Hitmo Posted May 29, 2013 Report Share Posted May 29, 2013 Hey guys, I purchased my car about 6 weeks ago, the previous owner told me there was a slight leak which meant he had to top up the expansion tank every 3-4 months (he had owned the car for a year or so) but he assured me that the car had never overheated. I didn't spot the leak so he had no reason to even tell me so I assume he was not lying. Every week or so I kept an eye on the coolant level and it never dropped by much (maybe 10-20 ml in a month). All of a sudden one day coolant started pouriong out of my car, I parked it up straight away and diagnosed the fault as the radiator. When I pulled it out to replace it with a new one this is what it looked like; It has completely expanded at the bottom causing the matrix to fall apart, the car is almost 10 years old and has 80,000 miles, I understand that it is common for radiators to fail around this time but do they usually end up looking like this? I have seen a few like this in various build thread, but I'm just wondering how this happened and if it is normal? And also concerned that there may be an underlying problem. The car itself is running great, coolant temp gauge stays bang on in the middle, no faults to my knowledge and since changing the rad 2 weeks ago the coolant level hasn't moved a drop! Any help would be greatly appreciated to hopefully put my mind at ease! Cheers Hitmo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay. Posted May 29, 2013 Report Share Posted May 29, 2013 Yes - extremley common. They all bow like that. Mines the same Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B0B Posted May 29, 2013 Report Share Posted May 29, 2013 Yes, as has been said its very common. I changed mine earlier this year and it looked exactly the same as yours. I took the opportunity to refresh pretty much all of the cooling system so I have peace of mind for years to come Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F07GT Steve Posted May 29, 2013 Report Share Posted May 29, 2013 Absolutly,,,, when i replaced the Rad from Nick's (Sonic) 330 it had bowed like that,, i would check the water pump for leaks after you replace it, and thats a pain to do but do-able, but it dose that due to pressure and where some thing hasent worked, opened up ect so water pump or thermostate, TBH its worth changing all 3 if you need to replace the rad.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the sim Posted May 29, 2013 Report Share Posted May 29, 2013 Never seen that before on any other cars. These e46s are a right weird breed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
autosri Posted May 29, 2013 Report Share Posted May 29, 2013 Mine did the same but I replaced it before it leaked new one is nice and square again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hitmo Posted May 29, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 29, 2013 Thanks guys, I can relax now! Absolutly,,,, when i replaced the Rad from Nick's (Sonic) 330 it had bowed like that,, i would check the water pump for leaks after you replace it, and thats a pain to do but do-able, but it dose that due to pressure and where some thing hasent worked, opened up ect so water pump or thermostate, TBH its worth changing all 3 if you need to replace the rad.... Luckily everything else was fine, I was contemplating changing all those bits when I changed the rad, but in fear of causing more problems and lack of experience of working on BMWs made me decide against it. I may change them in the future though to prevent me getting stranded somewhere, or definately if any other cooling system component fails! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Webby Posted May 30, 2013 Report Share Posted May 30, 2013 Yeah they do bow like that. Mine did at 65k. Once a E46 reaches this mileage the whole coolant system should be overhauled! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
