Does anybody know the location of the engine drain plug on the m54 engine? I have a 2005 525i and I cannot find the plug. I have searched a lot and nobody gives a definite answer to where the drain plug is at. Is it difficult to get to? I have taken the reinforcement plate off and still cannot find it.

Thank you!

 

If you dont have an aftermarket radiator which doesnt have a drain, it a red plug and is located at the bottom of the radiator on the passenger side

 

Per Bentley E60/E61 service manual, section 170:

• There may or may not be a petcock at the bottom rear side of the radiator. If not, then remove the lower hose to drain the radiator.
• The M54 engine also has a block drain plug on the right side (U.S. passenger side) of the block near cylinder #2 (#1 is the front).
• Refer to page 170-9 for the M54's cooling system bleeding procedure.

HTH,
Jim / crewzer

 

I have drained the coolant from the radiator using this red plug, but I wanted to drain the coolant from the engine block as well. I got about a gallon of 50/50 coolant mix from the radiator plug.

 

Thank you. I found this on the E39 site. They give a good example of where exactly the engine block drain plug is located (near cylinder #2). It looks like a pain to get to. I will probably just drain a few times from the radiator petcock. I will know exactly where to drain it from when I change out the water pump and thermostat.

E39 forum engine block location

 

Better have a spare red plug.
Start thinking of ways to get the broken red plug out with this age the plug will be brittle and removing it will not be so easy due to hoses in the way and so forth

 

I am not too far from the dealer, so I will probably hope they will have an extra plug, or order one with my next order. The red plug was not bad at all to get out, so I guess that I will not worry about it for now. I was a little worried at first when I started to undo it, but after it unscrewed, it seemed good. So for now, I guess that I'm good

 

No need to replace now, only when it breaks off as it did for me!