Coolant Leak

[astral crown]

Hi,

I woke up this fine morning to the pleasant discovery that my car was leaking coolant overnight. In a fit of rage I filmed the following video. Based on information from said video, I want to know what you guys think could be the cause of the coolant leak. I also found after filming the video that the coolant is leaking on the passenger side below the radiator. I hope to god that’s not my issue, but either way I need to know.

[neon hornet]

@astral crown Make and model?

First thing you'll want to check is the hoses and connections.

[astral crown]

325Ci

[astral crown]

BMW 325Ci 2006 Convertible

[keen wave]

The typical E46 failure point is the coolant expansion tank, but that’s on the drivers side of the engine by the radiator. You’ll want to get a good look at the lower radiator hose and the connections, which are under the passenger side. If it leaked that much overnight, don’t expect to drive it, as it will just spray coolant when it starts to warm up

[astral crown]

I mean I drove it to school

So, Im driving it home

[neon hornet]

I had a leak in a similar location and it ended up being a crack in my radiator. 🤠

But it could also be the point that hose connects to the radiator, which won't be as bad.

[keen wave]

Copy that. Keep a close on your temperature gage. If you see it start to rise, pull over and let it cool for a few minutes.

[astral crown]

Will do

[astral crown]

A new radiator actually isnt horrible

60 bucks on Amazon

And my fan appears to be electrical so I wouldn’t have to deal with any horrendous fan clutch issues

[neon hornet]

good stuff

you will have to properly bleed your system no matter what kind of replacement you do, but you should be good

[astral crown]

Im actually going to try stopleak first

Hell maybe It’ll fix itself until my next biannual coolant issue

I dont have a second car yet, but when I do, I’ll revamp the cooling system

[keen wave]

Yep. Don’t deal with biannual cooling issues, do the big project once: https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/1692333829-bmw-mango-e46-cooling-system-overhaul-kit-mangocoolkit3 is for automatic but you get the idea

[astral crown]

Mine’s a manual so I’ll need a different one at some point

[keen wave]

Ooooh…. Manual drop top e46? Good man. Radiator https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw-radiator-17119071517 and kit with the rest of the stuff https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw-cooling-system-overhaul-kit-e46-oem-e46coolkit

[neon hornet]

I wouldn't recommend that

if you don't care about your car or long term consequences use stop leak

[astral crown]

Yeah I decided against it

New radiator comes on Wednesday

Might as well wait, since the leak isnt the worst thing ever

Im gonna end up putting new coolant into it anyways

[neon hornet]

good luck homie

[astral crown]

Okay weird update

Its just straight up not leaking coolant anymore

I didnt do

A damn thing

And its not leaking anymore

[neon hornet]

probably because the levels are low

trust me when I say it hasn't magically fixed itself

[keen wave]

☝️

Make sure your coolant is topped up and burp the system so there’s no air bubble

Instructions from the kind folks at e46fanatics https://www.e46fanatics.com/threads/diy-how-to-bleed-your-cooling-system.689618/

[heady musk]

I love it when unreliable plastic parts fail, thanks manufacturers!

[astral crown]

Can confirm, it still leaks, its probably the fucking expansion tank

I should’ve replaced one of the past 3 FUCKING TIMES I SERVICED IT

[keen wave]

I hear you. It sucks.

[neon hornet]

atp if you really need to fix the leak throw parts at it

multiple issues could make diagnosis difficult

[shut quiver]

This is why I don't buy bmw

[astral crown]

BMW would be good if their planned obsolesence wasnt at like 60k miles

Especially the E46

Everything is actually pretty reliable besides the fucking cooling system

[shut quiver]

Don't get me wrong I actually like bmw I just wish the reliability of certain things on them was better