Its just not my day... Coolant help!

[BustedKnuckles]

I just cant seem to do any maintenance correctly today... So I wanted to replace my coolant today. Looked on here for the DIY found a few that were similar but not the exact same. Figured it was simple enough and went to it...

I have an 07' X5 4.8L

I took the splash guard off

Put a bucket under the blue plastic radiator drain plug

removed the plastic drain plug and let the coolant drain out.

Put the plastic plug back in, and refilled the coolant, gave it a couple minutes to fill cavities in radiator and then topped it off again.

Went for about a 10-15 minute drive and I noticed my front driver brake was squeaking. I just put new pads on it last night so I figured I got a spot of grease or something on the rotor and that it would go away with time.

I pull back into the garage and noticed that its leaking coolant/has coolant all over the front drivers suspension and that's whats causing the brakes to squeak

Thought, "I must not have tightened the drain plug all the way and its leaking"... So I take the splash guard off again and its bone dry and perfectly tight...

The leak is coming from somewhere in the engine bay but I cant see exactly where. I THINK from under the expansion tank? The coolant level went from "MAX" to "MIN" in about a 10-15 minute drive. So its leaking pretty good...

I topped it off again and its parked for the night. Could someone who knows more than me tell me where I screwed up and perhaps a starting point on how to fix it? I'm worried it's overheating for some reason and I cracked the expansion tank

Go ahead and let me have it, I deserve it today.

[SeanC]

Search for the correct bleeding procedure. For starters, the heat should be full on while you're topping it off.

[BustedKnuckles]

I tried to. All the posts I keep coming across talk about how there isn't a drain screw and how you are supposed to insert the key and hold down the gas pedal until the bleed procedure starts.

Well, My car DOES have a drain screw and the gas pedal trick wasn't working. also, with my car, you cant turn the fan or anything on unless the car is running. Simply inserting the key doesn't give you any climate controls. I'm no engineer but I didn't think running the car while draining the coolant was a good idea.

I couldn't find any other DIY that was relevant to my car. So i did what I could with the information I had. Obviously that didn't work out well, so I'm here trying to get someone to help me out.

[lt2mc]

Hey BK, Just a wild guess based on past experience with my 07 e70 3.0. Check your expansion tank for a leak/crack. On my vehicle it appeared under pressure (using a radiator test tool), and immediately following a coolant flush with a bleed.
As for the electronic coolant pump bleed, i was stumped until i realized you have to push the START button without the break pressed to get the climate control and bleed cycle to begin... A question for those more knowledgeable then me, does that year of 4.8 even have an electronic cooling pump?
Good luck.

[json]

Originally Posted by BustedKnuckles

I tried to. All the posts I keep coming across talk about how there isn't a drain screw and how you are supposed to insert the key and hold down the gas pedal until the bleed procedure starts.

Well, My car DOES have a drain screw and the gas pedal trick wasn't working. also, with my car, you cant turn the fan or anything on unless the car is running. Simply inserting the key doesn't give you any climate controls. I'm no engineer but I didn't think running the car while draining the coolant was a good idea.

I couldn't find any other DIY that was relevant to my car. So i did what I could with the information I had. Obviously that didn't work out well, so I'm here trying to get someone to help me out.

You are supposed to turn the ignition on, but not start the car. The A/C controls will work then.

[BustedKnuckles]

So this bleed procedure is still not working for me...

I went ahead and bought a brand new OEM expansion tank and temp sensor.

Took the old one out and didnt notice any cracks but did notice that the old temp sensor was loose. So i went ahead and put the new one in and reattached the hoses and sensor connector.

Filled it up with new OEM 50/50 mix coolant until the fluid level was at "MAX"

put my key in the ignition, hit the "start" button without my foot on the brake so that the air controls turned on. put the temp as high as possible on the lowest fan speed. and then pressed the gas pedal as far down as it would go past the "click"

I've waited a good 10, 15, 20+ seconds and nothing is happening, no bleed procedure, no coolant "pissing" across where the cap goes. just nothing.

I tried again several times and nothing is happening. The only thing that HAS happened is now my service engine light is on.

Again, I have an 07' E70 X5 4.8L. It DOES have a coolant drain screw on the bottom of the radiator. The little blue plastic philips head screw. That's how I drained the coolant to replace the expansion tank.

All the DIY's I am finding are different than my vehicle. I'm assuming at this point that there is a manual way of bleeding the system? or am I doing something else wrong? Don't know how to proceed from here...

[json]

the drain plug should not have anything to do with the bleed procedure.

I have seen some posts in the past about this procedure only working with either the driver's door closed or open... sounds crazy, but someone has posted this before.

I suppose another method for starting the bleed procedure is getting ISTA diagnostic software up and running, but thats a whole another process in itself.

Originally Posted by BustedKnuckles

So this bleed procedure is still not working for me...

I went ahead and bought a brand new OEM expansion tank and temp sensor.

Took the old one out and didnt notice any cracks but did notice that the old temp sensor was loose. So i went ahead and put the new one in and reattached the hoses and sensor connector.

Filled it up with new OEM 50/50 mix coolant until the fluid level was at "MAX"

put my key in the ignition, hit the "start" button without my foot on the brake so that the air controls turned on. put the temp as high as possible on the lowest fan speed. and then pressed the gas pedal as far down as it would go past the "click"

I've waited a good 10, 15, 20+ seconds and nothing is happening, no bleed procedure, no coolant "pissing" across where the cap goes. just nothing.

I tried again several times and nothing is happening. The only thing that HAS happened is now my service engine light is on.

Again, I have an 07' E70 X5 4.8L. It DOES have a coolant drain screw on the bottom of the radiator. The little blue plastic philips head screw. That's how I drained the coolant to replace the expansion tank.

All the DIY's I am finding are different than my vehicle. I'm assuming at this point that there is a manual way of bleeding the system? or am I doing something else wrong? Don't know how to proceed from here...

[BustedKnuckles]

FINALLY!!!

After searching and searching I finally found the solution...

the 2007 E70 does not have an electric water pump. The procedure that everyone keeps telling me to do is not correct for this one year

Why BMW decided to do one year of the E70 without an electric pump is beyond me but that's the case. I found a post on BimmerFest with a guy that was having the exact same issue.

All I had to do was fill the expansion tank. start the car, leave the expansion tank cap off and let it run for about 15 minutes with the heater on full blast and keeping an eye on the coolant level. drive it around a bit and then re-check the level. DONE!

What still boggles my mind is what caused the leak in the first place... because this is EXACTLY WHAT I DID when i originally attempted this job yesterday. And suddenly, the coolant sensor is leaking like a siv...

Looking at the old expansion tank and temp sensor (that I just replaced with a new one) reveals that the temp sensor O-ring is GONE... like not there at all... POOF! So again, I have no idea what caused that but now the problem seems to be fixed.

[blue dragon]

The waterpump is mechanical on the diesel as well.

[lt2mc]

Good find BK, glad all is better. I hate cracking open the cooling system for any reason. Also just to clarify the 07, E70 3.0 does have the electronic coolant pump. Why the other engine types didn't?? Cooling capacity? or just lack of room in engine compartment?