[bluewater328]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

I posted a DIY on crushing the plastic flange to remove it if you are interested in the details. I just used a brake hose clamp and a rag stuffed in the hose.

This!

Pinch or clamp the hose below the stock "mickey." Crush with pliers (many will find theirs will be easier than they think to do this, unfortunately). Pull out debris and clean out top of hose. Put on new Mickey.

[e91Owner]

Originally Posted by e90yyc

Glad to hear this. I've had excellent luck with their stuff and in many cases have found it's actually the OE part, sometimes even with the BMW logo (ex: vacuum hoses and shifter bearing).

The fact this flange is made in Turkey and not China is nice to see.

Definitely. Like most automakers, most of the car is made by someone else and is simply assembled by them. As the years go by, my car is becoming less and less BMW, lol.

As a side note, if you are only replacing the flange and not draining the system to do this in conjunction with a fluid change, I recommend just bleeding the system into a gallon jug from the expansion tank line. Worked like a champ. I didn't spill a drop when I was taking the fitting off.

[tomgwuyn]

Approx, how much will this mickey mouse flange replacement cost to do it with a reputed Indy mechanic? Is there anything similar that needs replacement?

[Mike K]

Originally Posted by e91Owner

Definitely. Like most automakers, most of the car is made by someone else and is simply assembled by them. As the years go by, my car is becoming less and less BMW, lol.

As a side note, if you are only replacing the flange and not draining the system to do this in conjunction with a fluid change, I recommend just bleeding the system into a gallon jug from the expansion tank line. Worked like a champ. I didn't spill a drop when I was taking the fitting off.

Nice thread and good idea here. e91Owner can you elaborate a bit on this bleed procedure? Which end of the expansion tank line did you disconnect, and did you start the water pump bleed like when doing a pump replacement procedure?

Or did you just drain and capture coolant from the expansion tank via either the big or small line?

I have the new anodized flange and am planning to jump on this soon.

thanks!

[R3dLeader]

Originally Posted by tomgwuyn

Approx, how much will this mickey mouse flange replacement cost to do it with a reputed Indy mechanic? Is there anything similar that needs replacement?

I would say 1 hour of labor max. He will get it done in 30 minutes and charge you 1 hour. Sounds about right.

[e91Owner]

Originally Posted by Mike K

e91Owner can you elaborate a bit on this bleed procedure? Which end of the expansion tank line did you disconnect, and did you start the water pump bleed like when doing a pump replacement procedure?

Or did you just drain and capture coolant from the expansion tank via either the big or small line?

I have the new anodized flange and am planning to jump on this soon.

thanks!

I just removed the return line at the expansion tank connection. It is about 2-3 feet long after you in unclip it from the cowl, giving you plenty of room to drain.

This isn't a photo of replacing the flange on my e60, but it shows what I'm referring to on my e91. I just used a clean gallon jug to drain the coolant, but only filled about half before you could hear the pump start to gargle and then I turned off the ignition.

Other than removing the return hose (radiator vent line),bleeding it is like you said—just turned on the pump by stepping on the accelerator for 10s, temp full hot and fan speed on low. You don't need to remove the snorkel if you have a container that doesn't need the full length of the vent line.

As I said in the first post, though, this is good if you are just removing the flange and not replacing the whole hose. When I replaced the whole hose, I drained the full system from the radiator.

[mainbearing]

It might take the mechanic 10 minutes, but I agree, he will charge an hour. Maybe plus some coolant at an obscene price.

I would swap out the upper radiator hose as well. My upper hose plastic coupler is turning brown at the oil filter housing end. I have both a Rein aluminum flange and a Gates upper hose ready to go.

If the oil filter housing gasket has not been changed, use a Japan-made one (BMW latest OE version) or a Uro-Premium version of it made of Viton rubber, since the coolant will need to be drained from that housing. The tech can also loosen the filter cap to allow the oil to drain back into the crankcase and tighten it back up. IIRC, only about 2 qts of coolant needs to be drained to work in that area.

Originally Posted by tomgwuyn

Approx, how much will this mickey mouse flange replacement cost to do it with a reputed Indy mechanic? Is there anything similar that needs replacement?

[mainbearing]

I do not know why BMW would put a plastic tube between the rubber hoses there -- needing two metal clamps and time to assemble. And the end product is just plain unreliable. IMO some of those BMW so-called "engineers" really look more and more like morons.

[M-technik-3]

Originally Posted by mainbearing

I do not know why BMW would put a plastic tube between the rubber hoses there -- needing two metal clamps and time to assemble. And the end product is just plain unreliable. IMO some of those BMW so-called "engineers" really look more and more like morons.

Don't look at it how NA does service on our cars. look at it how EU does it with their strict inspection processes. The make $ on the maintaining cars vs our pathetic bumper to bumper warranty's that really don't cover much these days.

[Mike K]

Originally Posted by e91Owner

I just removed the return line at the expansion tank connection. It is about 2-3 feet long after you in unclip it from the cowl, giving you plenty of room to drain.

This isn't a photo of replacing the flange on my e60, but it shows what I'm referring to on my e91. I just used a clean gallon jug to drain the coolant, but only filled about half before you could hear the pump start to gargle and then I turned off the ignition.

Other than removing the return hose (radiator vent line),bleeding it is like you said—just turned on the pump by stepping on the accelerator for 10s, temp full hot and fan speed on low. You don't need to remove the snorkel if you have a container that doesn't need the full length of the vent line.

As I said in the first post, though, this is good if you are just removing the flange and not replacing the whole hose. When I replaced the whole hose, I drained the full system from the radiator.

Hey thanks a million mainbearing and e91owner! I appreciate you guys!

[mecheng77]

Originally Posted by Welcome to NBA Jam

I crushed the flange. Metal band came right off. Be sure to do it with the hose pointing down so nothing falls into it.

Originally Posted by Welcome to NBA Jam

I crushed the flange. Metal band came right off. Be sure to do it with the hose pointing down so nothing falls into it.

Good point and I also have hose clamp pliers the large ones to 'close ' a hose

[sonofsun]

Originally Posted by M-technik-3

Don't look at it how NA does service on our cars. look at it how EU does it with their strict inspection processes. The make $ on the maintaining cars vs our pathetic bumper to bumper warranty's that really don't cover much these days.

In some states like TX the inspection process is a total sham. That too in some counties they only check emissions. I've lived through inspections in Maryland and NJ. Maryland wasn't too bad but NJ was PITA if you had an old car.

I would've like for all 50 states to adopt SULEV kind of warranty so that rich manufacturers like BMW, Audi and Mercedes don't skimp on parts purposefully to fleece customers even more money. And I think that would be very environmentally responsible too (comparatively).

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by mainbearing

I do not know why BMW would put a plastic tube between the rubber hoses there -- needing two metal clamps and time to assemble. And the end product is just plain unreliable. IMO some of those BMW so-called "engineers" really look more and more like morons.

BMW revised the part for the vent line in June 2011. The new number is 17127618510. The vent line is now a plastic tube from the coolant tank all the way to about 3" of rubber hose that connects to the upper radiator hose bib. I changed the vent line out with the new P/N in January 2013, so it's been in my car for over 8 years and 176,000 miles. No signs of degradation so far.

[mainbearing]

Yes I have seen it online. Looks like hard PVC material like some of the ones Ford and GM would use. With a PVC line failure, when it rains it pours.

I already spliced a rubber hose all the way from the radiator hose to about 1/3 the way from the reservoir tank.

IMO BMW should just mold bibs onto the reservoir tank and the radiator (not the upper hose) and run a simple rubber hose in between and use two clamps on both ends instead of a fancy plastic coupler with o-ring and retainer clip.

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

BMW revised the part for the vent line in June 2011. The new number is 17127618510. The vent line is now a plastic tube from the coolant tank all the way to about 3" of rubber hose that connects to the upper radiator hose bib. I changed the vent line out with the new P/N in January 2013, so it's been in my car for over 8 years and 176,000 miles. No signs of degradation so far.

[Welcome to NBA Jam]

Originally Posted by mainbearing

I do not know why BMW would put a plastic tube between the rubber hoses there -- needing two metal clamps and time to assemble. And the end product is just plain unreliable. IMO some of those BMW so-called "engineers" really look more and more like morons.

Interestingly that is not a plastic tube. It's metal encased in plastic. I cut my old one in half and saw the inside is metal.

[mainbearing]

I am not sure why BMW would want to encase a metal tube in plastic. That is completely redundant. Look at the bend in the above picture, no way that was metal.

Anyway mine was completely plastic. I looked at it when I replaced it preventatively and thought what a piece of sh*t. BMW cast magnesium into the block, made us use aluminum bolts and then just to put sh*t like this around the whole thing.

Originally Posted by Welcome to NBA Jam

Interestingly that is not a plastic tube. It's metal encased in plastic. I cut my old one in half and saw the inside is metal.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by mainbearing

Yes I have seen it online. Looks like hard PVC material like some of the ones Ford and GM would use. With a PVC line failure, when it rains it pours.

I already spliced a rubber hose all the way from the radiator hose to about 1/3 the way from the reservoir tank.

IMO BMW should just mold bibs onto the reservoir tank and the radiator (not the upper hose) and run a simple rubber hose in between and use two clamps on both ends instead of a fancy plastic coupler with o-ring and retainer clip.

I kept the original part. The plastic tube section seems still in good shape. I've just not been able to get a a section of aluminum tubing to replace the plastic section. The tube material BMW switched to with the new part seems a better material selection.

But I've been stating ever since I published a DIY for a full retrofit of the hoses for the N52 with manual transmission, the couplings BMW uses, which other manufacturers do to, are overly complex engineering exercises.

[k90]

Threw the old mickey in ultrasonic bath. This part was yet to fail. It has trippy scale pattern inside that I believe to be result of delamination.

[mecheng77]

Originally Posted by k90

Threw the old mickey in ultrasonic bath. This part was yet to fail. It has trippy scale pattern inside that I believe to be result of delamination.

What mileage is on that flange?

[k90]

Originally Posted by mecheng77

What mileage is on that flange?

245000km

[mecheng77]

Originally Posted by k90

245000km

Did it fail or did you just change it for good measure ?

[krhodes1]

Originally Posted by mainbearing

Yes I have seen it online. Looks like hard PVC material like some of the ones Ford and GM would use. With a PVC line failure, when it rains it pours.

I already spliced a rubber hose all the way from the radiator hose to about 1/3 the way from the reservoir tank.

IMO BMW should just mold bibs onto the reservoir tank and the radiator (not the upper hose) and run a simple rubber hose in between and use two clamps on both ends instead of a fancy plastic coupler with o-ring and retainer clip.

The reason is very simple. It is cheaper to assemble the fancy push/click couplings, it's only ONE part they have to inventory instead of a hose and two clamps, and they seal correctly first-time/every-time on the assembly line, so fewer warranty repairs. Past the warranty, it is your problem, not theirs, but these things last a very long time compared to hoses of days gone by.