545IblupasdU

Today while parking my car at a mall I noticed water dripping out from the bottom of the car I thought maybe I had been driving with the ac on (I wasnt) open the hood and I see a very small stream of mist coming out of the very center of the coolant reservoir side nearest the passenger headlight. apon closer inspection theres a 1 inch hairline crack traveling from top to bottom in the very center of the res So I ran into Kmart and got some 2 part silcone glue waited for the car to cool down so the leak would stop from the high pressure and sealed the leak letting it rest for about 15 minutes to cure. Continued on to other destinations and got home to see it held pretty good but it looks like shit now with globs of amber colored silicon mucking up the res.

Anybody encounter a wierd leak like that?

turboawd

you're not the first to have this problem.
if you search, you'll find others who had the same problem.
what i like to know, which models does this effect?

545IblupasdU

Ill do a search and see what comes up thanks.

kane1111

nice quick fix tho!!!!

545IblupasdU

yea it worked out ok.....Gonna call tomorrow and see if my extended warranty will cover repairs....they better

Axeman

Tends to be typical with 5er's...Lemme guess, the car has anywhere between 60-80k miles? The plastic they use for their coolant reservoirs, radiator necks, and water pump impellers tends to fatigue, get brittle and begin to fail in that mileage range. It has something to do wit the heating/cooling cycles. Mine blew out the bottom...The reservoir was replaced under extended warranty. The last fiver I had (a 2000 E39 528) had a catastrophic radiator/water pump failure at 105K (a nice 3k xmas present)...again, the plastics used failed. Given that tank is under pressure, your fix may be a short term solution at best. Replacing the tank is not that difficult. 2 or 3 bolts if I recall. I suggest you replace it before it blows and causes collateral damage. Not sure how much it is though. Good luck.

545IblupasdU

52,000 miles, are these parts manufactured by BMW or did someone produce them for BMW? I have to believe the later. Kind of boggles the mind, what were they thinking?

mofares

BMW has no idea on how to make a coolant system function without repeated failures...It's simple as that and I sometimes think they do it on purpose to sell parts and service at the dealerships. They should try to save weight on other things instead of using cheap plastic impellers, radiator necks and expansion tanks...JD power survey does not lie....I have owned BMW's since my first 1990 325is which never had any coolant system issue and was the most reliable BMW. My '76 2002 does not have any issues and I don't even have an upgraded radiator....E36 onwards, it's been a horrible experience including my current E60 '05 545i...My previous 1995 M3 has similar issues along with my E39 M5...Our current Infinit G35, Honday Odyssey and 911 has never had any coolant failures besides routine flush and such...and the jap cars have double the miles on the odo as the BMW...I am so sick and tired of the lack of dealer diagnosis (BMW of Fairfax) that I am contemplating on selling the car. Oh, the water pump chnaged at 54k, you kidding me?

amit1947

My electric water pump (n52) failed at around 62k miles. Now at almost 65k I'm going to keep a close eye on the coolant reservoir and hoses. I was thinking of just pro-actively replacing them just to be on the safe side.