Preventative maintenance - coolant, oils, water pump

M

M1k3yC

Active member
 Stafford
Hi all

I know that this will create some duplication of other threads so I apologise for those that are going to repeat themselves. I did use Google to search the site and read a few threads before posting, but I couldn't find sufficiently recent information.

I've been planning some preventative maintenance on my 3.0 E86 for a while and with lockdown hopefully gradually easing I'm getting prices and a booking with my local independent specialist for June. I'm definitely getting the coolant, manual gearbox oil, and diff oil changed. Can anyone who has had this done recently suggest a reasonable price for this work, please? A rough range would be fine. My specialist says that the diff oil listed by BMW is the sames as for the E46 M3, making it very expensive. Is that correct, since my coupe is a non-M?

The car has done under 50k miles. I'm in two minds about the water pump and thermostat. Especially as the additional cost to do those items is really high and the pump may die this year, or last several more (who knows). A couple of questions on this one: again, if anyone has had that done recently, what's a reasonable price, please? Also, can anyone recommend somewhere reputable to get the necessary OEM (Pierburg?) parts? From reading other threads it seems the price for the parts can vary and that's clearly bumping up the cost.

Finally, are there any "must do" preventative items that aren't hugely expensive, but people recommend?

Thanks in advance!

Mike
 
Regarding the water pump and thermostat -

I’ve just done this on my roadster as a preventative measure as I had a suspected faulty thermostat and car had done just under 90k miles.

Purchased Pierburg pump from this seller on eBay for £250. Best price I could find in the UK and fast delivery.

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F392183091602

Bought ready mixed Comma Xtream G48 coolant from
Amazon. 10 litres for about £38. Needed 7.6 litres for car.

I bought the thermostat from a forum member for £25 but you can get a BEHR/MAHLE for around £50 from plenty of eBay sellers.

Finally labour, a mechanic friend did mine for £70. After seeing him do it, it could be a DIY job if you have the tools. A garage would charge you 2 hours labour I would guess.

So all in, around £450??
 
Hi Mike, I can’t help with labour prices as I try and tinker myself but I’m also flushing coolant soon (50k Miles as well). I am going to leave all the parts in and replace the pump, expansion tank and possibly thermostat between 55-60k miles. I’m thinking that generally pumps seem to go from 60K miles so may as well drain again and get rid of any dregs of original coolant out that remained. In my case it will probably mean dropping it again in 18 months.

Watch my pump, tank and stat all fail next month... :roll:
 
Hi Mike,

If it hasn't been done already you might want to add removing the CDV to your list. Sorry I can't help with the costs of fluid changes as mine were done at the same time as other jobs. But my Indy didn't recommend changing the diff oil as he said the diff on my 3.0Si didn't have a drain plug.

Water Pumps seem to be unpredictable. The one on my 1st Coupe died after 60K miles and 9 years, but my 2nd Coupe looked to be on the original after 90K miles and 13 years. The one in my 325i went after 135K and 12 years, but that may have been it's 2nd!

But they seem to have got much dearer recently. ECP are showing over £500 before the 40% Bank Holiday discount. :o My Indy charged me £300 for the new pump on my 325i in 2018.

You might want to check the rear brake pipes too - they often corrode near the end of the plastic cover that runs adjacent to the sill.
 
Wow 500 knicker!

Am I right in saying that e85 water pumps are much cheaper? Seem to be when I google searched.
 
Only had the Z4 for 4 months but had a Z3 for 9 years prior. Over the years I Replaced just about everything cooling system related on the 3.

Scouring the Net once I got the Z4 I found this https://germanautosolutions.com/store/bmw-12bar-coolant-cap/

I purchased the cap and DISA rebuild from them. Reading their propaganda on the cap, I thought it made sense. Basically they say the pressure the stock cap allows is higher than required and what with all the plastic bits in the BMW cooling system add years and heating/cooling cycles...well their cap at the lower pressure puts less stress on the system thus less chance of failure. They also say BMW has changed to a 1.2 bar cap in their later models. So at $35 US I thought it cheap insurance.

FWIW
 
steve_naive said:
Wow 500 knicker!

Am I right in saying that e85 water pumps are much cheaper? Seem to be when I google searched.
Click to expand...

The M54 engine pumps are cheaper (pre-facelift) as they're belt driven rather than electrical. The Facelift E85 (06 on) and all E86s have electrical pumps as they have the N52 engine (excluding the 2.0 4 pots here for simplicity)
 
Old-Duckman said:
Only had the Z4 for 4 months but had a Z3 for 9 years prior. Over the years I Replaced just about everything cooling system related on the 3.

Scouring the Net once I got the Z4 I found this https://germanautosolutions.com/store/bmw-12bar-coolant-cap/

I purchased the cap and DISA rebuild from them. Reading their propaganda on the cap, I thought it made sense. Basically they say the pressure the stock cap allows is higher than required and what with all the plastic bits in the BMW cooling system add years and heating/cooling cycles...well their cap at the lower pressure puts less stress on the system thus less chance of failure. They also say BMW has changed to a 1.2 bar cap in their later models. So at $35 US I thought it cheap insurance.

FWIW
Click to expand...

Makes sense in theory, but if your cooling system is over-pressurising to the point it requires a relief valve in any situation you've got more serious problems than a potential expansion tank crack to sort out.
 
Thanks for all the replies so far. I'm going to see whether the specialist I use would be happy to fit genuine parts that I've supplied as it looks like shopping around for the water pump and stat is going to save quite a lot of money. That said, I'll probably leave the water pump a little longer to spread the cost.
 
mjennings23 said:
Old-Duckman said:
Only had the Z4 for 4 months but had a Z3 for 9 years prior. Over the years I Replaced just about everything cooling system related on the 3.

Scouring the Net once I got the Z4 I found this https://germanautosolutions.com/store/bmw-12bar-coolant-cap/

I purchased the cap and DISA rebuild from them. Reading their propaganda on the cap, I thought it made sense. Basically they say the pressure the stock cap allows is higher than required and what with all the plastic bits in the BMW cooling system add years and heating/cooling cycles...well their cap at the lower pressure puts less stress on the system thus less chance of failure. They also say BMW has changed to a 1.2 bar cap in their later models. So at $35 US I thought it cheap insurance.

FWIW
Click to expand...

Makes sense in theory, but if your cooling system is over-pressurising to the point it requires a relief valve in any situation you've got more serious problems than a potential expansion tank crack to sort out.
Click to expand...
I’m sure I didn’t explain it well, their site does a far better job. However the stock BMW cap, quoted off their site... “run a cooling system vent pressure of 2.0 bar (29 psi)” Their cap is rated at 1.2 bar. So apparently all systems do vent at some pressure, theirs just does it considerably lower than the stock cap.

You would get a far better explanation than I try to relate following the link in my previous post.
 
Old-Duckman said:
Only had the Z4 for 4 months but had a Z3 for 9 years prior. Over the years I Replaced just about everything cooling system related on the 3.

Scouring the Net once I got the Z4 I found this https://germanautosolutions.com/store/bmw-12bar-coolant-cap/

I purchased the cap and DISA rebuild from them. Reading their propaganda on the cap, I thought it made sense. Basically they say the pressure the stock cap allows is higher than required and what with all the plastic bits in the BMW cooling system add years and heating/cooling cycles...well their cap at the lower pressure puts less stress on the system thus less chance of failure. They also say BMW has changed to a 1.2 bar cap in their later models. So at $35 US I thought it cheap insurance.

FWIW
Click to expand...

I want my Z4 to last forever so wondering that cap you linked does it straight replace the existing cap (i have a E85 2.0l)

Also is replacing the DISA or removing it completely somethign that can help?

Thanks
Bobby
 
M1k3yC said:
Thanks for all the replies so far. I'm going to see whether the specialist I use would be happy to fit genuine parts that I've supplied as it looks like shopping around for the water pump and stat is going to save quite a lot of money. That said, I'll probably leave the water pump a little longer to spread the cost.
Click to expand...
Dont see it mentiooned, but the Pierburg pump linked above for £250ish is the exact same thing as the BMW branded one, all it's missing is the badge. Pierburg are the OEM for that part, so effectively you're saving £200ish by not having a badge on the pump, that's all.
 
yyz_bobby said:
Old-Duckman said:
Only had the Z4 for 4 months but had a Z3 for 9 years prior. Over the years I Replaced just about everything cooling system related on the 3.

Scouring the Net once I got the Z4 I found this https://germanautosolutions.com/store/bmw-12bar-coolant-cap/

I purchased the cap and DISA rebuild from them. Reading their propaganda on the cap, I thought it made sense. Basically they say the pressure the stock cap allows is higher than required and what with all the plastic bits in the BMW cooling system add years and heating/cooling cycles...well their cap at the lower pressure puts less stress on the system thus less chance of failure. They also say BMW has changed to a 1.2 bar cap in their later models. So at $35 US I thought it cheap insurance.

FWIW
Click to expand...

I want my Z4 to last forever so wondering that cap you linked does it straight replace the existing cap (i have a E85 2.0l)

Also is replacing the DISA or removing it completely somethign that can help?

Thanks
Bobby
Click to expand...
Yes it is a straight replacement. You should read the info on their site. They use original BMW internals and recalibrate them to vent at 1.2 bar. They say most BMWs built between 1985 thru 2006 vent at 2.0 bar.

I’m new to the M54 having owned a 1.9 M44 Z3 prior and have little to no knowledge about the M54 engine and Z4s in general just what I have read here and other places on the Net. German Auto Solutions (GAS) sells DISA rebuild kits for the 2.5 and 3.0. I did a quick internet search and the N46 2.0 does not have a DISA valve. I would imagine someone will post if that is incorrect.

Like I said in my earlier post, I read the info on the GAS website and it made sense to me... and for $35 US, I didn’t have anything to lose. Plus it is a nice looking item, the part you see is black anodized billet aluminum.
 
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