E30 Zone

Hi Guys,

Got a problem with leaking coolant from our car. A few details:

1992 325i Cab Auto with AC, imported to the UK in 1997 by previous owner from Hong Kong.

We drove the car to Bristol and back (our usual length of drive in the car as we live but don't drive in London) and left it for a week. I went to get stuff out of the boot and found a leak underneath the car, checked the coolant and oil with no noticeable problems. Being late in the day I left it till the next day to check further, and it had dropped the level in the coolant expansion tank to nearly empty. This was just before our summer holiday so I left the problem till our return.

Before we start, I don't want to Radweld the car as we intend to keep it for a while and don't want problems later...

Now we're back from holiday, I jacked the car up and took off the cover panel at the bottom.
Inlet and outlet hoses to the radiator are dry, and the hose to the expansion tank appears fine, as does the drain point. No leak or residue around the transmission cooling pipes that I can see either.

Once it was jacked up on the passenger side it started to drip consistently out of the bottom of the radiator (the matrix appeared to be saturated).

I am assuming this means a new radiator and that there is a leak somewhere in the matrix that I cannot see?

My Bentley manual makes reference to repairing radiators, I assume this is not worth pursuing and that replacing is a better option?

Is there anything obvious I should check that I cannot already see easily?

I have resigned myself to changing the radiator and I have checked the side of the radiator for the part number of 21.594.10.003 which I have not been able to find on the RealOEM site. There the number is: 17111712851

http://bmwfans.info also list this number for Auto AC radiators. When I went to see Jason in Walsall for power roof repairs, his brother commented that it is ”acontinetal rad”a i.e. very large! Should I be looking at the ”atropical”a version listed on the BMWfans site, given that this car has come from Hong Kong?

I will ring the dealer in the morning (as it is sunday now) to check prices, but have looked at German French Swedish, where I assume their parts are non BMW? They do not list a difference between cars with AC and those without either, and as their part numbers do not match BMW's I would need to interrogate them further.

Can you even get genuine BMW rads for these cars any more?

Coolant:

Is the Halfords (the easiest supplier to get to without a car) stuff suitable? It does not list whether it has sulphates in our not and I don't know whether ”aOAT”a (organic acid technology) is suitable for E30's, it seems to be all Halfords sell (okay I know they're crap, but I can't get to many other places easily without a car at the moment).

Should I flush the system after installing the new radiator (very difficult form me as the car is in stuck in a shared basement garage with no power or water/drainage) or just refill?

I intend to test the hot idle control temp sensor ( i felt the idle was a little rough when warm), but should I replace it regardless since I am draining coolant and and replacing the radiator?

All comments appreciated, as you can probably tell I am not a mechanic just and owner/user who needs to sort this out in economical manner! (towing the car out of the garage is almost impossible due to the head room...).

Cheers,

Frank

From HK it may well be a larger rad and the only place in the UK to supply those will be the dealer. Also when there, it is best to get the OE antifreeze.
Ealoem show all the export rads available. In fact if you put in your VIN it should show the options including the tropical rad. Take the measurements of the existing rad and before ordering ask the dealer to confirm with BMW the sizes of the new rads. That is one reason to buy fro them is the back up available that you wouldn't get from GSF/Halfrauds etc.

For the best results when refilling have the front of the car jacked and wait until it is pouring out of the bleed screw on top of the thermostat housing.

Don't forget to check the viscous fan when in that far.

you can have rads recored for under £100. i dont know how much bmw rads are but my cossie rad only cost me £90 and was done in a couple of days from a small local business.