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Don't know of any DIY, but I just did this a few weeks ago, and while it is not too complex it is not necessarily a quick job.
I'll try to explain the steps the best I can from memory. This is specific to 2001 4.4L engines. All others use at your own risk.
1. Remove splash guard from bottom of engine, and drain radiator. The (blue) drain plug is on bottom of radiator on driver's side. Just loosen plug, and coolant will drain.
2. Remove air intake duct from top of radiator (pull the four plastic pin connectors and pop loose from intake hose)
3. Remove fan/clutch from water pump (DIY are out there for this step)
4. Remove fan shroud from backside of radiator (pull the three plastic pin connectors along top side of radiator).
5. Look at the top of radiator, and on the top right and top left there are two black triangle shaped plastic pieces. Each piece has two bolts. These plastic pieces hold the radiator down, and you need to remove the outside (towards fender) bolts to remove these pieces.
6. There are three hoses that you must remove from the radiator (large upper hose on driver's side, small hose near bottom of radiator on driver's side, and large lower radiator hose on passenger side). Both of my large hoses were a major bitch to remove, and I had to "gently" use a screwdriver to assist in removal. (You may have to remove some additional hoses to get better access or to give some slack to work with)
7. There is a Trans cooler on the pass side at the bottom of radiator (silver box with fins). Don’t disconnect any of the hoses/lines on the trans cooler. This is held in place by one bolt, and by one of those plastic pin connectors, and it is mounted on the bottom of the radiator. The cooler has to be released before the radiator can be removed. Remove the bolt, and the plastic pin connector (on the bottom and hard as hell to see and reach), but don’t disconnect any of the hoses/lines on the trans cooler.
8. Slowly pull out the radiator. If everything is disconnected, it comes out fairly easy. If not, check to see if it is still connected somewhere.
9. Drop new radiator into place, and reconnect everything. It took me FOREVER to reconnect the lower hose on the pass side. It just wouldn’t fit on all of the way. The space is limited in the area, making matters worse.
10. Get cooling system buttoned up, fill and bleed system (DIY on here somewhere), and check for leaks. If it looks dry, install the fan shroud, fan clutch, and air intake duct.
11. Go haul ass.
TIPS:
1. I got a radiator from RadiatorBarn.com for $167 (w/ free shipping), and it was delivered the next day. Quality was OK, the brand was CSF. I don’t usually buy cheap parts, and prefer OE BMW parts when prices are reasonable. But the stock radiator SUCKS, and the Radiator Barn unit has a lifetime warranty, so I figured it was worth a shot. It looked identical to the Behr unit I removed, and it has worked fine so far.
2. After replacing my seeping water pump, my radiator started leaking a few days later. After replacing the radiator, I blew a heater hose on the firewall side of the intake manifold a few days later while driving, resulting in a tow back home. Luckily I didn’t overheat (or warp the head or crack the block or …). I have now ordered $350 in hoses, and I am replacing every piece of hose in the cooling system. If I had known better and listened to the ghosts of X5 past, I would have done everything at once. Since I perform all of my own repairs, my only additional costs were time and stress, but it still sucked. And if I had to pay someone else for labor, I would have been out tons of cash.
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Now:
E53 4.4i Sport
E39 /// M5
back then:
E36
E30 (x2)
E21
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