E30 Zone

Hi,

Would appreciate some advice!

I took my 318 is to a BMW specialist to get the interior heater fixed (+ wheel bearing and few other things)

Whilst checking the cooling system, they found a small coolant leak coming from "a hose at the back of the cylinder head". Apparently, a small amount of coolant was dripping from this hose, but i'd never noticed the problem before, (i.e. no over heating issues, temp gauge steady, no puddles under the car, rarely needed topping up).

They explained that it needed dealing with and could definitely be fixed with a new hose, then sourced a part and quoted a price. Based upon their assurance and expert advice, I gave the go ahead to mend the leak, and also asked them to continue with the other work.

When the new hose was finally delivered, they removed the old hose and tried to fit it only to discover that the pipe that it attaches to at the back of the cylinder head was too corroded. Now they've quoted about £800 to fix the pipe so that the new hose can be fitted, bringing the total bill to over £1400 and basically writing off the car.

Not sure what to do next so...

1. Is there a quick fix for the corroded pipe that doesn't involve stripping the head and machining it? I haven’t been able to see the car yet so don’t know exactly which pipe it is.

2. Roughly what is the car worth as a rolling shell (H reg, 190K, reasonable condition for age)

3. How much would a replacement engine cost to buy & fit?

Am pretty gutted as I gave them a working car with 12 months MOT, and they're giving me back a non-runner and a bill for the work done so far.

Thanks!

Isn't the stub pipe aluminium?

Ask them to tell you exactly where the leak is.

If it is the hose that connects between cylinders 2 and 3 that is leaking it is an easy fix by deleting the throttle heater.

Morat wrote:Isn't the stub pipe aluminium?

I would have thought so...

DHFiS wrote:If it is the hose that connects between cylinders 2 and 3 that is leaking it is an easy fix by deleting the throttle heater.

Apparently the hose runs from the back of the cylinder head. I'll make that suggestion when I see them.

Given that all they had to do was undo a jubilee clip and pull the old hose off, do you think it's unreasonable of me to ask why they didn't do that to properly check the leak before giving assurances and carrying out further work, or could they argue the "it's just one of those things....tough"?