After passing, all the coolant blew out.
 

After passing on the freeway tonight, the check coolant level came on. I went on down the road (much slower) while we read the book to see what kind of coolant we needed to get.

It was about 8 miles later when we pulled off and steam was coming out. We pulled right over to let it sit. The temp gauge never went passed half way so I think I'm safe from overheating. Also, I checked the oil and it was fine with no coolant.

I check the fluid level and it was empty. Put about 1.25 gallons in it to get back to full. Started the car up and all of it came out on the ground. Could not see where it was coming from except that it was on the coolant side (of course).

What should I do now? I'm about 2 hours away from a dealer and need to know if it's something I can check myself. It is a 2001 X5 with 89k.

Not really surprising given your mileage. BMW coolant hoses and expansion tanks have been known to fail, especially the earlier models. You need to overhaul and completely replace the cooling system.

I know it probably varies but what am I looking at money wise for that? I have to break this to my wife and I want to be prepared.

Is it normal for the engine to run for 8 miles with no coolant without damage?

My 01 did the same thing. Blew the expansion tank. I drove about 10 miles in 15 degree weather and STILL cracked my head. The 3.0 engine cannot tolerate much overheating at all. Took around 2000 miles for the cracked head to show up. Aluminum is light but it ain't steel. Few hundred for hoses and tank verses $5-7K for a new engine, been there paid that...haha. Good Luck hope you didn't do any real damage. The early X5's are over-engineered and underbuilt, if mine wasn't a stick and such a scream to drive I would have junked it.

It is a 4.4. Could that be different form the 3.0 as far as heat tolerance?

Sorry my bad. Unknown from my seat. 4.4 is significanlty bigger wrt mass so by default it should handle more abuse.....how much more I cannot say. Make sure the repair shop does the proper pressure tests if they replace any coolant parts. If the engine is warm and then they do the test for a good while you could tell if anything internal is blown or leaking. Dealer did a 20 minute test on a cold block for me so they missed the cracked head which showed up in a very obvious way about 2k miles later.

What is the obvious way that it showed up? I should know but I don't.

Also, when it blew out, what did your temp gauge do?

It really depends on conditions etc. Only an inspection will tell. Sounds like it may be fine except for replacing the cooling system. I would think you would have pulled over right away after the check coolant warning. Find a safe place to pullover and check out why the light came on. To keep on driving can be, and often is expensive, as described by the above post. It's never a good idea to keep on driving. Just last week our 325 (82K miles) had the same light come on. We got it home and checked the water level and it was low. Added more coolant but got the on and off coolant light and found very small drips under the car. Pressure tested the system and it leaked like you wouldn't believe. We ended up replacing the entire cooling system. Pretty steep but not as much as a rebuilt motor. Hope it all works out well for you!

Yes, I should have pulled right over. For the first time I'm driving a car that warns of low coolant. I really just thought ok, just keep an eye on the temp gauge and check coolant at next stop. I know, really stupid of me. I think the things of my life just seem to know when I have even the slightest bight of extra $ in the bank.