Cooling System Refresh

[slam]

Only real thing I saw different were FCP euro has the Modine expansion tank for about $15 bucks over the cost of the Behr. Has anyone used this Modine and is it better that the Behr?

Read somewhere on e46fanatics that the modine expansion tank is identical to the oem but without the bmw stamp. i recently did my entire cooling system, went with the saleri water pump, and ordered all the parts from fcpeuro. no issues with shipping or the parts install.

[SaltyNC]

Read somewhere on e46fanatics that the modine expansion tank is identical to the oem but without the bmw stamp. i recently did my entire cooling system, went with the saleri water pump, and ordered all the parts from fcpeuro. no issues with shipping or the parts install.

I ordered a Modine from FCPEuro. You can literally see where the BMW paper part number sticker was removed and where they Dremeled off the BMW imprint in the mold. No kidding. It's the real deal. I had ordered a Behr model from ECSTuning, but when it came in, it sucked. Quality was not good at all, and I asked 50's Kid if the one he installed had held up, and he said it leaked soon after installing it. ECS took the Behr back with a prompt refund. The Modine model doesn't come with a cap or level sensor.

[SaltyNC]

BTW, it's interesting that the Behr cap has holographic stickers, etc. that proclaim it is elite or something like that. I guess even Behr wants to separate their crappy Chinese parts from their high quality parts. And I'm not picking on the Chinese. They make very nice parts, as well, but the Behr tank isn't one of them.

[Kimber]

Thanks guys I think I am going with that Modine for sure (and I have a new sensor in my list and will be using the GAS 1.2 cap)

Now just trying to figure out the best water pump and I can put my order in. Just can't see spending so much on the Stewart.

[Kimber]

I decided to just go with the GEBA water pump as it is cast steel and not welded. I couldn't see paying for BMW or the Stewart.

[JohnnyGraphic]

I decided to just go with the GEBA water pump as it is cast steel and not welded. I couldn't see paying for BMW or the Stewart.

Good call. The Geba unit is quite hefty. Once you get it, you’ll see how solid and heavy it is.

I debated whether to use the Geba or BMW unit and ultimately decided to go with the BMW unit.

[Kimber]

My order from FCP Euro came in literally one day and was packaged well with no damage. Waiting on manual trans fan shroud from ECS and everything goes in next weekend. Thanks for all the input and advice guys!

[SaltyNC]

FCP Euro has multiple warehouses. I had the same thing happen with an order using their free shipping option.

[JohnnyGraphic]

My order from FCP Euro came in literally one day and was packaged well with no damage. Waiting on manual trans fan shroud from ECS and everything goes in next weekend. Thanks for all the input and advice guys!

Best of luck to you on the DIY. Keep us updated on how it goes.

[Kimber]

Just wanted to thank everyone for their help and give you guys an update on the refresh. Everything went very well. With two of us working we had pretty much everything removed and reinstalled in under 3 hours. (I really didn't do all that much but hand him tools and parts LOL) This included removing my front bumper and my AUX fan to do the fan delete mod.

He also scoped my engine to see if I wanted to do a walnut blast, but said it was in really good shape (same with throttle body) and there was no need to spend the money. Good to know.

I had a check engine light come on a couple weeks ago literally at the same time my windshield washer's wouldn't spray. I assumed it was the pump, and it was, spraying fine with a new pump now. BUT the light was actually for a bad thermostat according to his scanner. Just coincidence that the washer pump went at the same time. (I guess I should have used my torque app and checked it, lesson learned)

Removing the old intake and installing the new Mishimoto took the longest, about an hour or so, as the fit was just horrible and we had to cut a lot of the top tube to finally get it to fit with my AfE CAI. Sadly it did not get rid of the whistle I have, just moved it higher by about 200RPM LOL. So I guess I just have to deal with my fake turbo noise around the 1700 thru 1900 RPM mark. I really wish there was another silicone option out there that fit better. You would think for just over $100 that they would have this design figured out by now. The lower boot just doesn't come off at the right angle, thus really messing up the top boot angle. I can deal with having to cut a little length, but the angles are just all wrong.

Only other problem was that we had some air issues when filling the coolant. I'm not sure what happened exactly as I was swapping my AUX fan into the new manual trans shroud I ordered when he was filling it up. But he said everything was good and it was running fine until I pulled it out of the garage and it pegged HOT and red light came on. I shut it down and he tried to add some more 50/50 mix I had left over but we still had the pocket. He ran it for a minute or so but nothing would fix it.

So I brought up the video you guys mentioned and we went over it. I guess he never had that problem before, but we finally got the air out. Ran out of distilled water/coolant mix, but he had some coolant and we just used regular water as he had no distilled. It took very little of that regular water/coolant mix to get the final air bubbles to stop. And everything was good then.

I haven't really drove it much since then, but temp was perfect for the hour ride home, and I can't see any leaks from a quick check. I plan on detailing the engine bay hopefully this weekend, so I will then be able to really check for any leaks, etc.

Oh, and I could not tell a difference from the addition of underdrive pulley's. I didn't really think I would, it was more to get rid of the plastic stock stuff.

So thanks again everyone. I feel much more comfortable now knowing everything is replaced with good quality parts and I should get a good 5 years plus out of all this now. In the end I spent roughly $600 on the cooling parts (plus 100 for the Mishimoto intake tubes and 100 to swap my AUX fan) My hoses and expansion tank were all in really good shape (must have been replaced by PO) so I kept those as a quick fix if something happens down the road. The tech only wanted $300 for labor as he was just doing it as side work. I could have done this myself, and will next time for sure, but this is my first BMW and it's nice to have a tech there going over it with you the first time.