XSeries-forum

My F25 30d is taking ages to warm-up these cold mornings, and the fuel consumption has shot up. I've ordered a thermostat & gasket, but how much coolant am I likely to lose? I'm not particularly well-known at the dealership, and they don't seem too keen on passing-on information when I'm DIY-ing.

It Should say in the handbook at the rear in tech info section.

marti wrote: ↑Thu Dec 05, 2019 7:06 amIt Should say in the handbook at the rear in tech info section.

OK, I'll check there. Thanks.

Nothing in the handbook.

However, newtis says "Top-up quantity of coolant in the event of repair with disconnected coolant hoses" and lists 2.0ltr. So I'll get 2x 1.5ltr bottles and keep my fingers crossed.

StuBeeDoo wrote: ↑Thu Dec 05, 2019 7:16 pmI'll get 2x 1.5ltr bottles and keep my fingers crossed.

I assumed that in the 21st century all coolants would come pre-mixed. Wrong! ....Well, wrong from BMW's point-of-view. I did buy 2x 1.5ltrs, but that gets me 6ltrs when mixed 50/50. That should be plenty. I've never known a BMW yet that takes the full quantity. I rebuilt my E30's engine, and even then it took a lot less than I was told it should.

Right, so I made a start. What a ballsache!

For anyone who doesn't know, the electric cooling fan has to come out, and even then you can't really see what you're doing. The thermostat housing that's integral with the water pump housing is angled downwards and I haven't yet found a way of holding the 'stat in place while the cover is bolted back up - there's nothing to locate it. I can't find any information on the 'net and as I said before the dealership won't pass-on info to DIY-ers. I'm going to attempt to fabricate a clip to hold the thermostat into the cover while the bolts are screwed in enough for the 'stat to become tensioned.

......And don't do what I did and drop the plastic cover onto the garage floor from chest-height. It's flimsy, and very expensive!

I will update again when I finally get finished. I'm beyond the point-of-no-return now, but if there is a next time I'll pay my local garage to do it for me.

Well, this isn't going well.

As noted above, I dropped the thermostat cover and broke it. That was Sunday lunchtime.
First thing Monday I was on the 'phone to the dealership to order a new one. I didn't expect them to have one in stock, and that wasn't a problem.
Tuesday I want to collect it, and they had ordered-in totally the wrong part. They said they'd have the correct part first thing this morning.
I went to collect it, as arranged, and it hasn't arrived. So, IF it arrives tomorrow, the car will have been off the road for 4 days. Partly my fault, but it doesn't stop me being p****d off.

It's finally all back together. I'm slightly concerned that it took 7ltrs of coolant, but on test the guage went to bang-on the 100deg mark.

In total, at the second time of doing, the job took 1hr45min including the road test.