What did you do for your ZHP/ BMW / MINI today? #2

[stephenkirsh]

While I respect the engineers at BMW, they have made plenty of mistakes on the E46 that owners must rectify (VANOS, DISA, CCV,); enough for me to doubt them. I'm sure 2.0 bar is a good pressure for the cooling system, but I'm also sure they didn't plan for expansion tanks to detonate and for the entire cooling system to become a regular maintenance item. The G.A.S. kit is an adaptation to the weak E46 cooling system, in my view.

Exactly. The "engineers know best" thing is BS because there's so many issues with the car, any car. Rear sub frame mounts; early e46s and their control arms; Half the cooling system and things listed by Avesto, etc.

[stephenkirsh]

My understanding is that you should never really have to top off coolant, and certainly not every 4 months. It's a closed system. There shouldn't be any appreciative fluid loss unless there's a leak.

I was never sold on the GAS cap. BMW engineers picked the higher-pressure cap for a reason.

Every E46 my family has had, hada bit of leak by the valve cap. Isn't that the ENTIRE POINT of the valve cap? I've been told by two different BMW shops that it's normal.

My 325 would get it, even after the entire cooling system was redone.

Top up was always very minimal and far apart, but it was indeed there.

[Hermes]

Listen, the issues that we now complain about are because BMW was forced to compete with Lexus/Acura/Infiniti. We no longer lived in the days of the E30 overengineering. Hell, the plastic cooling system parts started in the late 70's and I just managed to find an early model all metal radiator for my E21.

These issues were caused because the cars were built cheap enough to be priced well and to live 60k miles, not stay on the road forever like the older cars will.

Even with a lower pressure cap it does not solve all coolant system issues. IMHO a Stewart pump will probably do more for you than a low pressure relief cap on your expansion tank. If your coolant is hot enough for you to need it to release pressure you probably have bigger issues with the system

Edit: there are 2 reasons why these tanks seem to fail, aftermarket ones seem to be of cheap quality, and OE ones are old/heat cycled and brittle. A good new BMW tank should last you appx 6-7 years, which is the point that the newest E46 is at the moment. We all need expansion tanks at this point no matter how low the mileage on said car may be

[kayger12]

Exactly. The "engineers know best" thing is BS because there's so many issues with the car, any car. Rear sub frame mounts; early e46s and their control arms; Half the cooling system and things listed by Avesto, etc.

Yeah, you're right, BMW engineers are terrible.

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[danewilson77]

Exactly. The "engineers know best" thing is BS because there's so many issues with the car, any car. Rear sub frame mounts; early e46s and their control arms; Half the cooling system and things listed by Avesto, etc.

Yeah, you're right, BMW engineers are terrible.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4

I think they are very good at engineering a car to last a specified amount of time.

I think they overlooked the vanos piston rings, and ZKW bowls.

Everything else lasts quite significantly.

It's not a toy, it's a Droid > Sent from my S4 > Mason, OH

[kayger12]

I think they are very good at engineering a car to last a specified amount of time.

I think they overlooked the vanos piston rings, and ZKW bowls.

Everything else lasts quite significantly.

It's not a toy, it's a Droid > Sent from my S4 > Mason, OH

I think most of the stuff that drives us nuts with these cars are decisions that are made later in the process as cost saving measures.

The vanos unit is engineering genius. The cheap seals that fail so quickly are probably much more attributable to the bean counters than the engineers.

Same with the cheap plastic parts that fail all over the place. Same with those miserable ZKW bowls.

When it comes to design concept, however, their engineering is generally very good.


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[danewilson77]

Agree KG.

It's not a toy, it's a Droid > Sent from my S4 > Mason, OH

[kayger12]

Listen, the issues that we now complain about are because BMW was forced to compete with Lexus/Acura/Infiniti. We no longer lived in the days of the E30 overengineering. Hell, the plastic cooling system parts started in the late 70's and I just managed to find an early model all metal radiator for my E21.

These issues were caused because the cars were built cheap enough to be priced well and to live 60k miles, not stay on the road forever like the older cars will.

Even with a lower pressure cap it does not solve all coolant system issues. IMHO a Stewart pump will probably do more for you than a low pressure relief cap on your expansion tank. If your coolant is hot enough for you to need it to release pressure you probably have bigger issues with the system

Edit: there are 2 reasons why these tanks seem to fail, aftermarket ones seem to be of cheap quality, and OE ones are old/heat cycled and brittle. A good new BMW tank should last you appx 6-7 years, which is the point that the newest E46 is at the moment. We all need expansion tanks at this point no matter how low the mileage on said car may be

This

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[stephenkirsh]

All I'm saying is that the accountants got involved on the e46, and combined with the fact that engineers aren't perfect, there are places on an otherwise perfect car that aren't perfect. I don't think there's anything wrong with that.

[danewilson77]

Ok. Nothing wrong at all.

It's not a toy, it's a Droid > Sent from my S4 > Mason, OH