BMW 318i E46 M43 coolant drain plugs

[jimjavad]

Hi
I am new to this forum and have one question
Does anyone know how to drain all coolant from BMW e46 318i M43?
There is one blue plug under the radiator but even by opening that plug and also radiator's cap and bleeding screw all of the coolant would not drain completly.
I think there should be another plug or another trick.[/b]
Please help me if you have any idea or experince

 

[freerider]

there is another drain plug on the side of the engine block, you will need to remove the covers under the engine to get to it.

I'll find a diagram in the morning and post it as i'm on my mobile right now.

 

[jimjavad]

there is another drain plug on the side of the engine block, you will need to remove the covers under the engine to get to it.

I'll find a diagram in the morning and post it as i'm on my mobile right now.

Freerider Thanks

I could not locate the cover but I will jack up the car and take a pic from under the engine and will post here please wait some hours.

 

[freerider]

1. Find the engine block drain plug. Look on the exhaust side of the engine block before the front axle. Look at the pictures to find out if you're looking at the right bolt.
2. Place the bucket beneath the drain bolt. Using either a 1/4" ratchet or a larger pivoting head ratchet, slightly loosn the 13mm bolt until you can loosen the rest of it by hand.
3. Get the 3 feet of flexible hose and put on end into the bucket and one end over the engine block drain plug. With the hose in place, quickly remove the bolt and let the bolt and the fluid flow down the hose into the bucket. (Using the hose will prevent a huge mess being made and I highly recommend it!)
4. Place the new washer on the bolt and tighten it until the washer is being engaged. Go a little bit further to ensure that it is snug but do not over tighten it. The torque spec is 18 ft-lbs, but I couldn't see how to get one of my torque wrenches in there.

 

[jimjavad]

Thanks Freerider for your answer
I can not see pictures maybe there is some problem

I checked my car and took some pics and I will upload the link here
the only cover that I could verify was a plastic cover under bottom hose of radiator do you mean that cover?
By the way my car does not have splash cover also I send another pic from under the engine view.
http://picasaweb.google.com/arashas1/MyBMW?feat=directlink


Again thanks for your help

 

[jimjavad]

1. Find the engine block drain plug. Look on the exhaust side of the engine block before the front axle. Look at the pictures to find out if you're looking at the right bolt.
2. Place the bucket beneath the drain bolt. Using either a 1/4" ratchet or a larger pivoting head ratchet, slightly loosn the 13mm bolt until you can loosen the rest of it by hand.
3. Get the 3 feet of flexible hose and put on end into the bucket and one end over the engine block drain plug. With the hose in place, quickly remove the bolt and let the bolt and the fluid flow down the hose into the bucket. (Using the hose will prevent a huge mess being made and I highly recommend it!)
4. Place the new washer on the bolt and tighten it until the washer is being engaged. Go a little bit further to ensure that it is snug but do not over tighten it. The torque spec is 18 ft-lbs, but I couldn't see how to get one of my torque wrenches in there.

Dear Freerider would you please provide the pictures' links once more
I cannot view them. Also I have uploaded some pics. Am I right with the mentioned cover
Thanks again

 

[freerider]

This is the cover that needs to be removed from the bottom of the engine

Here you can see the drain plug

and here the plug is removed

 

[jimjavad]

This is the cover that needs to be removed from the bottom of the engine

Here you can see the drain plug

and here the plug is removed

Thank you for pics but mine is completely different
Mine is the first version of E46 with M43 Engine
My car even doesn't have that splash cover you can see beneath of my car in the link that I uploaded
Anyway do you have such kind of E46 in your area?

 

[freerider]

ah ok, sorry, I missed the link that you posted.

Can you by any chance snap some pics of the engine under the exhaust manifold. We might be able to point out the drain plug. I think we did get the M43 engine in South Africa, but only in 99.

 

[jimjavad]

ah ok, sorry, I missed the link that you posted.

Can you by any chance snap some pics of the engine under the exhaust manifold. We might be able to point out the drain plug. I think we did get the M43 engine in South Africa, but only in 99.

Sure I will do that but please wait one or two days because it is raining here now.

Mine is also 1999

 

[freerider]

Whereabout in Japan do you live?

 

[Fahad]

Terima kasih
:ty:

 

[Fahad]

Di mana Anda tinggal di Jepang?