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BMW 3-Series (E90 E92) Forum > E90 / E92 / E93 3-series Technical Forums > DIY Guides > E90 N52 Engine Coolant Change



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      12-06-2014, 04:30 PM   #133
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I did a coolant refresh as well. The instructions were spot on. I got only about 1.25 gallons out (I was a little low) and about 1.5 gallons in. I used compressed air and a funnel through the coolant reservoir to blow out trapped coolant. Got a little spatter, but that was it. Getting that plastic elbow off the thermostat is a B1TCH, I gave up after about 20 mins of struggling. It is very hard to reach to get any kind of leverage. I tried using a screw driver like a previous poster suggested, but didn't want to score the plastic part. I just got the hose off the water pump instead like the OP said, and drained another pint out. Did the venting process twice and didn't get any hiss either. Car seems to run smoother/quieter, but that must be my imagination! Thanks for the DIY!
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      07-03-2015, 12:01 PM   #134
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Okay, so as I worked on installing an OEM oil cooler I had to drain and refill the radiator. I finished it after delays due to work and went on a test drive yesterday, everything was good until this morning. Sitting in brutal traffic suddenly I got a low coolant warning. Soon enough I was pissing fluid from the plug I believe. Engine went to limp mode and eventually killed the engine to prevent damage and I barely made it to work but had to park far as fuck from where I actually needed to be. So hopefully it's the plug, but I might have to get a tow to my house to get it taken care of or to the shop. Hopefully nothing was harmed, I probably should have replaced the entire plug. I check the bay and there was no fluid from any of the lines I had to remove so it has to be the plug and those o-rings. I only have 48.7K on the clock.
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      08-23-2015, 10:44 AM   #135
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Eagle1oh7 View Post
Okay, so as I worked on installing an OEM oil cooler I had to drain and refill the radiator. I finished it after delays due to work and went on a test drive yesterday, everything was good until this morning. Sitting in brutal traffic suddenly I got a low coolant warning. Soon enough I was pissing fluid from the plug I believe. Engine went to limp mode and eventually killed the engine to prevent damage and I barely made it to work but had to park far as fuck from where I actually needed to be. So hopefully it's the plug, but I might have to get a tow to my house to get it taken care of or to the shop. Hopefully nothing was harmed, I probably should have replaced the entire plug. I check the bay and there was no fluid from any of the lines I had to remove so it has to be the plug and those o-rings. I only have 48.7K on the clock.
what was the issue?
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      08-23-2015, 08:59 PM   #136
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Quote:
Originally Posted by derek7467
Quote:
Originally Posted by Eagle1oh7 View Post
Okay, so as I worked on installing an OEM oil cooler I had to drain and refill the radiator. I finished it after delays due to work and went on a test drive yesterday, everything was good until this morning. Sitting in brutal traffic suddenly I got a low coolant warning. Soon enough I was pissing fluid from the plug I believe. Engine went to limp mode and eventually killed the engine to prevent damage and I barely made it to work but had to park far as fuck from where I actually needed to be. So hopefully it's the plug, but I might have to get a tow to my house to get it taken care of or to the shop. Hopefully nothing was harmed, I probably should have replaced the entire plug. I check the bay and there was no fluid from any of the lines I had to remove so it has to be the plug and those o-rings. I only have 48.7K on the clock.
what was the issue?
The plug has tabs that snap off when you remove them. I couldn't see the fine details of it in the service manual. Got the panel off and saw it was half way out. Ordered a brand new assembly from ECS and that was that. No problems since.
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      08-24-2015, 08:15 PM   #137
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Quote:
Originally Posted by derek7467
Quote:
Originally Posted by Eagle1oh7 View Post
Okay, so as I worked on installing an OEM oil cooler I had to drain and refill the radiator. I finished it after delays due to work and went on a test drive yesterday, everything was good until this morning. Sitting in brutal traffic suddenly I got a low coolant warning. Soon enough I was pissing fluid from the plug I believe. Engine went to limp mode and eventually killed the engine to prevent damage and I barely made it to work but had to park far as fuck from where I actually needed to be. So hopefully it's the plug, but I might have to get a tow to my house to get it taken care of or to the shop. Hopefully nothing was harmed, I probably should have replaced the entire plug. I check the bay and there was no fluid from any of the lines I had to remove so it has to be the plug and those o-rings. I only have 48.7K on the clock.
what was the issue?
The plug has tabs that snap off when you remove them. I couldn't see the fine details of it in the service manual. Got the panel off and saw it was half way out. Ordered a brand new assembly from ECS and that was that. No problems since.
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      09-28-2016, 10:33 AM   #138
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Eagle1oh7 View Post
The plug has tabs that snap off when you remove them. I couldn't see the fine details of it in the service manual. Got the panel off and saw it was half way out. Ordered a brand new assembly from ECS and that was that. No problems since.
My plug/sleeve broke on me last week too. I bought a new one, inserted, turned it and it also broke. So what is the correct technique to install this thing? New part on order....
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      09-29-2016, 01:07 AM   #139
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Quote:
Originally Posted by markslc1
Quote:
Originally Posted by Eagle1oh7 View Post
The plug has tabs that snap off when you remove them. I couldn't see the fine details of it in the service manual. Got the panel off and saw it was half way out. Ordered a brand new assembly from ECS and that was that. No problems since.
My plug/sleeve broke on me last week too. I bought a new one, inserted, turned it and it also broke. So what is the correct technique to install this thing? New part on order....
Did you turn it with a tool?
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      10-16-2016, 06:27 PM   #140
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Did this today. I removed the two drains on the radiator, and I unlocked the U hose on the thermostat (but did not decouple it), it did "leak" some more water. Did I miss something?
Overall I got approx. 1.2 Gallons out. And it indeed started to overflow again when filling after apprx. 1.2 gallons.

Did I miss a drain bolt?
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      11-14-2016, 10:54 AM   #141
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2007 E91 Radiator flush

Flushed my radiator this weekend. The '07 328i E91 N52K engine has one plastic radiator drain plug on the driver side bottom of the radiator. Once you remove the plastic cover from the bottom of the car it is right there. The best tool to remove the plug is a quarter.
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      05-17-2018, 06:19 AM   #142
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I saw a youtuber do this for draining the engine block and was wondering what you guys think. Rather than disconnect the hose off of the thermostat like the TIS instructions state he disconnected the line going from the thermostat to the transmission oil cooler. This fitting is much easier to get off as it is much more accessible and since it's fairly open there the coolant won't splash off of as much stuff. Would draining via this fitting be just as effective?
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      05-17-2018, 08:19 AM   #143
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Not sure what your intent is, but I'd use the blue stop cock, as intended. If you're flushing the coolant then you'll be putting in water and running the car to dilute and clean out the remaining old coolant. Be sure to give the hoses in the system some good firm squeezes to help move fluid up and out of low lying areas in the hose. Once you re-fill with new coolant/water, whatever old stuff is left will be so diluted it won't matter. You won't be hurting the cooling system. If you're trying to dry the entire system, then yeah take off the hose but that seems pointless.
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      05-17-2018, 06:46 PM   #144
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The blue drain plug is used to drain the majority of coolant but TIS and other manuals also state to loosen the #2 hose off of the thermostat to drain the engine block. The thing is that plastic fitting and hose are impossible to get off and on the xi model the back of the thermostat with the standard hose clamp is inaccessible. Just trying to get as much of the old coolant out as possible.

Last edited by Yangorang; 05-18-2018 at 06:48 PM..
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      05-17-2018, 08:27 PM   #145
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I can appreciate trying to get as much out as possible. I'm the same way. But think about this...Once you drain the system refill it with water. Go through the cycle process and then turn the car on for 15 minutes to continue cycling the water. Have a beer or two. Drain it again through the blue stop cock, and then do another water flush. Have another beer in the process.

Add fresh 50/50 mix and whatever residual coolant will be so diluted that you'll barely change the ratio . At worst it would be a 49/51 mix.
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      05-18-2018, 06:53 PM   #146
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Yeah I was thinking about that as well and it makes sense...the extra gallon of distilled water costs almost nothing anyway. Most people do the whole sequence with setting the heater and pressing the throttle to the ground for bleeding. I prefer to do through INPA to monitor progress and attached a screenshot below in case anyone is curious.
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      06-01-2018, 05:28 AM   #147
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Performed a coolant flush when changing the OFHG. Glad I did, as the coolant didn't look like it was in the best shape.

Rad Plug



Drained just shy of 5L from the Rad



Removed the thermostat pipe to get the rest out of the block. The pipe is on there pretty tight, and it feels like you're just about to break the plastic connector when the O-Ring finally lets go.
Same pipe shown from both the top and the bottom





Drained another ~750mL from the block, for ~5.5L total.



Ended up putting about 7L back in. No CEL, but it was obviously low on coolant before.
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      07-06-2018, 02:03 PM   #148
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Not bleeding

What should I check, just installed new water pump and thermostat. Follow procedure and never starts the purging. I can hear my blower going but nothing at water pump or over flow. Replaced the 40amp fuse already under hood passenger side. t/u for any help
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      07-07-2018, 07:19 AM   #149
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Working

Finally purge worked and I have heat. New pump and tstat...
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      06-11-2019, 08:07 PM   #150
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Quote:
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I prefer to do through INPA to monitor progress and attached a screenshot below in case anyone is curious.
How did you find your way into INPA to do that?
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      12-05-2019, 07:16 PM   #151
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Changed coolant today (2 year mark). Drained through driver side radiator drain plug (passenger side dry) as well as hose between thermostat and water pump. In all 1.5 gallons out and 1.5 gallons in with liquid pouring through bleed screw. Initially a bit surprised I didn't need closer to 2 gallons; burped all the houses, ran venting sequence and didn't need to top off. Most cumbersome parts of the job are jacking the car and getting a small splash when pulling the thermo house.
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      03-04-2021, 07:09 PM   #152
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Can't you just flush out the coolant with water?
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      03-06-2021, 02:49 PM   #153
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Here’s the hard part…

To drain the coolant from the engine block you need to remove a few hoses from the water pump and thermostat housing. The BMW TIS procedure calls for removing the lower radiator hose that goes into the front of the thermostat housing. That hose has the funky BMW plastic coolant hose fitting and is a PIA to get loose. I chose to remove the u-shaped hose running from the back of the thermostat housing to the water pump and the hose from the block to the water pump (nothing really came out so you don’t need remove that hose). The hoses I removed use regular BMW hose clamps w/ 6 mm bolt heads
9) Place the coolant catchpan underneath the thermostat/water pump housings.
10) Remove the u-shaped hose running from the thermostat housing to the water pump. About 16 ounces or more of coolant will come out.
11) Once the coolant has drained, reinstall the u-shaped hose, re-attach the powersteering hose, and reinstall the blue radiator bleed screw.


with regards to paragraph above, how many hoses do we exactly have to loosen? I just removed the drain plug and a hose that goes into the water pump from the thermostat. drained only about 5 litres of coolant tho
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