Yesterday we did a complete cooling system replacement in my 99 528i. I had no signs of leaks but at 108K miles figured it would be good to do.
Replaced, radiator, expansion tank, hoses, idler and tension rollers, water pump, thermostat, fan, fan clutch, and fan pulley.
The hardest portion of the job was removing the fan nut, used 32mm wrench, heated with oxy/acetylene torch, air chisel, nothing, would not budge. Ended up drilling a hole through nut into WP threads and putting in more liquid wrench, finally broke free. Unbelievable as the nut looked in such good condition i.e. not all rusted, and after removed the threads were fine.
Yes we used anti-seize on new nut.
My water pump had metal impellers and looked brand new as did thermostat.
Ones all was replaced we used an airlift device to decompress the entire cooling system and 'sucked' in all new coolant and water, no bleeding required! Never saw this in action neat.
Well done, few, and thanks to all for my questions leading up to this.
How much did the whole thing cost, I am replacing my water pump and thermostat in 2 weeks, I think I am going to do the hoses also just to play it safe.
man your not lieing that fan nut was the biggest pain getting back on, there was no room to hold up the fan while turning the nut, that took us 30 minutes to put on..did you use any Redline Water Wetter with your new coolant, I used it.. the temp gauge is just slightly left of normal
dmako, glad you did it, you will drive with peace of mind knowing that the next cooling job is some 80K away
1. 32-mm fan clutch nut, easy for me, simply use a long screwdriver and a big whack COUNTERCLOCKWISE...the fan clutch came out in 1 minute.
2. Redline Water wetter IMHO is snake oil
(I use Redline MT-90 in my manual trans and Redline 80W90 in rear diff).
So Water Wetter is unproven, a marketing tactic...........
Okay that was you, on a previous post I asked about flushing and you posted a pic of the Airlift. Never even knew it existing but my buddy had one. It's the only way to go!
It is cn90...how is your baby running, good I guess?
I used the screw driver trick and in one whack with 32-mm wrench, it came right out.
Anyway, glad you did it......I did it alone so it was boring listening to music. At least you have a buddy to bs while doing the cooling job LMAO
Actually you are right, you can do the whole thing in 4-5 hours. It took me the entire Saturday because:
1. I did not have a repair manual (I have fixed so many cars before so I kind of used my common sense to get through this job)
2. I had to take notes and photos and verified bolt sizes in preparation for the write-up.
The write-up itself took another brutal 10 hours!!! To this date I have not made a single penny from my write-up....but I benefited from the bimmerboard forum for other things so I "paid" back by writing it up so other can benefit from it.......LMAO
Now you can drive in peace (D.I.P.) knowing that your cooling system will not let you down............
Piece of mind is the key, I tell you though, all parts looked very clean except for the radiator.
Also I am hoping as a bonus, I had a whine when cold and an indy told me it need a new clutch kit $1000. With the cooling overhaul I don't hear the whine any more.
Now it may be the fact that it is warmer now, not absolutely sure, but hoping.
But it didn't fix my VANOS cold idle issue, oh well.
In my write-up, EVERYTHING IN THE COOLING DEPARTMENT WAS INCLUDED.
In addition to your list, I also replaced:
- Radiator $170 or so
- Reservoir $55
- thermostat housing $30 or so
- There is a difference between 'rollers' and tensioners'
Unless you are aprt distributor yourself, in my write-up the retail for all thoses parts is $550 or so, give or take a bit
RE: your vanos issue is with the $h|t seal BMW uses in there. check the FAQ for the techincal thread on Roadfly about it.
Been there, time to bring that thread back to life? LOL
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