[the_experiment]

Did mine a few days ago thanks to this thread!!
I'm at about 43k and it came part while I was taking it off rather easily.
So glad I saw this. Thanks again!

[davidr3]

Hate to be the one to rebump a thread. I figured I was under 50k miles and in the clear, my shit broke and this thing LEAKS and leaks fast!! Swap them out or be stranded, BMW sold me the part at the dealer for 45$ Save yourself the headache later. Thankfully I was at home.

[Niart906]

Anything related to a cooling system on an aging BMW is suspect in my mind. This hose is no different. It's important to consider the age of these parts as well as the miles on them.

[SeanFitz335]

Just got my replacement today. Figured for $32 I'd swap out the original with 68k before it left me stranded. Tried to gently remove the original to keep as an emergency spare. It snapped right at the connection on the drivers side when trying to pull the connector off. Good thing I replaced it when I did.

[superherorockstar]

Mine broke about a month ago at 83k miles

[Zyler]

Fell victim to this yesterday. Left me stranded on the parkway in 90 degrees for an hour waiting for a tow. Funny thing is I planned to replace it after reading this thread a month ago, just had it on my "to do" list.

Car gave me the "engine temperature too high, drive moderately" warning, immediately pulled over, popped the hood, and saw coolant everywhere. No coolant in the overflow tank at all.
Hopefully I shut it down in time and no other damage was done.
Getting the part tomorrow and going to do a flush and fill. Everyone should replace this with the new part - Dont be like me and wait.

[lens]

Originally Posted by Zyler

Fell victim to this yesterday. Left me stranded on the parkway in 90 degrees for an hour waiting for a tow. Funny thing is I planned to replace it after reading this thread a month ago, just had it on my "to do" list.

Car gave me the "engine temperature too high, drive moderately" warning, immediately pulled over, popped the hood, and saw coolant everywhere. No coolant in the overflow tank at all.
Hopefully I shut it down in time and no other damage was done.
Getting the part tomorrow and going to do a flush and fill. Everyone should replace this with the new part - Dont be like me and wait.

Lol mine snapped as I came back from the grocery store, I noticed a puddle of water underneath my car and thought it was from the car wash, popped the hood and it was wet as shit, didn't know where it was from, so I started the car and lo-behold, that piece was broken and coolant was coming out like a hose. Shut it down and expedite ordered the piece as I have a 500 mile road trip this coming weekend.

Should arrive Thursday hopefully and I gotta top off coolant and bleed it and go for a drive to make sure nothing else is broken

This piece lasted me 155k miles surprisingly.

[Zyler]

Originally Posted by chaungo

Lol mine snapped as I came back from the grocery store, I noticed a puddle of water underneath my car and thought it was from the car wash, popped the hood and it was wet as shit, didn't know where it was from, so I started the car and lo-behold, that piece was broken and coolant was coming out like a hose. Shut it down and expedite ordered the piece as I have a 500 mile road trip this coming weekend.

Should arrive Thursday hopefully and I gotta top off coolant and bleed it and go for a drive to make sure nothing else is broken

This piece lasted me 155k miles surprisingly.

I was at 83k and it snapped off completely. Although an hour before it broke i did notice the car felt "unusual" when i was pressing the throttle. But not enough that it stopped me from driving. Anyone know if a leak in the coolant system would affect driveability even without any warnings or malfunctions going off?

[davidr3]

Originally Posted by Zyler

I was at 83k and it snapped off completely. Although an hour before it broke i did notice the car felt "unusual" when i was pressing the throttle. But not enough that it stopped me from driving. Anyone know if a leak in the coolant system would affect driveability even without any warnings or malfunctions going off?

No, not directly but a lack of cooling ability certainly will affect other components. This is only if your coolant dropped enough.

[lens]

Excuse the filthy engine lol.

So I got the part in within three days (had to expedite the shipping from pelican parts as they were the only ones that shipped the quickest from california to canada) and much to my surprise, it was a genuine BMW part. I paid a bit extra for the shipping as I needed it before this weekend as I had a 500 mile roadtrip back home.

Install took legit less than 5 mins, filled up the coolant tank as it was completely empty (the broken part dumped everything) it took about 3/4 of the coolant jug (3.78L so about a gallon and a half or so) and did the bleed procedure. Took exactly 12 minutes, (car had battery discharging pop up as I haven't drove the car in a week) but surprisingly it had enough juice to complete the bleed. Didn't have to top up as when it was done, the coolant was sitting at the max line, I went for a 10 mile test drive and checked for leaks and all was good, coolant levels stayed the same, but what was surprised me was the fact that the car ran cooler than it did before the part broke, which told me that the garage I had brought my car to do a coolant flush did not bleed the system correctly.

I'll be adding this part to my maintenance list of "change every 60k miles or so"

[Zyler]

Originally Posted by chaungo

Excuse the filthy engine lol.

So I got the part in within three days (had to expedite the shipping from pelican parts as they were the only ones that shipped the quickest from california to canada) and much to my surprise, it was a genuine BMW part. I paid a bit extra for the shipping as I needed it before this weekend as I had a 500 mile roadtrip back home.

Install took legit less than 5 mins, filled up the coolant tank as it was completely empty (the broken part dumped everything) it took about 3/4 of the coolant jug (3.78L so about a gallon and a half or so) and did the bleed procedure. Took exactly 12 minutes, (car had battery discharging pop up as I haven't drove the car in a week) but surprisingly it had enough juice to complete the bleed. Didn't have to top up as when it was done, the coolant was sitting at the max line, I went for a 10 mile test drive and checked for leaks and all was good, coolant levels stayed the same, but what was surprised me was the fact that the car ran cooler than it did before the part broke, which told me that the garage I had brought my car to do a coolant flush did not bleed the system correctly.

I'll be adding this part to my maintenance list of "change every 60k miles or so"

Same thing happened to me - Car is running cooler than it was before. I had to add about the same amount as you also. My bleed process took alot longer though, about 20 minutes until i could hear it stop bleeding air.

[Zyler]

Originally Posted by davidr3

No, not directly but a lack of cooling ability certainly will affect other components. This is only if your coolant dropped enough.

If the coolant dropped low enough to affect other components, shouldnt a low coolant warning have come first?

[OldCrow7xx]

Hey guys I had this exact thing happen to my fiance and I sunday. We were stranded at the top of Skyline Drive at Big Medows from 3-10pm. It was insane we saw bears and had to hike around for phone service god awful day.

My question is what is this part? What does it do for the radiator system? And why is such a critical piece/point of failure made so cheaply?

Wish I had seen this thread for the heads up! Thanks

[thejeremyman9]

Originally Posted by OldCrow7xx

Hey guys I had this exact thing happen to my fiance and I sunday. We were stranded at the top of Skyline Drive at Big Medows from 3-10pm. It was insane we saw bears and had to hike around for phone service god awful day.

My question is what is this part? What does it do for the radiator system? And why is such a critical piece/point of failure made so cheaply?

Wish I had seen this thread for the heads up! Thanks

It's just the coolant overflow hose... allows coolant to go into the overflow tank from the main cooling system.

It's not that its made cheap persay... its just BMW plastic so it will eventually become brittle after many heat cycles. Seems to be worse for people who live in climates with big temperature swings. I just replaced mine at 45k in California and the one i took off felt completely fine, new one almost seemed more rigid, even though it was manufacturer late 2019 (its stamped on the hose).

[OldCrow7xx]

Originally Posted by thejeremyman9

It's just the coolant overflow hose... allows coolant to go into the overflow tank from the main cooling system.

It's not that its made cheap persay... its just BMW plastic so it will eventually become brittle after many heat cycles. Seems to be worse for people who live in climates with big temperature swings. I just replaced mine at 45k in California and the one i took off felt completely fine, new one almost seemed more rigid, even though it was manufacturer late 2019 (its stamped on the hose).

I guess what I am trying to visualize is how the overflow line can deplete the entire capacity of the system? Instead of just "over flow"?

[thejeremyman9]

Originally Posted by OldCrow7xx

I guess what I am trying to visualize is how the overflow line can deplete the entire capacity of the system? Instead of just "over flow"?

It's because of the way the overflow line is attached to the main system cooling on these cars. It's not like a traditional overflow line where its 'behind' a 15psi cap; its directly linked to the main radiator hose. So when it breaks, it will immediately leak coolant, rather than not even 'seeing' any coolant until coolant is pushed past the cap in a traditional system.

[davidr3]

Originally Posted by OldCrow7xx

I guess what I am trying to visualize is how the overflow line can deplete the entire capacity of the system? Instead of just "over flow"?

He explained it pretty well, but everyone has their own case, mine snapped at 49k and I live in california as well. The good thing is I was at home and jacked up my car so that coolant wouldn't spill so I barely lost any. Sorry to hear about your experience, guess it should serve as a real world experience to all the people pushing it off. Sooner then later will prevent you guys having to top it off, bleed it, and replace the hose on the side of the road stranded.

[turbotwo28]

Looks like for most owners its around 50k -80k for part failure. Mine went at 79K but luckily i was near the house. Did anyone ask the mods to stickie this? It's such a cheap fix and to have it go in a remote area or late at night is a real PIA.

[warcraftjs]

Well mine kicked the bucket just today when I was at a restaurant in Ohio 300 miles from my home in Illinois. Its Sunday and can even get the part if I wanted to. But now my wife is driving out from home with the new coolant line (that I had already bought) with a gallon of BMW coolant. So I can fix it tomorrow. I have 62,xxx mile.

I know I have to bleed the line but do you all think I need to hook up a battery charger to do the electronic bleed? Or will the battery hold up for the bleed?

[jh_f30]

Originally Posted by warcraftjs

Well mine kicked the bucket just today when I was at a restaurant in Ohio 300 miles from my home in Illinois. Its Sunday and can even get the part if I wanted to. But now my wife is driving out from home with the new coolant line (that I had already bought) with a gallon of BMW coolant. So I can fix it tomorrow. I have 62,xxx mile.

I know I have to bleed the line but do you all think I need to hook up a battery charger to do the electronic bleed? Or will the battery hold up for the bleed?

It's recommended you hook up a battery charger. A healthy, fully charged battery will probably get through it ok, but why risk it?

[warcraftjs]

Originally Posted by jh_f30

It's recommended you hook up a battery charger. A healthy, fully charged battery will probably get through it ok, but why risk it?

I just got back from fixing my car. The problem I had was I had no way to plug in a charger because I was in a parking lot. But I had my mothers car to jump me if needed.

I did the job and then did the bleed procedure and I was fine. This may have been different if my battery wasn't newer.

Thanks a lot.

[Zyler]

I have a 2013 with the original battery and I did the bleed process twice without a battery charger. First time took a little over 15 minutes to complete. Its possible to do without one, but better to be safe then sorry.