Not so much done today, but ordered stuff for this weekend.... (sorry for the Dutch language!)
Arrived at the office last Friday, to be greeted by a small puddle forming under the car... quick look under the hood saw the puddle starting right under the expansion tank.
I assumed I was still on the original tank at 23 years and 138k km, so knew I was on borrowed time. Had a cooling system refresh planned ever since I got the car last year but yeah as everything was working kept pushing it down the road.
Luckily it was a small leak, and I was able to make it to my parents about a 30 min drive down B-roads with a close eye on the temperature gauge. I think/hope the 1.4 bar cap I put on the tank earlier helped in preventing the small leak becoming a big one.
As I live in the center of Amsterdam, and my parents have a house with a driveway in a small village, I'm going to tackle the job there.
Did find it hard to select which supplier to choose. In the end I went with a water pump, expansion tank, and the bracket from BMW themselves. I read too many stories on varying quality even from previously trusted suppliers like Saleri etc. I am curious however who the manufacturers and manufacturing location will be on the BMW ordered parts. But hoping that the extra 100 eur or so I spent on BMW parts pays off in longer longevity and no need to tackle the job again anytime soon.
For brands that seem to be ok (Nissens, INA, Wahler) I ordered somewhere else.
