Radiator DIY install

[klnteg]

Anyone done this before? Anything I should look out for? its kind shitty that after 126000kms my rad cracks??? starting to wonder about the X5's?????

[Eurosport]

welcome to the "ultimate" driving oops i mean bmw cooling system
mine cracked at 80k

[klnteg]

Anyone have any tips or is it pretty straight forward??

[we350z]

Plug and pray - I would imagine its pretty straight forward. Make sure to get all new hoses, of course. biggest bitch is doing the coolant flush if you dont have a pressurized rig (hose with custom adapter). If you want to do it right you need to do a couple cycles with distilled water (unless your coolant is less than 2 years old or you just don't care - remember coolant has lubricating properties to help your water pump work, it will lose these over time as well as it's anti-corrosive agents). It's best if you drive up on ramps or jack up the front when filling. My Z also has a little bleeder valve on the top left side of the radiatior (and ones on the bottom of the engine block that are impossible to get to), open these up if possible when filling to help release trapped air. Trick is to fill the rad up to the fins with water, start the car and keep pouring water in as you squeeze the upper rad hose to burp the air bubbles out of the system. When the thermostat opens the water will get sucked into the engine block and the level will fall in the radiator, keep filling with a constant flow of distilled water (idea is to not get any air bubbles in, especially on final fill - don't worry about overflowing). Fill the rad until it won't take any more water and the engine has reached operating temperature. Then wait about 10 minutes and jack up the rear of the car or drive it up on blocks, this will help force it out of the engine block via gravity when you pull the lower rad hose to empty the contents (wear dish gloves and be careful as the water will be hot to very hot). Repeat this until the final fill, in which you should use a 50/50 concentrated coolant/distilled water (65/35 with a bottle of watter wetter for warm climates). Inspect hoses for leaks, and watch your temp guage is at normal operating temp.

It's kind of a pain in the ass, but you will feel good about it in the end.

[klnteg]

I will be installing a new radiator. Does this flush cycle still apply??

[fast4d]

good time to do the water pump/thermo. get new hose if they are original. with the rad out you get plenty of room. no need to "flush" you'll get about 80% of the coolant out removing the WP and rad

[we350z]

not unless your super anal. personally I would since I'm already f'ing with it. use these same instructions to just fill then

Originally Posted by klnteg

I will be installing a new radiator. Does this flush cycle still apply??

[X5Andrew]

Just a quick tip on the distilled water, you can take it from your dehumidifer

[admranger]

Turn the heat up to max when you do this so the coolant in there gets circulated.

When you have the radiator out, hose the A/C condenser out from the engine side towards the front of the X5. Likely lots of "stuff" will come out.

Buy BMW coolant (or equivalent like Mercedes Benz) not some cheap crap or orange stuff that is supposed to last 100k miles. Get the factory type as it is most compatible with the plastics BMW uses (high recycle content, easy to recycle stuff).

[Luke]

This can be helpfull holding the water pump pully while removing the fan nut. (reverse thread)

I got mine from elpaso tools, but there are many others on ebay.

This makes the job a little easier.

I would at least replace the upper and lower hoses. The plastic connectors will fail. If reusing the water temp sensor, replace the small o ring or that will weap.