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      05-03-2018, 09:57 AM   #1
carbonM
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Coolant leak drivers side

I woke up to this morning to a coolant leak under my X5 50i. I didn't notice it leaking when I parked it last night so not sure when it occurred. I popped the hood and found coolant around the reservoir tank.



I thought it maybe leaked out of the cap area. Checking the level it was just below the min. There was coolant on the underside of the hood, so there was enough pressure to make it splash up. I started up the car, let it warm. Didn't see it leaking at all.

I pulled the car forward, leaving it running and looked under the car to find it leaking pretty good, created a small pool. I moved the car back into my parking spot and it wasn't leaking like it was before.



I drove around the block twice to see if I left a trail of coolant which I did, but when I looked under the car is wasn't leaking at that point. I looked under the hood again but didn't see anything leaking.




Last edited by carbonM; 05-03-2018 at 10:47 AM..
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      05-03-2018, 10:49 AM   #2
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*Update*
I think it might be the reservoir tank leaking. Looking down at the bottom of the tank where the lower coolant hose attaches, it looks really wet around the connection.
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      05-03-2018, 04:01 PM   #3
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I inspected it further and found its leaking out of the cap into the overflow hole. It's hissing and bubbling in that hole. Maybe just a bad cap?
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      05-03-2018, 05:13 PM   #4
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The exact same thing happened to me. The first thing that I did was replace the cap. However, that didn't really work, so I DIYed the whole tank. After that no more leaks!

So try replacing the cap first.
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      05-12-2018, 12:44 PM   #5
carbonM
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So the expansion tank had a leak in the overflow hole area. I replaced the tank with a geniune BMW expansion tank and cap. The quality of the new tank seemed a lot better than original and the alignment arrow is painted yellow so that you know the cap is secured. Here is pictures
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      05-14-2018, 06:14 AM   #6
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Thanks for sharing and updating us with the fix, good info.
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      05-14-2018, 07:09 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by carbonM View Post
So the expansion tank had a leak in the overflow hole area. I replaced the tank with a geniune BMW expansion tank and cap. The quality of the new tank seemed a lot better than original and the alignment arrow is painted yellow so that you know the cap is secured. Here is pictures
Old
Attachment 1823231
New
Attachment 1823232
Where did you buy the tank from and how much was it?
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      05-15-2018, 04:32 AM   #8
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Glad is fix
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      05-15-2018, 10:33 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Birdoprey View Post
Where did you buy the tank from and how much was it?
I bought it from getbmwparts.com for $100. Service is good and they usually always have parts in stock.
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      05-16-2018, 08:25 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by carbonM View Post
I bought it from getbmwparts.com for $100. Service is good and they usually always have parts in stock.
Thank you sir!
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      05-17-2018, 11:23 AM   #11
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How hard was it to replace it? DIY? do you have to drain whole coolant? or just the coolant in expansion tank?
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      05-17-2018, 01:36 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cbakking View Post
How hard was it to replace it? DIY? do you have to drain whole coolant? or just the coolant in expansion tank?
It's really simple. You will lose some coolant. I don't reuse coolant, but I had to put about a gallon in.
1. Leave the tank cap on.
2. Disconnect the upper hose on the tank.
3. Unscrew the two bolts holding the tank.
4. Unclip the plastic vacuum tube running next to the tank.
5. Unclip the coolant level sensor on the bottom of the tank.
6. Unclip the lower tank hose. Right when you remove the hose, put your finger over the hole on the tank to keep it from draining. Pull the tank out and drain in bucket. You will get more room if you remove the plastic air intake tube.
7. I then put a rubber cap on the radiator host to stop it from draining to much.
8. Put in the new tank and reconnect the level sensor and lower hose.
9. Bolt the tank back down with the two screws.
10. Reconnect the upper hose.
11. Mix 50/50 distilled water and coolant. Fill the tank to the min level and put the cap on. I also checked the coolant level in the intercooler tank as this time.

Start up the car, check for leaks. Drive it around and get it to operating temp. Then once it cools, check the expansion tank level again as it probably will need some additional coolant to bring it back to min. level. DONE!

Last edited by carbonM; 05-17-2018 at 01:42 PM..
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      05-17-2018, 01:41 PM   #13
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AWESOME!! thanks for the info!!
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      05-17-2018, 08:55 PM   #14
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When you do work like that to the coolant system, don't they recommend you bleed the system of air?
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      05-18-2018, 11:06 AM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by omgboost View Post
When you do work like that to the coolant system, don't they recommend you bleed the system of air?
Good question, there is a electric pump coolant bleeding process, but I have never gotten it to work unless the inter-cooler coolant tank has been low.

How to bleed the system using the electric pump process.
1. Connect battery charger.
2. Switch on ignition.
3. Set heater to maximum temperature (set to "Automatic"), turn fan to lowest setting.
4. Depress accelerator to maximum for 10 seconds. The engine must not be started.
5. The bleeding sequence has been started by depressing the accelerator and takes about 12 minutes. (The electric coolant pump has been activated and switches off automatically after about 12 minutes.)
6. Afterwards, fill coolant expansion tank to 250 ml above "Max". (Observe service instructions specific to vehicle.)
7. Check cooling system for leaks.
8. If the bleeding sequence has to be repeated (e.g. if there are leaks in the cooling sys- tem), allow DME to reset completely (remove key from ignition for about 3 minutes), then repeat procedure from step 3.
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      06-04-2018, 11:52 AM   #16
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My coolant expansion tank finally gave away, pool of coolant around driver side front wheel, with carbonM's direction I was able to replace it with ease... but now I've gotten CEL? started with warning message "Please tighten the gas cap" while I was driving so pulled over double checked the gas cap and it was fine and continue to dive then CEL came up along with warning message "Please tighten the gas cap".....
Now I wonder it could be simple as old gas cap - easy fix- but wonder if coolant leak somehow damaged EVAP valve? any help would be appreciated!

Last edited by cbakking; 06-04-2018 at 02:36 PM..
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      06-04-2018, 12:40 PM   #17
carbonM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cbakking View Post
My coolant expansion tank finally gave away, pool of coolant around driver side front wheel, with carbonM's direction I was able to replace it with ease... but now I've gotten CEL? started with warning message "Please tighten the gas cap" while I was driving so pulled over double checked the gas cap and it was fine and continue to dive then CEL came up along with warning message "Please tighten the gas cap".....
Now I wonder it could simple as old gas cap - easy fix- but wonder if coolant leak somehow damaged EVAP valve? any help would be appreciated!
Could be a bad gas cap. Did you check for damaged vacuum lines near the coolant tank? How long have you been driving it since you checked the cap tightness? I know it can take some driving before the code will clear on its own.
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      06-04-2018, 02:31 PM   #18
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Just ordered the new gas cap, hope it's just simple gas cap issue but I have feeling it's something else like purge valve since it's too coincidental warning message right after replacing coolant tank..... crossing my fingers
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      06-06-2018, 10:35 PM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cbakking View Post
Just ordered the new gas cap, hope it's just simple gas cap issue but I have feeling it's something else like purge valve since it's too coincidental warning message right after replacing coolant tank..... crossing my fingers
I got this CEL after using some bad gas.
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      06-07-2018, 12:26 PM   #20
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Tried new gas cap and still got "Please tighten gas cap" message along with CEL, took it to indy the other day, they said I've got leaky fuel breather hoses that need to be replaced, they had to order them so still pending the final results, we'll see if new fuel breather lines are going to fix the CEL.
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      06-14-2018, 11:53 AM   #21
cbakking
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Quote:
Originally Posted by carbonM View Post
Good question, there is a electric pump coolant bleeding process, but I have never gotten it to work unless the inter-cooler coolant tank has been low.

How to bleed the system using the electric pump process.
1. Connect battery charger.
2. Switch on ignition.
3. Set heater to maximum temperature (set to "Automatic"), turn fan to lowest setting.
4. Depress accelerator to maximum for 10 seconds. The engine must not be started.
5. The bleeding sequence has been started by depressing the accelerator and takes about 12 minutes. (The electric coolant pump has been activated and switches off automatically after about 12 minutes.)
6. Afterwards, fill coolant expansion tank to 250 ml above "Max". (Observe service instructions specific to vehicle.)
7. Check cooling system for leaks.
8. If the bleeding sequence has to be repeated (e.g. if there are leaks in the cooling sys- tem), allow DME to reset completely (remove key from ignition for about 3 minutes), then repeat procedure from step 3.
All fixed with new fuel breather lines replaced, but got quick question regarding coolant bleed "How to", when you go thru this steps, does the coolant cap need to be opened or closed? and will this steps bleed inter-cooler coolant as well?
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      06-14-2018, 12:30 PM   #22
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Found this, it sounds like cap needs to be closed during this procedure:
https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/e...check/CMAxpWPX

Venting cooling system: Note:
Do not leave the coolant expansion tank cap open during the venting procedure.

1- Open vent plugs on coolant feed lines to turbocharger.

2- Add coolant up to top edge of expansion tank. Coolant level must not drop further! No drop in coolant for approx. 1 minute. Close vent plugs on turbocharger when coolant emerges.

3- Set heater to maximum temperature. Press Automatic button. Then turn blower down to lowest stage for a minimum period of 5 minutes.

4- After switching off heater pump, add further coolant up to top edge of expansion tank.

5- Check cooling system for leaks.

6- Close expansion tank.

7- Start engine. Allow engine to idle for approx. 1 minute. During this period, press accelerator pedal 3 times (each time lasting 5 secs.) to approx. 3000 rpm.

8- Warm up engine and activate map thermostat via BMW diagnosis system.

9- When engine has cooled down, check coolant level and adjust to max.

Not sure about step 1? what's vent plugs on coolant feed lines to turbocharger?
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