I have an '05 530i auto with 70,000 miles and noticed a leaky coolant hose. I had an E39 and anyone who has owned an E39 knows that the cooling system is the weak spot for these cars (exploding radiators, exploding expansion tanks, exploding fan clutch, etc). My question: Is the E60 the same? Is it necessary to do a complete cooling system overhaul before 100,000 miles? This is my wife's car and since the BMW engineers so smartly decided against a temp gauge I need some sound advice on this. Thanks.

 

I had a leak in the expansion tank but it's a BMW leaks are standerd option
Not only on bmw's all other manufactors have problems with coolant unless you have electric car that doesnt have cooling system
and dont worry about it if your car overheated you'll see the message in your idrive screen

 

Thanks for the reply. I'm still indecisive as to what to do. Does anyone else have some first hand experience with the reliability of these cooling systems?

 

There is actually a temp monitor. Look on the RPM side of the car. On the round dial you will see some bars. It it will start with about 6 or 8 bars and when car has reached normal temp you will have 2 bars and as the temp goes up you will see less and a message.

 

Thanks again for the replies but the question still goes unanswered.

 

I've had the expansion reservoir leak and the thermostat last winter on my 2006 530i. Just changing stuff doesn't really help if its not leaking. Many brand new cars can form a leak just as quickly. Its just bad luck when it does.
A coolant flush every couple of years is a good idea and if you think there is a leak then a pressure test of the system should bring up the area problem.

 

Thanks for the replies. It seems like BMW did a better job with the cooling systems this time around. All of my searching and the replies indicates that there are no catastrophic failures of radiators, hoses, pumps, or expansion tanks. I will simply repair the leaks as they appear. Thanks again for all the input.

 

What exactly was the question? I'll tell you 'no' while the next guy tells you 'yes' ...there's no answer to that question. All cooling systems are faulty. i have 108K miles and I have some pinhole leak somewhere where I have to add a cup of coolant every 8 months. I can't find it, I'm not worried about it. maybe it just evaporated. Doesn't affect the vehicle so I'm not worried. a complete overhaul? No.

Jinxed....expansion tank exploded on my 2002 E39 today no cooling issues prior that... 128K miles