BMW Genuine Radiator Expansion Tank E46 E53 E83 17117573781

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The job mainly consists of draining the coolant from the car, removing the radiator fan and fan shroud, removing the serpentine belt from the water pump, disconnecting the old E46 water pump, reinstalling the new water pump, serpentine belt, radiator fan and fan shroud, and refilling the car with coolant. As with any cooling system repair, you’ll also need to bleed the cooling system after. We’ll leave links to detailed instructions below. Watching videos of numerous guys trying to remove that tank is scary! Next camera shot is the tank out or they removed the whole assembly with the plastic part. And continue as if that's good? With the engine running, loosen the bleeder screw again. You should get more air bubbles coming out until there is a steady stream of coolant being pushed out of the bleeder hole. Tighten the bleeder screw. not to discredit the previously posted links for o-rings, but below is another option that includes actual o-ring sizes. I thought this is unbelievable, why, how is this thing (tank) still in here? Pull, Pull and wiggle, pull some more! Man. How to pry it off from the lower connection? Nothing fits to do that, Pry bar from the frame to the bottom of the tank almost works. Remember the slow and easy pulling, you will break the thermostat in the bottom if you man-handle it. I think it's like an egg shell, touch it and it will break.

These I know fit my particular car, which is a 2002 model year 325Ci, E46, M54 engine. VIN starts with WBABN33442JW, 7/2002 production date. Not to discredit the previously posted links for o-rings, but below is another option that includes actual o-ring sizes. Use some CRC Electronic Cleaner to thoroughly spray out the sensor connections. Oil and coolant can build up in these connections causing the sensor to malfunction. So...what you will need to do...is remove two torx screws indicated on the below drawing, by the red dots. The weather got cold and no heat was coming out in the cabin. After trying many other things I decided to look more precisely at the expansion tank (and compare it to all the pictures of original style expansion tanks that have been cut open).Do not remove the expansion tank cap while the engine is hot. Coolant or hot steam may escape and will scald you. To do any work on the cooling system, wait until the engine has cooled off. These i know fit my particular car, which is a 2002 model year 325ci, e46, m54 engine. Vin starts with wbabn33442jw, 7/2002 production date. Modifications to hoses were also needed because the tank only has one connection at the bottom for returning flow. The tank had a T connector with it and I connected the incoming coolant hoses together with it.

Like with the expansion tank, it is a good idea to preemptively replace your E46’s water pump before noticing symptoms. If your E46 water pump fails, it can lead to rapid overheating which can do serious damage to your engine. If it does fail while you are driving, it is crucial to pull over immediately and stop the engine. E46 Water Pump Failure Symptoms An old thread but since I followed the idea of the original post this still might be the correct thread to respond.An OEM replacement expansion tank is the best choice as while they are known to fail near the 100,000-mile mark, you’ll know that an OEM replacement will last equally as long. Another option would be to upgrade to an aluminum BMW E46 expansion tank. Reputable manufacturers like Mishimoto make an aluminum alternative to the OEM expansion tank and they are unquestionably stronger. With that being said, they are also significantly more expensive. Radiator part number 17119071519 (depending on the brand be sure to get a proper adjustment screw for manual or automatic transmission) Reinstall the coolant level sensor electrical connection. Make sure it is properly routed under hoses so the tank does not pull on the connection when installed. Section 4 - Refilling the System with Coolant, Bleeding, and Testing Refilling and bleeding the coolant system in your BMW E46 3 series car is a very simple procedure. The goal is to remove any air bubbles trapped in the coolant line that could potentially cause the engine to overheat. Unlike many other repair articles, the BMW Repair Guide uses the "double bleed" approach on their BMW E46 3 series cars. This is a proven method that we have used for years with 100% success. The double bleed method entails purging the air out of the coolant system twice; once with the engine off, and then again with the engine running. We have found this to be the most complete method of removing all of the air out of the E46 cooling system.

Second one, 3.5 mm width, 22 mm id: This fits the heater hoses, plus the smaller of the two fittings at the bottom of the expansion tank, so i think that makes 5 per car. Automatic transmission models: Belt driven fan attached to front of coolant pump -- viscous clutch controls fan speed based on engine compartment temperature and rpms Installation meant some modifications: I drilled two holes into the plastic parts under the expansion tank, and used few screws to connect the new tank.

The actual replacement of the coolant expansion tank on both the M52TU and M54 is pretty easy if you have some technical experience. The shorthand version is that you’ll have to unbolt the air filter housing assembly, gently remove both the upper and lower expansion tank hoses, remove the old tank and replace it with the new one, and swap or replace the coolant level sensor. While that is a very surface-level explanation of the process, we’ll link a full guide on the process below. The difference in the aluminium tank was that the flow from upper connector was being pushed directly into the tank. This led to a situation where: Only use Genuine BMW Antifreeze/Coolant mixed 50/50 with distilled water in your vehicle. Using any other brand of antifreeze/coolant in your BMW is strongly discouraged. Genuine BMW Antifreeze/Coolant was specifically engineered for your BMW...other brands may not cool your engine correctly.

Once the assembly (Retainer and Expansion Tank) is out of the car, it can be separated rather easily. First one, 16mm inside diameter x 3mm width: This is i think only one per car, fits the fitting on the upper radiator hose where it plugs into the expansion tank. (note: I also tried a slightly larger o-ring for this one, size 3.5 mm width, 16 mm id, and i absolutely could not manage to get that one to seat in the groove in the hose fitting!This issue is very similar to the water pump failure problem that we discussed above. Failing thermostats have been a problem for BMW 3-Series since the E30. While it is one of the most common cooling system components to fail on BMW E46s, they don’t usually fail unexpectedly. Most of the time, BMW E46 thermostats fail at the expected intervals of around every 60,000-75,000 miles. As an overview, the process of replacing the pulley includes the following: remove the four expansion rivets from the intake air duct, remove the intake air duct from the radiator support, remove the radiator cooling fan shroud from the vehicle, and extract the alternator drive belt (it is important to also mark the direction of the belt’s rotation).