Update: Worst night ever

e36325is

e36325is

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#1
hey all

Well, @ 2 weeks ago i wrote a post about My buddy redlining my e36 325is, when i drove home that night it over heated.. I thought i was going to have to replace the engine.. I had it towed over to eastside Bavarian, cool local shop, the two owners are hella cool, (have taken my e30 and e36 there a few times One owner is the previous lead tech from Bellevue BMW the other owner is from a 1st class shop called Strictly BMW... anyway they looked through my car (no charge) and found that the Water pump spun itself to death when the RPMs were redlined, so instead of replacing the engine (thought there would be internal damage due to the heat) i need to replace the radiator, thermostat and Water pump, parts tax and labor 771.82 (they are also giving me a small discount) so seven hundred dollars is much better than approx 4k :) So this thursday i get my e36 back! happy days!! although I have been driving my E30 that i have been trying to sell while the e36 was in the shop, now i kinda want to keep the e30 and put a m50 in it :p but what ever that is too much money, know anyone who wants an E30 for a good price? let me know lol

Thanks :)

-Ben [spank]
 
jszar

jszar

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#3
go take it to a dealer and see how much it'l cost to fix...i did, they wanted approx. $1800! i had the same thing done to mine, but because the thermostat died, and a sensor was bypassed, so i didnt know my car was overheating, ruined the radiator, water pump, thermostat, and i had them change the belts and oil while it was in there. i took it to a guy i have know many years, he always cuts me 20% on labor. so it was about $770 too. i guess it was a good thing in the long run, i am moving to texas in a few months for college, and i guess replacing the cooling system should help. now i just need to tint the windows, and recharge the AC.
 
e36325is

e36325is

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jszar said:
go take it to a dealer and see how much it'l cost to fix...i did, they wanted approx. $1800! i had the same thing done to mine, but because the thermostat died, and a sensor was bypassed, so i didnt know my car was overheating, ruined the radiator, water pump, thermostat, and i had them change the belts and oil while it was in there. i took it to a guy i have know many years, he always cuts me 20% on labor. so it was about $770 too. i guess it was a good thing in the long run, i am moving to texas in a few months for college, and i guess replacing the cooling system should help. now i just need to tint the windows, and recharge the AC.
Click to expand...

ACK! $1800.00! dosent suprise me, the dealerships always seem to be almost 2 times the amount of a good shop.


thanks for the replies!
 
P

Pink_Floyd

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#6
mjbst111 said:
I'm sitting here trying to think of how the heck a broken water pump would hurt the radiator.

Can someone please enlighten me?
Click to expand...
That was my initial thought as well. What I think is that maybe when the water pump spun itself to death all the little bits and peice inside broke off and got into the radiator and messed it up, as well as the thermostat. $771 still sounds very high though. Replace the water pump, thermostat and radiator would be a pretty easy job. If I had a second BMW I would not waste the money on labor costs since you can afford to have your e36 out of service for a week or two when you fix it yourself. Either way - thank god it wasnt the engine, good to hear :)
 
E

epj3

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#7
e36325is said:
hey all

Well, @ 2 weeks ago i wrote a post about My buddy redlining my e36 325is, when i drove home that night it over heated.. I thought i was going to have to replace the engine.. I had it towed over to eastside Bavarian, cool local shop, the two owners are hella cool, (have taken my e30 and e36 there a few times One owner is the previous lead tech from Bellevue BMW the other owner is from a 1st class shop called Strictly BMW... anyway they looked through my car (no charge) and found that the Water pump spun itself to death when the RPMs were redlined, so instead of replacing the engine (thought there would be internal damage due to the heat) i need to replace the radiator, thermostat and Water pump, parts tax and labor 771.82 (they are also giving me a small discount) so seven hundred dollars is much better than approx 4k :) So this thursday i get my e36 back! happy days!! although I have been driving my E30 that i have been trying to sell while the e36 was in the shop, now i kinda want to keep the e30 and put a m50 in it :p but what ever that is too much money, know anyone who wants an E30 for a good price? let me know lol

Thanks :)

-Ben [spank]
Click to expand...
I would've done it for you for half that cost.
 
e36325is

e36325is

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#8
mjbst111 said:
I'm sitting here trying to think of how the heck a broken water pump would hurt the radiator.

Can someone please enlighten me?
Click to expand...

yeah that does sound weird, but.... I was driving on I-90 for a few minutes while the car was almost to the overheated mark (red square) Unfortunalty the next exit was about 1-1/2 miles away, since the car was hella hot (touching the red/in the red) I decided to replace the radiator, since the plastic weakens when it over heats, since the radiator is acessable due to the water pump removed, it would be cheaper to get it fixed now, since the labor time would lap over. it is cheaper to do the radiatior now, instead of having them do it when the radiator is not as acessable as it is now, they recommended doing it, i agreed, just in case, they said they would do it without replacing the radiator too better safe then sorry :)



plus when my girlfriend agrees i can get work done to my car, i want to get as much done as possiable, never know when she'd be cool with it :) ya im whipped [whip] but shes [spank]
 
e36325is

e36325is

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#10
Pink_Floyd said:
That was my initial thought as well. What I think is that maybe when the water pump spun itself to death all the little bits and peice inside broke off and got into the radiator and messed it up, as well as the thermostat. $771 still sounds very high though. Replace the water pump, thermostat and radiator would be a pretty easy job. If I had a second BMW I would not waste the money on labor costs since you can afford to have your e36 out of service for a week or two when you fix it yourself. Either way - thank god it wasnt the engine, good to hear :)
Click to expand...
Thanks! [headbang]


replacing the engine would have made the e36 MIA for a couple months
 
selavia

selavia

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#11
Relatively great news. Still 770 is a bunch of money. However glad that it wasn't as bad you were thinking. I still don't understand how the water pump could ruin the radiator; to me, what makes better sense would be that the radiator was ready to go anyway. Maybe you can help me understand the connection. Thanks.

And there ain't nothing wrong with being [whip]
 
e36325is

e36325is

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#12
it did not ruin the radiator.. When the engine overheats the plastic can warp or weaken, me replacing the radiator is a precautionary decision. it does not Have to be replaced, but may be a good idea, that is why i am.

If i do not replace it, it Could work fine for a for many years, or it could fail, i jsut want to be safe thats all [driving2]
 
selavia

selavia

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e36325is said:
it did not ruin the radiator.. When the engine overheats the plastic can warp or weaken, me replacing the radiator is a precautionary decision. it does not Have to be replaced, but may be a good idea, that is why i am.

If i do not replace it, it Could work fine for a for many years, or it could fail, i jsut want to be safe thats all [driving2]
Click to expand...

AHHH!! My bad. I'm studying for exams right now, and I came here to unwind. SOrry, I didn't understand what you said earlier.
 
A

abcxyz

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#14
Hmm....overheating here sure sounds like a common problem. I bought my 98 328is used in Feb 2003 (83000miles on it), and the same thing happened to mine in November 2003. Had it towed to the dealer. They called me the next morning and told me the thermostat broke, overheated, radiator blew as well. When I got the car in Feb 2003, I also noticed the transmission just didn't feel right, it would be hard to shift into first gear from a stop, and whenever I shifted to 2nd, the car would jerk forward. I'd been driving stick for 16 years, so I figured it wasn't me. So I asked the dealer to check that out too. Well turns out that the transmission had some kind of "internal failure" (those were the dealer's words). So they replaced my entire transmission with a new one. Also, fixed a power steering leak. So, new transmission, new theromstat, new radiator, power steering leak fixed....Total cost of bill........... $50.00. THANK GOODNESS FOR CPO WARRANTY!!!! (My warranty ran out this past February 2004). They said the transmission job alone would've costed $4000.00! So now half my car is new and I have a 2 year warranty on all those parts now too!

Moral of story -- Get CPO warranty if you're gonna buy used!
 
e36325is

e36325is

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#17
abcxyz said:
Hmm....overheating here sure sounds like a common problem. I bought my 98 328is used in Feb 2003 (83000miles on it), and the same thing happened to mine in November 2003. Had it towed to the dealer. They called me the next morning and told me the thermostat broke, overheated, radiator blew as well. When I got the car in Feb 2003, I also noticed the transmission just didn't feel right, it would be hard to shift into first gear from a stop, and whenever I shifted to 2nd, the car would jerk forward. I'd been driving stick for 16 years, so I figured it wasn't me. So I asked the dealer to check that out too. Well turns out that the transmission had some kind of "internal failure" (those were the dealer's words). So they replaced my entire transmission with a new one. Also, fixed a power steering leak. So, new transmission, new theromstat, new radiator, power steering leak fixed....Total cost of bill........... $50.00. THANK GOODNESS FOR CPO WARRANTY!!!! (My warranty ran out this past February 2004). They said the transmission job alone would've costed $4000.00! So now half my car is new and I have a 2 year warranty on all those parts now too!

Moral of story -- Get CPO warranty if you're gonna buy used!
Click to expand...

please fill me in on what a CPO warranty is too, if it is somthing i could pick up, i just may want too..... also $50.00!!!! that is awsome
 
A

abcxyz

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#18
CPO = Certified Pre Owned

It's the warranty that comes when you buy a used BMW from a DEALER, or you buy-out someone's lease. It means that the vehicle has gone through thorough inspection by the dealer before they put it up for sale, and it's in excellent condition so they tack on an extra 2 year warranty (or 100000miles whichever comes first) onto the original 4 year warranty.

In my case, I bought out someone's lease, and the residual value on the lease was only $14971.00, so someone had been making some big lease payments that were out of proportion with depreciation and/or market value of the car at that time, cuz last year when I got it, market value was around 18-19k. So I lucked out I guess, and lucked out even more when the car broke down!
 
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