Coolant Leak !!!

[joeboch348]

ditto.
they have to be able to find it. leave the car, take a loaner and tell them to call when it's fixed.

[joeboch348]

remind them about the lemon law

[ard]

OP, so you know- Weasel is a BMW Technician working at a dealership. What he says = word

[briandwlee]

I've talked to the shop foreman and a service manager at the dealership. Hopefully, it rang a bell.

[briandwlee]

I opened the engine oil cap, and there was no condensation. A service manager at the dealership I went to said there's always small amount of condensation. Is it true?

[joeboch348]

depends where you are. in the north (or south right now) where it's cold. ya you could have a little. more than condensation, i'd be looking milky looking oil. with the amount you're losing. your dipstick should either show way over full or the oil should look like there is milk mixed into it. if thats the case. new motor. if not id say most likely a leak.

[briandwlee]

I am located in Alberta, Canada. It's colder, when it's cold. Mercury might go down to -20~-25 Celsius during the day.

So, if I see milky oil, I have to or BMW has to get a new engine? That's pretty big repair.

THanks.

[briandwlee]

Finally, the service department found a leak from radiator, and the radiator is on order for tomorrow delivery. Last time, a stupid technician couldn't find it with pressure test, but another technician found it today. It might have been related to the faulty radiator issue some '08 X5 3.0 experienced. I read some articles about this among earling production '08 X5s here as well.

By the way, is there any maintenance repair or replacement that I could do to save labor if I do it right now when they replace the radiator? For exmaple, thermostat, water pump, drive belt or things like that, which needs replacement from time to time, and which I have to pay huge labor to replace cheap parts.

My X5 ran 22,500 miles.

Thanks.

[briandwlee]

My radiator has been replaced. Here's exactly how the correction reads on invoice.

'Replaced Radiator as per diag. Also replaced coolant hose from oil cooler to water pump. - Required due to radiator change up to different design. Top up cooling system and perform bleed procedure with tester. Road test and verify no further leaks present.'

Here at Xouptpost, I could find a posting in which the writer thought that '08 X5 3.0's radiator might have been redesigned as his new radiator was back ordered and he was in apprx. 140th in line waiting for new radiator. It was March or April when he wrote the posting. He said it didn't make sense for him to be 140th in line for a backordered radiator, but new X5s were being manufactured in assembly line.

As noted by a technician, the new radiator of mine is redesigned one. Does it imply early production(maybe prior to March/April of the model year) '08 X5 3.0s had faulty radiators and BMW is replacing it only if something happens? My X5 was built in January, 2008, three months before the possible redesign.

[mysweetx5]

Many of you guys may not noticed it, but this is where I spotted my coolant is leaking slowly on the side of my radiator, by the driver side. Look on top of the radiator, most likely this is where coolant leak occur on the BMW X5. However I haven't fix my radiator leak yet, once it last me atleast nearly a month to refill.
but atleast I found where my radiator is leaking. Most likely when the engine is running hot after certain time, that's when coolant begins to leak more on top of the radiator where there's a small crack on the top side. I tried to glue it which worked perfectly but unfortunately when engine running at full HOT intensity, it melted the crack part open for coolant to leak.