Cooling system (CHECK!)

This is Harriet and she has 55,880 miles on her and is just back from the shop. She had the following done:

Water pump with metal impeller
Fan switch
Thermostat and thermostat housing
Sealing gaskets
Expansion tank & cap
1 Gallon Coolant
Upper & lower radiator hoses
And temp sensor
The belts are in good shape and the mechanic said after looking over the car they found no surprises and that it was in very good shape.

Wrong forum. You want "Model_T_Fanatics.com" where people can talk about cars named "Harriet", "Bessie" and "Buttercup" with a straight face.

However, we are glad you got the cooling system replaced.
Let us know when you get that pimpin Chrome Hand Crank, and remove a leaf spring for an 8 inch drop.

You don't need to tell me, I know I am being a d!ck tonight. I'll save you the post.

I am sure the mechanic is saving the old water pump, hoses, and expansion tank for another e46 because at those miles, these are barely broke in.

What a hand-out for the mechanic

That one gallon of coolant...I hope they added water (distilled) to make a 50/50 mix....and I hope the thermostat with housing was an OE wahler plastic housing...as the aluminum ones seem to work only days at most!

BTW, next time, the composite blade WP is fine. The panic over plastic wp blades falling apart is over...that was quite a while ago and since then bmw has made a better composite. No worries.

Originally Posted by MercForHire

I am sure the mechanic is saving the old water pump, hoses, and expansion tank for another e46 because at those miles, these are barely broke in.

What a hand-out for the mechanic

You realise they don't just fail depending on mileage, its also to do with age.

Great girl, very low miles i'm at 85K ready to do cooling redo when weather cools down here

Originally Posted by MercForHire

I am sure the mechanic is saving the old water pump, hoses, and expansion tank for another e46 because at those miles, these are barely broke in.

What a hand-out for the mechanic

Wrong.

Cool! Now you've got many more miles of peace of mind! Your car makes me want a steel grey pre-facelift coupe. So clean.

Originally Posted by tock172

Cool! Now you've got many more miles of peace of mind! Your car makes me want a steel grey pre-facelift coupe. So clean.

Well I want your suspension, how's it feel compared to stock? My
Suspension is doin fine but I want bilsteins and hr springs next. This car sticks well stock when pushed but I can only imagine it with that set
Up.

Originally Posted by MercForHire

I am sure the mechanic is saving the old water pump, hoses, and expansion tank for another e46 because at those miles, these are barely broke in.

What a hand-out for the mechanic

haha.. seriously right? must be nice to have money to fix perfectly working things. i can see prevent maint at like 100k. but 55k? shiat. that's like a new car.

john

Originally Posted by john311tran

haha.. seriously right? must be nice to have money to fix perfectly working things. i can see prevent maint at like 100k. but 55k? shiat. that's like a new car.

john

Come on now. His car was manufactured in 2002. I think he made a good investment having the cooling system replaced.

Originally Posted by PrecisionX

Well I want your suspension, how's it feel compared to stock? My
Suspension is doin fine but I want bilsteins and hr springs next. This car sticks well stock when pushed but I can only imagine it with that set
Up.

It feels incredible. Definitely something I recommend when your stock components wear out.

Originally Posted by john311tran

haha.. seriously right? must be nice to have money to fix perfectly working things. i can see prevent maint at like 100k. but 55k? shiat. that's like a new car.

john

WRONG.

There is more to preventive maintenance than mileage, in fact there are plenty of people out there that would argue age is a bigger factor than mileage.

I dare someone to roll the dice with their cooling system because of mileage

OP is at 56k miles, my ET failed at 65k miles, all you people claiming he made the wrong decision are....

As others have mentioned the car is 10 years old, the failing of a cooling system has a lot to do with heat cycles, not just mileage.

If you habitually overfill your coolant you can pretty much blow an expansion tank every year.

Originally Posted by MercForHire

If you habitually overfill your coolant you can pretty much blow an expansion tank every year.

When did anyone ever say they overfilled anything? I'm sorry, you're just wrong, plain and simple.

Sent from my DROIDX using Bimmer App

Originally Posted by EverydayGetaway

WRONG.

There is more to preventive maintenance than mileage, in fact there are plenty of people out there that would argue age is a bigger factor than mileage.

my car is 10 in 4 months. original expansion tank and working perfectly fine. i'm going to change it next spring as preventative maintenance. it should be at about 110-115k miles by then. change at 56k. that's a silly waste of money if you ask me.

but hey, if you got an extra 400-600 laying around then by all means, go for it. it's not going to hurt you.

john

^I'll be the first to lol when your "My EP tank busted" thread pops up.

The above guy is a strong case of a ZHP-Nazi who is hypnotized into thinking his car equals a Porsche 911.
Ignore him

Originally Posted by MercForHire

The above guy is a strong case of a ZHP-Nazi whose is hypnotized into thinking his car equals Porsche 911.
Ignore him

You're hilarious, really. I've had my "ZHP" for less than a year and bought it because I wanted the best E46 I could buy with 4 doors. My opinions would be the same if I were driving a 530i (as I was originally looking for) or a plain jane 330i. Good maintenance doesn't stick to ZHP owners alone...