $750. If you supply the labor, that is a pretty good deal. Order everything online except the expansion tank. Get the OE expansion ONLY from the dealer only. Search for why. Search this forum as there are a couple of good DIYs on the entire cooling system replacement.
http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=473373
http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/posts/199986
http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...d.php?t=858076

Most of the tools (screwdrivers and socket set) you will need are fairly common. You will need a 32mm long handle wrench and the fan clutch tool to remove the fan clutch. You can buy this set for about $25-$30 on eBay or other sources. Search. Removing the fan clutch is the hardest part of the job. Everything else is simple disassembly and reassembly. Access is good. Just work slowly and methodically. Have your husband read the DIY and mark all the parts you remove them. I would rate this job a 6 on a scale of 10 for difficulty. It will take 6-8 hours working slowly.

If you have any issues or questions, simply post them up before, during or after this job to get additional assistance. This forum has dozens of knowledgeable and helpful folks on it who have been there, done that. Good luck.

^Fudman pretty much closed the door on this thread. Amen. Donuts and coffee will be served in the multifunction room in 15 minutes. See you next Sunday.

Originally Posted by Fudman

Order everything online except the expansion tank. Get the OE expansion ONLY from the dealer only. Search for why.

I've read up about that! The BEHR expansion tanks seem to be a hit or miss type thing so I'll definitely get that from the dealer like recommended.

Thanks for the advise!!

Hey guys!

You were right! This was so simple to do! All the reading and research looked very intimidating, but once I started at it, I couldn't help but laugh at myself and why I was so nervous!

There were minor hiccups like coolant in the eye!...hehe. For some reason when my Indy replaced the radiator, he used some type of bleeder screw instead of that blue plug. I loosened the screw slowly..but pressure gave way and pushed the screw right off! And splash!! Ooops..

I managed to remove the fan nut without the special tool!

I'm about to start putting things back in, and have one question:

Does anyone use any type of sealant when installing the vent hose from the expansion tank to the radiator?..or are the clamps good enough?
When I was removing the hose, it seemed to be attached to the nipple by a fiber type sealant with tiny zip ties as clamps!! Wth!

Originally Posted by shayrodE39

Hey guys!

You were right! This was so simple to do! All the reading and research looked very intimidating, but once I started at it, I couldn't help but laugh at myself and why I was so nervous!

There were minor hiccups like coolant in the eye!...hehe. For some reason when my Indy replaced the radiator, he used some type of bleeder screw instead of that blue plug. I loosened the screw slowly..but pressure gave way and pushed the screw right off! And splash!! Ooops..

I managed to remove the fan nut without the special tool!

I'm about to start putting things back in, and have one question:

Does anyone use any type of sealant when installing the vent hose from the expansion tank to the radiator?..or are the clamps good enough?
When I was removing the hose, it seemed to be attached to the nipple by a fiber type sealant with tiny zip ties as clamps!! Wth!

No sealant necessary. The clamps do the job, sounds like it was jerry rigged before.

There are no zip ties or sealants involved in the cooling overhaul job. Unless things are broken - then you might use zip ties.

So my car is smoking and coolant is spurting all over the bottom of the car!!!! Wtf!!!

Now what?? The temp gauge was right in the middle during my whole drive to work. As soon as I parked and turned the engine off...smoke!!!

Is it my fan clutch coming back to haunt me??!!

Originally Posted by shayrodE39

So my car is smoking and coolant is spurting all over the bottom of the car!!!! Wtf!!!

Now what?? The temp gauge was right in the middle during my whole drive to work. As soon as I parked and turned the engine off...smoke!!!

Is it my fan clutch coming back to haunt me??!!

Check where the leak is coming. When i did my cooling overhaul, I had a Chinese Behr expansion tank that was poorly made, and it was leaking like a sieve where the 2 hoses connect at the bottom. A unit from the dealer solved the problem (more expensive).
I just hope it's not the return inlet pipes (#5 and #8) in the diagram below.

My expansion tank is the German BEHR brand. I couldn't really tell where the leak was coming from. There was coolant splatter on the fan. Nothing was leaking from the radiator hoses. There was coolant seeping from the expansion tank cap and where the vent hose connects to it...looks like the smoke was coming from the radiator itself.

Maybe Bluebee can come over and help ya!

Sounds like something wasn't put together right.

dave
03 540i6

That would be great!! Haha..I've read lots of his write-ups!!