Greetings all, this is my first post here - I have enjoyed reading the forum posts so far. I hope somebody can help to shed some light on my E39 woes. I have had a '99 528i for the past 2 years. I love the car dearly, but have had annoying cooling system issues ever since I got it (I know this is to be expected, but read on). I got the car with 148k km's on the clock, and have taken it up to about 175k in the time I have owned it.
To cut a long story short(er), I've had "Check coolant alarms" for most of the time I've had the car. It went back to the dealership under warranty first time around, and apparently the radiator for the internal heating system was replaced. Later, the radiator cap + thermostat were replaced (follow-up on a previous, similar repair for the last owner). Problem returned later and I raised it with my indie when it went in for a service - problem temporarilly solved again. Next service, same thing (started getting alarms after a long, brisk ride in the countryside on a very hot day).
The actual temperature on the car has generally been stable (spiked once prior to second fix at dealer), until recently, when it would start heading towards the red at traffic lights etc. Temp would go down quickly once on the move again.
This weekend, had to run some errands and hit some slow traffic - temp started going to the red (3/4 to just on red). Hit the side roads to get moving and temp went down again. Drove slowly to find a particular location, temp when to red and got "Check coolant temperature" or similar alarm. Stopped for a while and then moved on, hoping to keep moving until I could find a safer spot to stop for some time.
Within about 2 minutes, I hit some slow traffic in a location where I couldn't pull over. Temp went right into the red and got the "Check coolant temp" alarm again. After about 45 seconds I could pull over into a parking lot - whilst driving to an open bay the worst happened - there was a muffled pop and steam came billowing up from under the bonnet.
Drove about 5m after the "poof" and stopped immediately. Investigation showed coolant pissing everywhere + red fluid which looked like ATF. Also signs of ATF having leaked from the power steering reservoir and surrounds, but also dripping from the right front of the car. Got towed to the indie and was able to start the car + quickly drive it into the workshop fine. I expect to have to replace the entire cooling system - will probably request this even if the current system can be repaired.
My concern is around the cylinder head / block. I don't know too much mechanically, but I do know that an overheat can be very bad news for an E39. Based on my description above, is it possible that the damage could be much worse than the radiator? Indie mentioned R4,000 to R5,000 if the head needs to be done. I still owe R30k on this car and would like to keep it running, but don't want to waste my money... I also can't afford for this to drag on too long, as I only have one car and am having to drive a rental for the next couple of days. Advice?
To cut a long story short(er), I've had "Check coolant alarms" for most of the time I've had the car. It went back to the dealership under warranty first time around, and apparently the radiator for the internal heating system was replaced. Later, the radiator cap + thermostat were replaced (follow-up on a previous, similar repair for the last owner). Problem returned later and I raised it with my indie when it went in for a service - problem temporarilly solved again. Next service, same thing (started getting alarms after a long, brisk ride in the countryside on a very hot day).
The actual temperature on the car has generally been stable (spiked once prior to second fix at dealer), until recently, when it would start heading towards the red at traffic lights etc. Temp would go down quickly once on the move again.
This weekend, had to run some errands and hit some slow traffic - temp started going to the red (3/4 to just on red). Hit the side roads to get moving and temp went down again. Drove slowly to find a particular location, temp when to red and got "Check coolant temperature" or similar alarm. Stopped for a while and then moved on, hoping to keep moving until I could find a safer spot to stop for some time.
Within about 2 minutes, I hit some slow traffic in a location where I couldn't pull over. Temp went right into the red and got the "Check coolant temp" alarm again. After about 45 seconds I could pull over into a parking lot - whilst driving to an open bay the worst happened - there was a muffled pop and steam came billowing up from under the bonnet.
Drove about 5m after the "poof" and stopped immediately. Investigation showed coolant pissing everywhere + red fluid which looked like ATF. Also signs of ATF having leaked from the power steering reservoir and surrounds, but also dripping from the right front of the car. Got towed to the indie and was able to start the car + quickly drive it into the workshop fine. I expect to have to replace the entire cooling system - will probably request this even if the current system can be repaired.
My concern is around the cylinder head / block. I don't know too much mechanically, but I do know that an overheat can be very bad news for an E39. Based on my description above, is it possible that the damage could be much worse than the radiator? Indie mentioned R4,000 to R5,000 if the head needs to be done. I still owe R30k on this car and would like to keep it running, but don't want to waste my money... I also can't afford for this to drag on too long, as I only have one car and am having to drive a rental for the next couple of days. Advice?
