Expansion Tank E46 330i

[Sankekur]

see this is the type of info im looking for on this forum like the info received from Osiris but some how it never end up this way

you guys constantly mention and run the agents route im going to say this again but it makes no damn sense to want to pay R300 - R400 more for the exact same thing, if it makes sense to you guys then you either have money to throw away or you just plan dumb(no offense), unfortunately i dont have money to throw away and always try to look for a better price but also not a crap product.

and here is a prime example

I have a personal friend at a dealership and I have managed to create a relationship with one of the parts sales people. That's why I buy from the dealership. They give me extraordinary good service! Borrow me parts to test and free use of diagnostics in certain cases. I get waaaayyyyy better service from them than from my local Goldwagen. Not to mention that the guys at my local Goldwagen are clueless. All of this is worth the extra couple hundred Rand. My 2c.

This is partly why it is good to go to the dealers every once in a while, if they know you they are more likely to give you discounts, or better discounts, though not as good as the staff discount, but still better than nothing. The same for the my local GW, the guys know me, and I know the guys so I know who is clueless and who isn't

This comes in handy when I want/need things that are (really) dealer only

 

[Spy007]

860 is what I paid 1 year ago for Gopher

 

[osiris]

Look unfortunately some parts can only be bought from a dealership. In that case I would look around here first and if I have no luck ill goto the dealership but my problem with the dealership is that most of the time the guys are completely clueless and I need to bring them out to my car and sit there explaining for 30 mins, Then we go back to the pc and eventually find the part and order it, When I get it, Its the wrong frikken part!!

My E39 was a prime example, all I wanted was a new halogen 10w globe for the angel eyes, the amount of explaining I had to do to get them to understand what a frikken angel eye was enough to turn you crazy! Then I get "Oh we can only sell you the entire unit at like R800 a side :argh: all I needed was the bulb FFS! So I reconstructed my sentence to say ok please can I have an interrior light bulb...which was the same bulb..."Oh ok sir here, R10 a bulb".....I mean come now who are they employing!!!!

Goldwagen was way more helpful, and because I had the Auto the bottle is slightly different so the guys brought all the bottles they had and we found that the 4 cylinder bottle is identical to the 330d auto expansion tank...Thanks and have a nice day here is my money! :thumbs:

 

[Spy007]

http://www.bmwfanatics.co.za/showthread.php?tid=9442


Perhaps this helps.

 

[Legacy]

Look unfortunately some parts can only be bought from a dealership. In that case I would look around here first and if I have no luck ill goto the dealership but my problem with the dealership is that most of the time the guys are completely clueless and I need to bring them out to my car and sit there explaining for 30 mins, Then we go back to the pc and eventually find the part and order it, When I get it, Its the wrong frikken part!!

My E39 was a prime example, all I wanted was a new halogen 10w globe for the angel eyes, the amount of explaining I had to do to get them to understand what a frikken angel eye was enough to turn you crazy! Then I get "Oh we can only sell you the entire unit at like R800 a side :argh: all I needed was the bulb FFS! So I reconstructed my sentence to say ok please can I have an interrior light bulb...which was the same bulb..."Oh ok sir here, R10 a bulb".....I mean come now who are they employing!!!!

Goldwagen was way more helpful, and because I had the Auto the bottle is slightly different so the guys brought all the bottles they had and we found that the 4 cylinder bottle is identical to the 330d auto expansion tank...Thanks and have a nice day here is my money! :thumbs:

Why not just give them (the dealer) the part number of the item that you want?. This has never failed me. :thumbs:

 

[AdiS]

Look unfortunately some parts can only be bought from a dealership. In that case I would look around here first and if I have no luck ill goto the dealership but my problem with the dealership is that most of the time the guys are completely clueless and I need to bring them out to my car and sit there explaining for 30 mins, Then we go back to the pc and eventually find the part and order it, When I get it, Its the wrong frikken part!!

My E39 was a prime example, all I wanted was a new halogen 10w globe for the angel eyes, the amount of explaining I had to do to get them to understand what a frikken angel eye was enough to turn you crazy! Then I get "Oh we can only sell you the entire unit at like R800 a side :argh: all I needed was the bulb FFS! So I reconstructed my sentence to say ok please can I have an interrior light bulb...which was the same bulb..."Oh ok sir here, R10 a bulb".....I mean come now who are they employing!!!!

Goldwagen was way more helpful, and because I had the Auto the bottle is slightly different so the guys brought all the bottles they had and we found that the 4 cylinder bottle is identical to the 330d auto expansion tank...Thanks and have a nice day here is my money! :thumbs:

Why not just give them (the dealer) the part number of the item that you want?. This has never failed me. :thumbs:

Agreed, it also then allows you to shop around between dealers quickly.

 

[osiris]

Look unfortunately some parts can only be bought from a dealership. In that case I would look around here first and if I have no luck ill goto the dealership but my problem with the dealership is that most of the time the guys are completely clueless and I need to bring them out to my car and sit there explaining for 30 mins, Then we go back to the pc and eventually find the part and order it, When I get it, Its the wrong frikken part!!

My E39 was a prime example, all I wanted was a new halogen 10w globe for the angel eyes, the amount of explaining I had to do to get them to understand what a frikken angel eye was enough to turn you crazy! Then I get "Oh we can only sell you the entire unit at like R800 a side :argh: all I needed was the bulb FFS! So I reconstructed my sentence to say ok please can I have an interrior light bulb...which was the same bulb..."Oh ok sir here, R10 a bulb".....I mean come now who are they employing!!!!

Goldwagen was way more helpful, and because I had the Auto the bottle is slightly different so the guys brought all the bottles they had and we found that the 4 cylinder bottle is identical to the 330d auto expansion tank...Thanks and have a nice day here is my money! :thumbs:

Why not just give them (the dealer) the part number of the item that you want?. This has never failed me. :thumbs:

Well how do you give them a part number for a bulb that is part of a angel eye unit? Maybe I've just had bad luck with dealers but I always have issues with them. I usually find them to be very lazy and unwilling to help.

The one dealership that was a bit more helpful is the one at Cresta, the one in Bryanston was bloody useless.

 

[AdiS]

Look unfortunately some parts can only be bought from a dealership. In that case I would look around here first and if I have no luck ill goto the dealership but my problem with the dealership is that most of the time the guys are completely clueless and I need to bring them out to my car and sit there explaining for 30 mins, Then we go back to the pc and eventually find the part and order it, When I get it, Its the wrong frikken part!!

My E39 was a prime example, all I wanted was a new halogen 10w globe for the angel eyes, the amount of explaining I had to do to get them to understand what a frikken angel eye was enough to turn you crazy! Then I get "Oh we can only sell you the entire unit at like R800 a side :argh: all I needed was the bulb FFS! So I reconstructed my sentence to say ok please can I have an interrior light bulb...which was the same bulb..."Oh ok sir here, R10 a bulb".....I mean come now who are they employing!!!!

Goldwagen was way more helpful, and because I had the Auto the bottle is slightly different so the guys brought all the bottles they had and we found that the 4 cylinder bottle is identical to the 330d auto expansion tank...Thanks and have a nice day here is my money! :thumbs:

Why not just give them (the dealer) the part number of the item that you want?. This has never failed me. :thumbs:

Well how do you give them a part number for a bulb that is part of a angel eye unit? Maybe I've just had bad luck with dealers but I always have issues with them. I usually find them to be very lazy and unwilling to help.

The one dealership that was a bit more helpful is the one at Cresta, the one in Bryanston was bloody useless.

I normally research the part on realOEM.com (sometimes with the help of forums) and then phone them up and give them the part number. I guess the experience varies from dealer to dealer, I guess you should just try and find the dealers who have guys who are more helpful than others.

EDIT: I can understand your frustration with dealers though, but I think rather just manage your expectations and realise that the kind of insight you are looking for is more likely to be found through your own research online (forums combined with realOEM).

I don't trust the dealers to give me the right parts, so I normally contact them with a part number in mind already, and then double check it with their system.

 

[Spiro]

Hello guys

I need/would like to replace my expansion tank soon.

Just got off the phone with Goldwagen and there price is R860 or something ridiculous like that i called them last week to get a price and it was just over R600 if i recall correctly but they never had stock hence me calling them again today. How on earth could the price jump up by R200 eish:nonono:

Anyone selling tanks here or where else can i go for a tank please?

Called Mech1 Autospares but they even more ridiculous with there pricing coming in at R1000.

Shout out to anyone that can get me a discount at Goldwagen please:thumbs:

Cheers

if you in JHB you can get a brand new one for R600 from MD House in Wynberg

 

[Peertjies]

So how do you know your expansion tank is on its way out. Is there a clear indication or should one just do it!

 

[Sankekur]

So how do you know your expansion tank is on its way out. Is there a clear indication or should one just do it!

Well you look on the outside of the car if it is an e46 then the expansion tank is probably on its way out.

They usually tend to last about 100-130k km (but know of some that have gone even earlier)

Sometimes they develop a small crack at first and then slowly lose coolant over time, but for the most part it just a big crack and coolant goes bye bye.

 

[Spiro]

So how do you know your expansion tank is on its way out. Is there a clear indication or should one just do it!

mine had a hole alongside the edging, and would spray out water when engine temp was centered, u will get messages for Coolant Low... but sometimes there can be a slight leak on the radiator as well... so just make sure visual inspections are fully confirmed on which 1 it is...

 

[Peertjies]

Tx guys. Sounds like one would at least notice it should it happen!

 

[osiris]

If its not leaking at the moment I don't see how you will notice if its going to go? usually something you only see when it happens.

 

[Coisman]

Well, in my case it was the radiator leaking, and not the tank, so yea, best is to pay R65 and have the system preasure tested at Silverton radiators or some place that can do that preasure test. :thumb:

 

[Peertjies]

Nice...did not even know about this test! Should one do it once a year or more frequently?
Sorry for all the questions, but i'd rather be safe than sorry!

 

[Coisman]

Peer, what happened to me with my expansion tank is this...
It was a public holiday, I was arriving at work at 06:00, and the next moment... BOOM... PSSSS.... and water and coolant everywhere... :facepalm:

Its the type of part that when it wants to fail... it fails... :thumbdo:

 

[Peertjies]

Eina!....Damn... Really hope that doen't happen to me...
Did the engine pick up any damage or did you just replace the cooling system?

 

[Coisman]

If it happens, switch off, and stop, and yea, have it fixed/towed and fixed.
You need to obviously replace the bottle/tank if it goes.
The issue with my radiator came about 10 months later, with a small leak, that only gave problems under preasure, and was messing with my mind... :argh:
FINALLY with a preasure test it was picked up, and with the bmw, the radiator needed to be replaced, as its NONE-fixable... :thumbdo:

 

[Peertjies]

...I suppose that cost a pretty penny...:thumbdo:
I think I'll just replace the bottle/tank on both as that would make me sleep better...