Something else to watch for is when those nice black plastic (nylon?) hose ends/quick connects start looking less black and look more brown. My experience has been that the plastic hose ends age faster than the rubber hose itself and become brittle and crumbly, self-destructing on a whim.

But maybe aftermarket hoses have better plastic, and the rubber dies before the ends do? I only have experience with OE. 10 years/100k is what I expect from the hoses, anything longer than that is a bonus, but pushing your luck.

I replaced the radiator this past fall at 130k, planned on replacing all the hoses this spring, but while bleeding out the system, the upper hose disintegrated at the radiator fitting. I replaced the other hoses along with that one.

Couple weeks ago, noticed the expansion tank is starting to form some vapor deposits along the seams...

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Olympic Peninsula, WA, USA
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2005 Mini Cooper 100k, British Racing Green/Silver-Black
04/2002 4.6is 140k, Silver/Black-Alcantara *FOR SALE*
1989 325iX 270k, Diamond Black/Black
1984 318i 370k *SOLD* (First Bimmer)
Honorable Mentions: '71 2002, '87 325, '90 325ic, '92 525it, '93 325i, '94 530i