I currently took my car into the BMW of San Antonio dealership because 3 lights were going off on my dashboard (Service Engine, Passenger Restraint, Passenger Airbag). After of 3 days of the car being there the SA tells me my car needs the positive battery cable replaced ($3,020), the thermostat replaced ($430), and the seat mat sensor replaced ($1,400). I picked up my car because that sounded a little sketchy to me, specially since I only have 80,000 miles on my 2005 BMW 545i. After a couple of hours of driving it the service engine light came back on and it said "Increased Emissions" on the screen this time. I turned my car off and once I came back to my car and turned it on it said low coolant level, so I checked underneath my car and sure enough the car was dripping coolant (which it hadn't done before). I opened my hood and sure enough there is coolant dripping out of what seems to be a connection at the very bottom on the coolant container. Any help for any of these problems?

 

coolant reservoir leaks are normal. but it is possible that one of the hoses was not reconnected correctly




What seems to be leaking?

 

It was quite the puddle. Twice.

 

Well it is about the time when the tanks tend to crack. You can get one and install it yourself in about 30 mins or less with a couple simple hand tools.

 

Although I would at least replace the upper line that runs across the radiator.

 

As for your air bag and seat sensor code it may not come back on again until someone sits in the passenger seat a certain way and opens the circuit once more.

Have someone read your codes after you fix the coolant leak.

 

Sorry when I wrote 'coolant reservoir leaks are normal' I meant that the reservoir cracks easily and leaks.

 

I have an '04 545i and had to replace the coolant expansion tank at around 85k miles as well...Did it myself and I agree with Allen, it was fairly straighforward and took about a half hour to 45 minutes. As for the other errors they can be symptoms of your battery.



Wasnt there a recall on the mat sensor??

 

Thank you very much. I will indeed go buy the tank and install it myself tomorrow morning. Is it hard to take off and install that upper line that runs to the radiator (#11)? And about the recall on the mat sensor, unfortunately my VIN# does not lie within the ones that were recalled? As they say at the dealership. I don't know how they could recall 200,000 units just like mine (same year and model) but not most of them when it's clearly a problem.

 

+1 I had to replace this last week because a tiny pin-sized hole turned into a larger one and coolant leaked all over my garage floor.