E39 ...What do do now

Fingers Mcginty

Howdy folks,
Was going into work a few weeks ago when the rad cracked so had to be towed home. Put another rad in and same thing happened a few weeks later. Mechanic says rad fan is knackered. Basically I need a new radiator fan, Radiator and thermostat....couple a hundred Euro which I'm reluctant to put into the car. The car is a '99 BMW 520i with 160K miles on the clock. It's served me well for most of the 100K I've put up on her but I've just had to fork out a lot of dosh over the last few months and just want rid of her now at this stage.
The car is currently in the garage and with the rad cracked is undriveable. I'd have to get it towed back to the gaff. Question is would it be worth anything to anyone. It's a shame to just scrap it.

biko

Put it on www.adverts.ie with lots of pics.
Someone willing to fix her up will take it.

Donedeal it, adverts folks will wreck your head offering swaps of old socks, vouchers for Big Macs, part exchanges of ST220s (or similar dirt :pac:) etc etc .........

Fingers Mcginty

RoverJames wrote: »

adverts folks will wreck your head offering swaps of old socks, vouchers for Big Macs, part exchanges of ST220s (or similar dirt :pac:) etc etc .........

Ha Ha ...that cheered me up

BlackWizard

Does it have any fancy equipment like leather seats or nice alloys?

Seriously though, it it has a years test left on it, well it may well be worth sorting her, you should get €1400 ish for her with no issues. As a non runner as it is now someone may well throw €400 your way though. Rad fan on them has some plastic bit that fails regularly, I'm sure they can be bodged with a drill if your at all handy, would be more or less fine then with a new stat and rad.

voxpop

Sounds like a HG issue rather than viscous fan. The fan failing wont cause the rad to crack - there are a few tests you can do on the viscous fan.


In fairness, an E39 with 160k on the clock will need waterpump,thermostat,thermostat housing, renewal of plenty of the coolant system pipes,a new rad, possible viscous fan, front and rear suspension overhaul. It probably has a clogged ccv aswell. By the sounds of it yours needs and a new HG on top of everything else. Unless you are planning on keeping it for another few years - it wont be worth your while doing all that.


If its got leather/sports steering wheel/hids/nice alloys -it would be worth a few hundred to the right person, or if you broke it more

voxpop

voxpop wrote: »

Sounds like a HG issue rather than viscous fan.

Really? How so ?

voxpop

RoverJames wrote: »

Really? How so ?

pressure build up from compression leaking into water jacket. Probably worse case scenario but the E39 has a pretty shoddy cooling system and does literally fall apart over time. More info from the OP may help tie down the issue, but the whole cooling system will need to be replaced or risk a bout of overheating.

If the viscous fan fails the car will overheat in traffic but will be ok on M50 or the likes

Fingers Mcginty

Viscous fan ....that's the lad. Couldn't remember the name. That's what the mechanic said was bad. This is the fan at the rad correct? He said he did a test and the HG seemed Ok The car has leather seats ...new mats...alloys...rear parking sensors. That's why it's not sitting well with me to just scrap it. I'll get it hauled back to the gaff and take some nice photos of her.

Leonard Hofstadter

If it's just the viscous fan then it's worth fixing IMHO.

As others said, the cooling system on E39s is not exactly their strongest feature.

They're a fabulous car though, too good to scrap if there's a few extras in it, despite the fact that the quality control department clearly had an 'off' day when it came to the design of the cooling system, and several other features in the E39, like the suspension, dash pixels, a/c (the "hedgehog" problem), cupholders, ATF if you've an auto, and swirl flaps in the diesels.

itarumaa

Are you sure that expansion tank cap works as it should. That was the problem in my old Matiz and the whole system was collecting a lot of pressure. I bought a new cap and issue was solved. I would check this before getting rid of the car.

DublinDilbert

There could be two problems, the pressure cap not opening correctly and viscus fan coupling. I would change both and fit a new rad.

Some pressure testers come with an attachment for testing the presure caps.

I would also fit the presure tester and run the car and monitor the pressure...

Fingers Mcginty

Just couldn't be bothered putting any more money into it now at this stage.

Voodoomelon

I don't understand, is the new radiator cracked again? Where did it crack the first time, along the top, expansion tank etc?

Big Nasty

Too nice a car to scrap IMO. Most of these parts can be picked up for a few hundred euro in a scrapper. Fix her up and drive her until NCT runs out then sell it on.

Fingers Mcginty

yes new rad cracked in more or less the same spot

Matt Simis

Fingers Mcginty wrote: »

yes new rad cracked in more or less the same spot

But if it was overheating to this level wouldnt the Temp gauge be through the roof when driving? If it was a bigger/better engine an enthusiast would snap it up to fix, but cant see anyone getting out of bed for a broken 520i..

Fingers Mcginty

Temp gauge was fine x2 but then all of a sudden it would go sky high...I'd pull in but too late

Voodoomelon

The radiator cracked in the same place a few weeks later? Is this not covered under the mechanics/rad manufacturers warranty?

I'm still not seeing how a failing fan clutch causes the radiator to crack, where abouts did the crack form? Why didnt the mechanic spot this the first time?

I wouldn't be happy.

Fingers Mcginty

I have the car in adverts.ie now

http://www.adverts.ie/car/5-series/5-series/bmw/404001

The radiator that went in was a second hand one

voxpop

Take a few pics of the inside aswell. Id try on bmw-driver.net and donedeal, u might get some interest. Price a bit steep imo

Fingers Mcginty

Aye it's full leather interior with wooden dash though. I'll put a few pics up tomorrow. Going to give the leather a good clean/condition with the bespoke kit first. Cheers for all the replies lads.

Henry Ford III

I'd remove the leather interior, and alloys and sell them separately tbh. With heavy enough repairs needed and high mileage the rest of the car isn't worth a whole lot.