Radiator neck broke - United Bimmer Community

**Dudesky** · 05-08-2006, 04:01 PM

Well, here we are folks, back in class at E36 Problems 101.
Exhibit A: the saddest BMW pic you'll ever see:

Exhibit B: the infamous plastic radiator neck failure:

I just pulled into the parking lot at the mall, and I see white smoke coming out of the hood. Glance at the temp gauge, and yup, it's shooting up. Shut down the car, coasted her into a parking space, and called a wrecker. Behind me is about a 120ft trail of coolant on the ground, so I'm guessing I got it fast enough that nothing else got damaged. And I was just thinking about replacing the radiator next month. Good thing I was within city limits; the tow back to my house only cost me $65 . . still, that 65 bucks I'll never see again

**celsdogg** · 05-08-2006, 04:05 PM

damn it that sucks. well you gotta do it now! i hate when you plan on doing something, then it breaks and forces you to do it earlier. . .

at least she will be ok! kinda weird to see your bimmer being towed

**Dudesky** · 05-08-2006, 04:08 PM

The crappy part was I was trying to find a way not to have to call for a tow but it wasn't happening. Oh well.

**celsdogg** · 05-08-2006, 04:11 PM

shoulda towed it with the mpv

how far from home were you? cant tell in that picture

**Dudesky** · 05-08-2006, 04:14 PM

Rte. 440, at Hudson Mall.

Oh yea, I forgot to mention . . the tow guy was also an Elvis impersonator by night, so I got a little entertainment for my 65 bucks

**celsdogg** · 05-08-2006, 04:24 PM

haha, thats funny, i bet thats less than you would have to pay for an impersonator at vegas!

do u have a radiator yet? when can u get another one?

**dinan540** · 05-08-2006, 04:38 PM

That sucks. Get AAA. They have saved my ass. Ironically, I had bought a waterpump, thermostat and radiator cap and was planning to change them for preventative maintenance. Two days after the parts arrived in the mail, I started to leak coolant. I put in the new parts and found that my pump was starting to fail and the thermostat gasket was torn to shit and aged.

Good luck with the fix.

**Dudesky** · 05-08-2006, 04:49 PM

Thanks. I haven't bought the new radiator yet, but will be getting it from AutohauzAz. I'm just going to replace it with the stock unit, since I don't plan to have this car any more than a year or so. The question is, anyone have any preference between Behr and Nissens? The Behr is $187, the Nissens is $147 . . . what's the difference?

**dinan540** · 05-08-2006, 05:02 PM

I don't have any experience with either. For the pump and and thermostat, I went with OEM replacements from bavauto.com.

Are you planning to replace the tranny before you get rid of it?

**scrichy84** · 05-08-2006, 05:21 PM

At least you noticed it before you overheated and seized the motor. My belt on my camero broke and stopped turing the water pump, the new temp gauge I just put in didn't work so she overheated on a night it was 10 degrees F out. That motor was never the same.

**celsdogg** · 05-08-2006, 05:42 PM

i've only heard of behr. . .

**Rooz** · 05-08-2006, 08:45 PM

this sucks!

Your bimmer will be in my prayers tonight

**tomctx** · 05-08-2006, 08:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dudesky

Thanks. I haven't bought the new radiator yet, but will be getting it from AutohauzAz. I'm just going to replace it with the stock unit, since I don't plan to have this car any more than a year or so. The question is, anyone have any preference between Behr and Nissens? The Behr is $187, the Nissens is $147 . . . what's the difference?

$40.00. The Nissen will be fine. Bimmerzone .com has radiators for $139.95, free shipping.

**Rob** · 05-08-2006, 09:09 PM

Bimmerparts.com, under Specials, Behr (OE) = 129.00. I just replaced mine today. All you guys should add the radiator as a wear item that needs to be replaced every 80,000 miles.

**Dudesky** · 05-09-2006, 06:16 AM

^^^You must have bought their last one on special; they're selling them at $144 now. Oh well. tomctx, I don't know why they don't list my year E36 for that $139 special. At any rate, I got it from Autohauz because they had other stuff I also wanted to get.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dinan540

Are you planning to replace the tranny before you get rid of it?

For now, she's shifting okay, as long as I don't shift too quickly into 2nd. Alternatively I can precisely rev match it to get in there fast. I could probably go on like this for a long time yet; that's why I haven't decided what to do yet. But I've got a quote from a place in Cali that will send me a tranny for $650 + $107 freight, in case I go that route.