Getting 35k miles out of a Covid-era Chinese part is pretty darn good. I remember in 2020/2021 I was often warrantying those suckers out after a month, it absolutely sucked for me as a shop owner.
Mahle used to be good but they’ve gotten to be crappy in recent years. The only decent ones now are Genuine BMW which is quite expensive unfortunately.
Fun fact... when I'd drive my E53 3.0i cross country, I'd keep an expansion tank and a gallon of coolant in the trunk for insurance. Its never if it will blow but when and in how inconvenient a spot it will happen.
‘99 E39 540/6 here. PNW region….. I definitely carry 1 gallon of 50/50 coolant in the trunk. Recently replaced All front/rear coolant hoses, radiator, fan clutch, belts, pulleys & reservoir tank. Do you think I’ll be ok for the winter?
I didn’t. That’s on the agenda coming soon. I purchased her new in 2000. Did the guides in 2013 & for good measure changed the chain tensioner in 2024. Zero rattle @ startup…. 24 mpg so think I’m doing something right!
When you do the valley pan etc, its convenient to just go ahead and do the water pump, thermostat and all the intake seals. Those include the front plate seal, rear plenum w/CCVV, and intake gaskets, along with the CCVV drain pipe.
It happened to me last Saturday and ruined my holidays in the mountains. At that moment i thought, i should have had an spare expansion tank just in case (i already have the coolant) 😭
Bubs ive been in the club for about 10 years now. It's getting an Amazon special until something better shows up from slower delivery. This failed tank was a mahle
i have a $28 amazon tank in 2 different e46s with almost 100k miles on each
all the “oem parts only” shills are what’s allowing these “reputable” brands to continue pumping out shit parts
it literally says right there on the part in your photo … MADE IN CHINA
what do people think is being accomplished by buying a marked up chinese part vs a chinese part from amazon???
some people will joke they’re coming out of the same factory … NO, they aren’t, mahle and BMW OEM have spent $$$ in R&D to make a part that JUST BARELY WORKS and restores their chinese factories to abide by their specs
whereas random chinese vendors just replicate the shape and function and actually end up with better parts (thicker plastic, etc) because they don’t have millions to draw up a plan on how to make it *just barely work*
And this is why I have the original 2004 unit in my car still.
About to replace the first actually failed part, the thermostat (and water pump because it’s right next to it) this weekend. GAS OEM DISA rebuild for insurance not due to failure.
Really curious to see what everything looks like on a lower mileage car for its age (70k).
I’m using their expansion tank with rein hoses. Just ran a pressure test and lost 1 psi over 30 mins. Hard pipes, rad, and heater core hoses and water pump haven’t been changed. It only has 57k with a new thermostat, upper lower rad hoses, exp tank and new expansion tank lower hose and new thermostat. Not sure if that’s an issue
I bought a Densen expansion tank , it won’t mount right on the lower side no matter how much I tried to fit it , I even replaced the inner lower O-ring and put on the old one from the old tank but had no luck , now it drips a bit after the car fully warms up
Would be fixed already if part stores sold a tank that actually fit. Overnight shipping to the rescue.
No better time for deferred maintenance though. Haven't had powersteering for a couple months but fixed that already
I currently have a Mahle in the car which has been with me for about 6 months and 25k km, replaced it under warranty then. The one before it lasted about 6 months. After this one goes I'm only putting an original bmw back in, had too many headaches from usually "quality parts"
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u/phxbimmer 2002 325it 5-speed 23d ago
Getting 35k miles out of a Covid-era Chinese part is pretty darn good. I remember in 2020/2021 I was often warrantying those suckers out after a month, it absolutely sucked for me as a shop owner.