E39 cooling system

monkey_boy · 14 Jul 2010 at 05:40

If and when it needs refreshing, what needs to be replaced and how much does it typically cost?

[TW]Fox · 14 Jul 2010 at 07:29

About 500 quid.

Concrete · 14 Jul 2010 at 14:03

Whats involved in that? You can do the thermostat, water pump, hoses and radiator for under half that easily in a day.

Kingy · 14 Jul 2010 at 14:05

Should the cooling system be replaced at a particular age, or simply when symptoms show?

[TW]Fox · 14 Jul 2010 at 14:12

Concrete said:
Whats involved in that? You can do the thermostat, water pump, hoses and radiator for under half that easily in a day.

Nobody will replace those for you on an e39 for 250 quid. The parts alone come to that.

sigma · 14 Jul 2010 at 14:15

[TW]Fox;16943955 said:
Nobody will replace those for you on an e39 for 250 quid. The parts alone come to that.

I think he meant if you do it yourself?

Does the £250 include a new radiator? Very cheap if it does!

Concrete · 14 Jul 2010 at 14:25

[TW]Fox;16943955 said:
Nobody will replace those for you on an e39 for 250 quid. The parts alone come to that.

Yeah I was suggesting that he did it himself. Its really quite an easy process once you have the clutch fan off.

paradigm · 14 Jul 2010 at 14:29

Bleeding 6-pot BMWs is never an easy process. I re-did the cooling system on my 325i FOUR times, and even then bleeding the beggar takes an inordinate amount of time, is a very specific procedure, and due to the height of the heater matrix in comparison to the bleed nipple, requires you to lift the car in places.

[TW]Fox · 14 Jul 2010 at 14:35

Concrete said:
Yeah I was suggesting that he did it himself. Its really quite an easy process once you have the clutch fan off.

It's a pain of a job. Just getting the viscous fan off is a dog and the bleeding is a pain as well. Not worth the bother.

Concrete · 14 Jul 2010 at 14:35

Yeah I had been told that, but for some reason it all went very easily for me. I filled up the expansion tank to the max until the bubbles stopped, got the engine up to temp and took it out for a spin. Temp needle started to bounce a little so I pulled over, un-did the bleed screw and a jet of steam shot out for about 10-15 seconds. I refilled the now empty expansion tank and then drove home. Its been rock solid ever since!

Concrete · 14 Jul 2010 at 14:37

[TW]Fox;16944179 said:
It's a pain of a job. Just getting the viscous fan off is a dog and the bleeding is a pain as well. Not worth the bother.

Its really not a bad job at all, everything is easily accessed and there's no having to get under the car (except to drain coolant from the block). Getting the fan off was a MAJOR pain in the arse the first time because I didnt have a method for doing it, I've now worked out a suitable approach and its easy to remove the bloody thing.

[TW]Fox · 14 Jul 2010 at 14:54

So its not a bad job once you have experience of doing it before, yea great.

If asked how much it cost, I told him. Of course its cheaper if you give up a day of your life to roll around under your car.

Concrete · 14 Jul 2010 at 15:01

Well if he was to attempt it I would spend the time to break out MS Paint and write a guide for getting the fan off. Everything else is easy and well documented.

Can't speak for most people, but a day of my time is worth substantially less than 250 quid, so for me its worth doing it.