Coolant fitting crumbles like a old cookie :-)
 

Has anyone else with a 3.0 had issues with this fitting? About two weeks after we purchase our E70 I noticed the stench of hot coolant when we returned home after food shopping. I popped the hood and took a look around and noticed a slight leak that I followed up to the head along this hose. I started to panic thinking, oh great, head gasket (or worse).

I went to squeeze the hose to see if the system still had pressure and poof, the plastic fitting up top just crumbled which allowed nice hot coolant to spray everywhere but mostly directly on my hand. Luckily there was a bucket of cold water within two steps from where I was standing from washing the car that morning. Dropped my hand in there for a minute or two then wrapped it in wet cloth and went back to investigating the car. :hawt:

I was actually relieved to see it was just the fitting :D I found an aluminum non OEM fitting on Ebay but wanted to find one local so I could get back on the road. My thinking was this engine is the most common engine out there so all the dealers must carry this part. Nope, only ONE freaking fitting and hose in all of So Cal. BTW you cant buy just the fitting, it comes with hose attached. Price for a small piece of molded hose and a plastic fitting? $85. Gotta love those BMW dealership parts counters. :rolleyes:

Anyway replaced the fitting using the original hose (looked and felt new) in about 5 minutes, topped off the coolant and did the BMW coolant purge thing and all was good. Would this have been covered by the dealer I purchased it? Yep it came with a 30 day bumper to bumper but did I want to tow the car 55 miles then let it sit on their lot until it was repaired? Nope, so I fixed it myself. Im weird like that.

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http://i63.tinypic.com/eq36h4.jpg

Yup, Thats why you replace the hoses when you do a cooling system refresh. Wait until the one on the top of the radiator on the driver side fails. I've had it happen on all 3 of my N52 Variants. The stealer should always stock the part, I've never had a problem getting them in a pinch.

Giaka, how many miles are on your X?

I'm now wondering if I should order the aluminum replacement fitting for my N55.

I think maybe age was a contributing factor as well but only 41,000 when it broke apart. I would order the aluminum fitting and keep it handy knowing what I know now. Or just swap it out, its a super easy part to replace. You dont even need to completely drain the coolant, just down to that level.

Wow. I think I'll do exactly that. Order the aluminum fitting and replace it when I have time. It would be a good time to also change the OFHG too, since I have to drop the coolant level. Wish I knew about this (and the OFHG) when I did the water pump / thermostat / coolant tank replacement.


Thanks for the info.

A coolant refresh and replace all those hoses at 40,000 miles?

Regardless of your mileage, your car is at least 8 years old (Assuming this because you showed a picture of an N52 engine). You're in California. Stop and go, lots of idling, ac on, heat, it all takes its toll.