BMW 5-series engine cooling problem

En el artículo , MrCheerful escribió:

Understood, thanks.

If the OP's son's car has an alloy block engine, HG failure may effectively scrap it, sadly.

As it's a late '03, it would be an E60/61? Autodata give 12 hours as the time for head replacement.

There will be additional costs for head skimming.

The steel head bolts often tear out the alloy threads in the block. The cost of helicoiling, even if possible, when added to the other costs involved, may be more than the trade value of the car.

I hope I'm wrong for the owner's sake.

Chris

En el artículo , Chris Whelan escribió:

Isn't that the one that had a cylinder liner problem that BM recalled it for? Premature wear/ovalling of the bores?

I *think* that was just the 2.8; OP's car is a 2.2.

Chris

En el artículo , Chris Whelan escribió:

Ta.

Wouldn't the pressure release valve cope with that? Although I'd expect a badly blown head gasket to give plenty other symptoms.

You're probably thinking of the Nikasil problem. Which was caused by high sulphur petrol which is very uncommon in the UK. Really just the odd few supermarkets sold it in some areas. A long time ago.

It mainly effected the V-8s, since heat seemed to make things worse.

Basically ally engines with the bores being ally too - not steel liners. No idea what the OP's version is.

In article , Bill scribeth thus

Seems unfair that you have paid for stuff like the radiator etc which weren't the cause of the problem;'(...

But this is a BMW haven't they some sort of reputation being a high end well engineered German motor like Audi and Mercedes;?...

Humm.. Seems Skoda came top of a JD Power review recently;)...

En el artículo , Dave Plowman (News) escribió:

That's the one. Thanks.

As a '53 plate, potentially an E60?

From what can be gathered from the OP, possibly not a good choice for the current owner.

Chris

Could be - I've seen both.

The E60 is a different kettle of fish.

Isn't a kettle supposed to get hot?

In message , "Dave Plowman (News)" writes

I've been trying to work out whether it's an E39 or E60, but not got far. Son doesn't know and is now away. Is there a 2.2 litre E39? There is an E60 2.2. How is the E60 different?

It's all going to be in the hands of the garage anyway, and if negotiations don't go well I've suggested he sends his wife in. That should scare them.

He needs a big car with a towbar and his wife is better with automatic in London, so this should be ideal if it can be got reliable. A Focus might be a bit small

Both can have 2.2 litre lumps.

They are very different cars; the changeover year was 2003!

If the garage has been in business more than a year or so, they will have heard it all before.

Maybe, but maintaining it won't be cheap, and could potentially exceed its value ultimately.

Yep, given that usage pattern.

Chris

The E39 has fairly conventional looking headlamps. The E60 rather odd - at the time - that looked a bit like Dame Edna specs. The E39 also looks a bit dated - the E60 not so much different from a current one.

I did ask if it needed continually topping up. In good condition, it never needs doing. Just the routine service coolant replacement. Indeed, my E39 has no low coolant warning.

If it were mine, I'd start by doing a system pressure check. With the engine first cold, then hot if the first one is OK. You can add dye to the coolant to see if there are any minor leaks. Much cheaper than just throwing new parts at it. But, of course, your garage may already have done all this.

Where about are you? There's an excellent BMW specialist in Tooting.

In message , "Dave Plowman (News)" writes

Thanks, Dave. He's in N8, so quite a way away, I think.

I don't know about the topping up and he's now away till Wednesday and aiui the selling garage will put it into their associated repair garage then. We just have to hope they have some vague idea of what they are doing.

They have a week to sort it out while he comes oop North to see us in some other (borrowed?) vehicle.

He used to be quite competent working with me on small boat engines and kept an old Fiat Panda running well in his youth, but I think at the moment he is just too busy to do much more than trust the "professionals".

I'm coming to the conclusion that some cars are getting too complicated for their own good. Some VAG brands makes seem to indulge in fancy solutions (emissions reducing measures, I suspect) that lead to problems as new, fancy solutions need time to bed in and be tested to see if they work.

VW group use parts in their diesel injectors that fail due to, (quoting a Skoda "Master mechanic"), heat and vibration.(!)

At that point I decided the Skoda had to go after leaving me £750 lighter after an injector failure and showing signs of doing it again.

Newish cars broken down at the roadside seem to be electrical according to the recovery man I spoke to at length.

Mechanically, they may be good. Unfortunately, they haven't got the hang of electrical systems yet. Show me a bit of electronics on a consumer item that will withstand moisture, heat and vibration and I'll show you a flying pig. You can find such things - at a cost. NASA or any aircraft manufacturer wouldn't get very far without them.

In message , Steve writes

When we built the boat, I took the door off an old fridge, bent a copper sheet over the bottom of the metal ice box. I soldered lots of bits of scrap copper tubing to the sheet and made a polythene guide to direct the condensation down to the drip (salad?) tray at the bottom.

It de-humidified the garage for about 4 of the 5 years. At the end almost all the copper pipes fell off because the solder seemed to have crystallised.

I have this xxxxing Jeep. I see on the forums that dry joints on the abs and the gearbox pcb's are common faults on this model.

There's a surprise.