BMWs have weaknesses in their cooling systems that many owners like to address.
The complaint is the use of plastic in certain components, like the radiator, the water pump impeller and the thermostat housing. Those pieces can become brittle, break and cause a lot of trouble.
At about 80,000 miles I did a lot of work on the cooling system.
Here’s a video of the work I did.
I replaced the radiator on my (14 year old) 1997 M3. I also replaced the water pump with a Stewart High Performance unit and I upgraded to an aluminum thermostat housing. Of course, I replaced the thermostat while I was in there.
DANG those plastic BMW pieces!
One of the few things I don’t like about my car is the plastic pieces that break. There are the wheel well liners that I’ve replaced multiple times and some plastic pieces on the underside of the front end that also break.
One of them is what I’ll call an undertray. (I don’t know its real name and I haven’t been able to find it in realoem.com) I don’t even know what it does, and I have driven around without it. I suspect, though, that it prevents unwanted foreign objects from bouncing up from the road and damaging a hose or belt.
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There are four points where it connects, and the tab on one was broken off, making it useless. I wanted the part to fit correctly but I didn’t want to spend the $100+ for another one, when it might break too.
BMW radiator clips are simple to use, once you understand them.
If you’re replacing the radiator on your BMW you’ll need to know how the radiator clips work. There’s no need to break them any more. This video shows you how to release the clips and how they work.
The cooling system is commonly considered a weakness in many BMWs.
My BMW M3 is 14 years old with 78,000. Some claim that it’s a “ticking time bomb” because of the plastic pieces in the radiator, thermostat housing and water pump impeller. In reality, many of these parts can last a long time. But tales of woe circulate among BMW enthusiasts and I don’t want to take a chance.
I replaced the radiator with one that a friend used for about 2,000 miles before replacing with an aluminum unit. I’d like to do the same one day.
I replaced the thermostat and also upgraded the plastic thermostat housing to an aluminum one. The original water pump was replaced with a Stewart high performance water pump. The fan clutch was showing signs of wear, so it got replaced with a Sachs OEM part.
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Draining the coolant from the engine block is done by removing the drain plug, which is inconveniently positioned behind an oxygen sensor. I removed the sensor and stuffed a rag in the remaining hole, so I wouldn’t get coolant in my exhaust system.
It’s a drag when your car starts making obnoxious noises. I had to address the squealing noise that was probably a tensioner pulley. I had dealt with this in my 328i a few years ago, and it was frustrating. I used an automotive stethoscope to find out where the problem was.
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