Has anyone used bimmerfix stint coolant fix kit?
 

I'm wondering if anyone's used there coolant fix? Any pros and cons? They appear to have a lifetime guarantee with there products.

I think most people use the guys who first came up with the solution.

cooling pipe fix

I Used them... Great Company... Jeff was a great help... Good Product and a great time saver...

Theres another one by bimmerpipe that I was looking at as well which is a few hundred cheaper which Im eyeing. Anyone heard of them and how good is that pipe?

Correct me if Im wrong this goes in where the water pump is? If Im not mistaken isn't the transfer pipe and the water pump are two different areas? The pipe stint wont resolve the transfer pipe issue will it?

The transfer pipe is where the water pump moves the coolant to the back of the engine. When the seal goes, coolant starts to leak from the front weep hole . The biimmerfix uses a "stent" kinda like in a medical stent.

So this would be a cheaper and easier fix by far rather than the coolant transfer pipe replacement. Just wondering why no one would go this route? They have a life time and since Im not currently leaking and thinking of changing the water pump maybe this would be a better route? Have you gone this route?

Completed this on Labor Day weekend... A lot less work than the AGA method.. I would recommend it ... Lots cheaper and if done correctly I don't see why it should not work for years.

Amazingly Jeff picked up on a sunday and was very informative on his product. I was questioning his fix but after talking to him it makes a lot of sense and how this is the weakest point and how it works and this stint will resolve the issue. It comes with a lifetime warranty can't beat that. I'm not currently leaking anything from what I see but was going to swap out the water pump as I didn't see any services being done on it and having 200k I figured it would be good to swap it out. I will probably go this method as it will save me a lot of time and money rather than changing out the transfer pipe. Will see how it goes.

The expanding tubes are a better compromise to the original bmw pipe than the small pipe with a bunch of silicone IMO. Kinda seems to be a bit of a rig job using all of that silicone. I guess if it works and you are ok with that sort of thing. I have used both AGA and another brand. Both work and dont rely so heavily on a gasket sealer or gasket maker to replace the rubber gasket.

Just when I was convinced to try it out you post and get me second guessing again! Lol. It's all good though looking to hear other thoughts on this. From what I hear even the collapsible ones can fail in time. So technically both are semi fixes and it's really a fix for the same issue. I see where you are coming from with all that silicone as a sealant.

I have installed a bunch of the aga ones with no issues. It is big $ though. I used the one that worldpac sells. Not as nice as the aga, but much less $. I just hate silicone

Do you have a picture or a link of the ones you bought? I just cant find myself to paying that much for the AGA Pipe as theres a few other brands I found as well but still up there in pricing and is why I was debating on trying the bimmerfix pipe but like you all the silicone being used was worrisome but its not like it will get into the system to other places from what Jeff stated and its a lifetime warranty on it if it doesn't work than he refunds you back the money so that's another reason why I was debating that route.

APA/URO coolant tube is the one that I have used. List price is around $260 ish. Installed one about a year ago. Not as nice as aga. No silicone needed though. Still have to pull the intake and valley pan. But valley pans leak too. Kill 2 birds with one stone. I still prefer the original tube or aga. But so far the apa/uro is doing well. No guarantee would make me use so much silicone. Its not that it would get anywhere, its just not right in my opinion. If I had to pull that lower timing cover off and I saw that stint all siliconed up in there, I wouldnt say "wow! That looks like a quality repair".

I just installed my second Bimmerfix stint this weekend. The first was on my 645 in April. This past weekend was a friends 645. IMO this is superior to the expanding tube and more permanent. I was skeptical at first also but if properly installed this reinforces the original coolant pipe seal from the inside and permanently prevents it from ever leaking again. Installation is also much easier. It took me just over 4 hours to install with (relatively) minor disassembly. If anyone is in central Texas and needs help or wants it installed let me know. Cheers, Bob

Wish you were in Cali lol.

I installed the BimmerFix stent in my 2008 4.8l as a PM item when my water pump bearings went at about 72k miles. I had the water pump out and decided I might as well go for the stent as a PM item.

The only tricky part was a bit of sanding and getting the grit from the sand paper and the aluminum dust/particles out of the coolant pipe, not hard, just wanted to be very thorough.

Found it a bit tricky to get the last inch or so of the stent to slide into the coolant pipe. Luckily I had located a 1/2" drive socket that was just the O.D. of the pipe and exactly the depth needed, so I just used the socket to set the final depth of the pipe in the coolant pipe.

The foam brushes cleaned up any silicon that was inside the pipe I.D. without any problems.

I have a Hamburg Tech 90C thermostat in the engine and I had been watching the temps closely with a UltraGauge before the pump was replaced and the stent was installed. If the stent impacted the coolant temp any at all, it was likely only 1-2F at best if there was a change at all.

In hindsight if you replace your water pump, which I would recommend as a PM by 70k miles if you have not already exceeded this, I would plan on installing a BimmerFix pipe.

theres a huge thread on the 7 series forums on the b fest forums.

you have to keep sanding until it goes in the specified depth. mine didnt slide easily in/out - just needs a slight bit of persuasion, but once you are able to get it to teh required depth, youre good to go. I had my entire engine apart down to the valley pan - this fix is the real deal. no reason to replace whole pipe

I too just tried the kit. It is not working. I think it's because my old o-ring was torn...in such case the remaining o-ring should be completely cleaned out first I think.
I do want to give another try thou as Jeff was sending another kit for free (btw, he has been very helpful). HOWEVER, first, I can't seem to remove the stent out there. The bond and the stent seems very strong. Cut/saw 1" inch so into the stent at 6 o'clock and tried with a small metal pry bar...only peeled about 3/4" with a lot force. Not enough space. The remove is a lot tougher than I thought.

Need some ideas, badly.

Unfortunately you have already started to cut the replacement stint out, so you are committed.

Unless you did not get enough silicon on the tube or did not clean and dry the engine and tube, you should not have had much of a problem. Keep in mind the intake valley pan can also leak.

I have not good idea at this point, it seems you will need to pull the valley pan, more work but not so bad, cut the original tube out an install a expandable tube.

As I recall you just replace the valley pan because of how the seals are molded on the valley pan cover???

I installed by Bimmerfix tube as PM item, I had no leaks, but had the water pump out and decided to go for it. If I have a leak in the future, I would bet the valley pan would be leaking and not the transfer tube with the Bimmer fix.

Good luck on this one. I might go there URO pipe route as it is one of the cheaper replacement pipes out there. Then if you were nervous you would install the replacement Bimmerfix in the URO pipe??

sorry that happened. THe old gasket being 'torn' shouldnt affect the stint, as the sting is bypassing that section. So unless you didnt get it back enough, something is strange. but yea, you are gonna have to somehow cut it out. Id probably try some type of cutting tool, then somehow sand down the remaining glue residue.

I did talk to Jeff after pressure test (leaking from the weep hole at about 5 psi) and he said it did not work for me. I now understand how this would work...either the outer rim of the o-ring is complete in-place or you have to remove it...so a new 'o-ring' would be formed by filling the gap. My leak would be from outer (time chaining cover) edge the o-ring since a small piece was torn and missing. Am guessing that many exist repairs would fall in time when the old o-ring further aged and comes apart. Jeff actually thought I had real good points and understanding (thou bit late). I still believe this product as long as it would not be too hard to redo it in few years. But, am having a real hard time to remove that bonded stent. I think there ought be a better way to reinstall 'o-ring' every few years.

Think need to saw slots every .5" around front-end then 'peel' off piece by piece. Need a special power handy hacksaw. A special plastic inner tube would work better, imho.

@jfoj, no I did not change valley pan cover...maybe in the future. Car only has 77k...545i.
As a PM item your o-ring was ok, the add-on helps to put it there tight but the o-ring itself will come apart in pieces in time...then it will fail at outer edge. If you choose to use the aftermarket pipe, you would still need extra work to get old stent out...that might not be as easy as one might think.

There ought be a better way...improving Jeff's

The valley pan can leak as I recall. You may need to pull the valley pan and cut out the transfer pipe with the stent and replace the transfer pipe. This is how you replace the stent IMHO.

It would be a bigger job...not sure I can handle it right now. Besides the stent is bonded between timing cover and the pipe, it won't be easy to push out even after you cut the pipe. Maybe I miss something. Agree at some point I ought open that up for more repairs.

You are missing something.

The stent is only in the timing cover about 3/4" or so as I recall. You have been able to reach most of this.

When you cut the coolant pipe in half, you remove a center section, then you can use vise grips, drill a hole or do something to get a grip on the stub of the coolant pipe and you can leverage it out of the block toward the inside of the galley.

You just need to watch a few YouTube videos about how to remove the original coolant pipe, the stent will come with it. I am surprised the BimmerFix guy does not have links he can direct you to.

Good luck.

Am listening and thinking to follow thru your suggestion...maybe one more try with the kit. The stent ... maybe easier to get out if having more leverage working from inside thou it is a very strong bond ( to be honest ) even with lever (without damage anything). Jeff said there were few guys re-did the kit/process...waiting to hear how they took the stent out.

The car is outside my house/garage. Am concerned if I can't get it done in one day to replace with the pipe or having problems putting items back together (suppose to be a good 8 hours job). I did watch tube clips. Pretty sure I can open it up and install the pipe. Wish know someone around who has done the pipe install.

Did you ever get your issue taken care of with the stent?
My X5 just started to leak and now needing to tackle this on. If the Stent is that much of a pain to remove I may opt to go with the collapsible style pipe. Figured I replace the valley pan as well since thats another issue that is known to leak.

Question for the ones who has used the collapsible type. Which would you recommend the AGA type or the URO type? I mean theres a huge difference in pricing.

The stent does not need to be removed unless for some reason not enough silicon sealer was used and/or there was still antifreeze/coolant in the transfer pipe where the silicon needs to bond.

Trying to remove the stent to redo the stent job, this is likely tricky.

Moving on to install a new coolant transfer pipe if the stent does not work, this should be no different then cutting out the original pipe without the stent, maybe just a slight bit more effort.

It it was me, I would try the stent first, saves a lot of time, but does cost money. If the stent does not work, just move onto the replacement transfer pipe unless you really want to remove the first stent and try again.

Ok so question for the ones who have the URO, AGA, collapsible types. How many years have you had it and any issues? Im afraid with the URO type that the o-rings wont last that long? Tempted to try the stent but after hearing that its a pain to remove got me thinking if its even worth the trouble.

Why do you keep saying the stent is a pain to remove???

It is only a pain to remove IF you do a poor job installing it and it leaks AND you DO NOT want to install a collapsible coolant pipe and you WANT TO reinstall a 2nd stent.

IF you install a stent and it leaks and you decide to install a collapsible coolant pipe it will not likely be any more difficult to remove the original coolant transfer pipe with or without a stent installed in it.

The stent will come out with the original coolant transfer pipe so it really is not harder to remove than the original coolant transfer pipe.

The stent is ONLY as PITA if you screw up the first stent and want to install a 2nd stent.

Got it??

I ended up using uro pipe. Agree...try stent first then pipe.
My oring was broken at one place (picked a chuck during the install)...in this case, stop and do the expandable pipe. Removing stent is impossible for me...I really tried hard. If your oring is still in one piece stent should work. Jeff at bimmerfix is very nice to help and would refund if you have problem. I used a mtc pipe 1st time...has nice stainless pipe but their oring profile is no good and almost impossible to install correctly. I took off waterpump so I could see from the other end. I bet many people or shops installed wrong by jamming in there. I have not noticed any leaks since.

For the record, don't know if anyone could ever remove the failed stent from front. I tried to saw into strips and peeled off but the space is too tight and real pita. I really wanted to try 2nd stent by cleaning out old oring and put that silicone into th groove. Removing stent from valley pan is easy...used a plumbing pipe and 10s it was out.


BUT, not sure related, all the sudden, today I could not start my car - all dark after I unlock door with remote. The battery and alternator all pretty new (3 wk and 2.5 yr).

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Colt45 was the original coolant transfer pipe a problem to remove with the stent installed? I assume is was not a problem and the stent came out with the transfer pipe.

I edited last reply...it was real easy since the stent is inside the BMW pipe and only 1 inch so on timing chain cover. Used a large plumbing plier.

You actually do have a good point! I got off the phone with Jeff and he actually has a updated version of the Stent to make it easier to remove from the front without needing to cut the entire pipe out. But as you stated if this doesnt work I figured I go with the collapsible type. I already have this kit on hand so I figured I just go this route!

Update: I just found out that my transfer pipe is not the issue but the water pump died on me. So I think mines still holding which is a good thing so while Im at it going to put on the bimmerfix.