Photo attached
![Grille Automotive exterior Metal Carbon Steel]()
Drivetrain Malfunction warning on 2015 M3!
FYI guys - I noticed "drivetrain malfunction" warning (last week) in my 5week old 2015 M3 (freaking love this car!). I took my car to the service center and found a leak in the radiator, the one next to the kidney grill (apparently this car has more than 1 radiator) and got a quote for $1.8K!!!...after looking at the photo (sent by my service advisor, attached) it looks like a moving foreign material (like rock or something) that managed to go through the bigger opening in the Kidney grill, hit the radiator and damaged it. Being new to BMW (and M3) I checked kidney grill patterns among various BMW models (3/5/7 series) and noticed M3 to have an unique pattern (to grills closer to each other and the next one farther apart vs. grills evenly spaced in other models). Luckily my insurance paid the bulk of the repair cost (I paid deductible), but what the guarantee that this won't happen again?
Q to the gurus: did this happen to anyone before? (Or am I the only lucky guy here). is anything can be done to prevent this from happening again, like some sort of metal mesh behind the grills (w/o blocking air to the radiator and other parts)? Thanks in advance guys!
Q to the gurus: did this happen to anyone before? (Or am I the only lucky guy here). is anything can be done to prevent this from happening again, like some sort of metal mesh behind the grills (w/o blocking air to the radiator and other parts)? Thanks in advance guys!
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That is horrible, given all the high priced items visible through all the grills. I found a dead leaf hanging out on the lower end of that same radiator, and was wondering how the heck it got there. Clearly there is a lot of space for debris to make it through and damage the vehicle.
Unfortunately, if they didnt leave the space, it would restrict airflow especially when you have to "stack" them in front of each other. Worse in an auto as there is the rad, tranny cooler, A/C condensor and in a 335 an oil cooler and Intercooler. Fortunatrly BMW moved the oil cooler into the drivers side just inside the wheel well. Uses the brake cooling duct for cooling... Had to mod the front slightly to install the active autowerkes FMIC. There is literally 1/4" to 1/2" clearance between the devices. To my point above, if you're concerned search race mesh grills. I've used them previously to protect those same items.Very strong and won;t distort and allow stones through; small ones possibly, but nothing big enough to damage the rads
1 - 11 of 11 Posts
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