Did anyone had this experience? the engine over heated during normal drive (70mph avg for about continous 65miles drive), and maybe due to some pressure the radiator shield broke a coin size hole on it, and the coolant spashed out and smoke came off the hood. The strange thing is the radiator hole, which did not happen on the pump area but on the hard plastic area, even the dealers could not explain why. I had to replace the radiator, alt pulley, alt belt. this E39 has got about 67k miles on it now.
2007-10-03 07:49:32 · 2 answers · asked by Prabha 2 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Car Makes ➔ BMW
Perhaps the plastic part had a thin spot. it happens during extrusion if the operator isnt paying attention
2007-10-03 07:56:35 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
You're actually lucky that a radiator, belt and pulley is all you needed. It could've been much worst and a lot more expensive!
I'm also not exactly sure why a belt and a pulley was involved too if it was simply an overheating due to coolant loss.
Without examining the damage area, it's hard for anyone to give you any accurate answers on how your damage came about except purely by guessing.
In your case, I would guess that the area was previously damaged/weakened either by impact of a stray object or struck by a tool by a careless technician. Have you ever had work done near the damaged area?
A 2002 E39 with 67k miles is actually still relatively new, and is quite rare for something like that to happen due to "wear and tear".
2007-10-03 19:15:45 · answer #2 · answered by Snowie 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋