5 Rakete

Ever take a look at the lower grille openings in your 5-series? Nice and large aren't they. Ever take a lool at the fluid cooler at the bottom of the radiator? That's to cool the hydraulic fluid that runs the power steering and Active Roll Stabilization systems. Yes, they share the same reservoir and fluid.

Well, on the way home the week before last something came through one of those grille openings, put a ding in one of the fluid lines in the cooler, and caused a leak. I didn't notice until I got home and oberved drips and a puddle and it wasn't until I moved the car onto the street and was considering whether to drive to the dealer that I got an iDrive warning. Called BMW Assist and got it towed. Mind you at this point everyone was thinking warranty repair (no one had seen the dent yet). Next day the service manager calls and gives me the news. Not a defect (well not the cooler anyway) and thus not covered by warranty. Estimate: $1067. Okay, that got me to call my insurance company pretty quick since I have a $250 deductible on comprehensive.

Long story short the whole thing took an extra week because we had to wait for the insurance company to send out their estimator but since they pay for my rental car too so what? The other good news was that the repair only came to $890. Decent price on the part (i.e. not too much mark up over cost) but pricey labor (no surprise). In the end $250 for me.

I'm looking into getting the mesh screens from Race Mesh. Something like that might be enough to deflect or slow down something the next time this happens. And there will be a next time, almost guaranteed, with the crap on the freeways around here. There was no damage to the bumber or the grille openings and I never saw what it might have been. Didn't hear anything either. If you have a lot of problems with debris being dropped and kicked up by other vehicles you might want to consider the risk. Those openings are large enough to almost put my arm through, enough that I can touch that cooler. So there's a good probability that a rock will come through unobstructed as well. A rock hitting that thin-walled aluminum channel lines in the cooler and it's easy to see it opening up a small hole. Did in my case.

EBMCS03

Wow really? I couldnt remember how the stock lower grill looked so I had to pull up a pic. but I guess the M-Tech Grill can hopefully deflect some of those debris...