2001 (09/2000 mfr date) X5 3.0i, 180k miles. While staying 3 hours out of town for a couple nights, we overheated and likely lost the engine. Hoping to document and discuss here the process of diagnosing and possibly repairing the damage.
Brief summary of events (thinking back; did not register all of these as related at the time):
- Cold wet morning, quite a lot of vapor coming out of the exhaust while the car was idling as we loaded up. In hindsight, it was "steaming" out the tailpipes more than I normally see on any of our cars (M54 Z3 and S54 M3 included).
- Parked near our first stop of the day in town and we notices steam coming from the driver's front wheel well. Figured after the last 24 hours of rain, it was from remaining water and puddles on the roads.
- On our way to our 2nd stop for the day, we noticed the engine was having a tough time idling. By the time I found a spot to park, the car was barely running. That's when I noticed the temp gauge was pegged at max. Opened the hood and saw coolant splashed everywhere and a bit of steam.
- Got a U-Haul + trailer and towed the stricken vehicle home.
In trying to piece together what happened, my best guess is: head gasket. Coolant got into a cylinder over night or at idle, then highway/city driving and increased cylinder pressure sent gases into the cooling system causing it to pop and leak the coolant out.
I'm planning on doing a compression test later this week, but I am assuming the block or head will be warped after such an egregious overheating episode. My wife and I have a decision: fix it or look for a new one. We have put a lot of work into this X5 over the last few years, and we just bought all the parts to do an HVAC system overhaul. As I dig into it, it'll probably become clear what we need to do. Anyone have experience getting an overheated 3.0i back on the road?
12-24-2023, 05:49 PM
Threaded Mode
