The Cooling System – Killing your BMW
I got a phone call from a guy once in regard to his 2002 3-series. Here’s how it went:
Guy – ‘Hi, yesterday I was driving on the freeway and all of a sudden I lost my power steering, the battery light went on and then I noticed that the temperature gauge was in the red. So I pulled it over and had it towed to my house and I’d like to tow it over to you to see what is wrong’
Me – ‘Well, what most likely happened is that the water pump failed and you lost the belt that operates your power steering and alternator. Unfortunately, with the car over-heating, you are most likely going to need a new engine in the car as those engines cannot survive an overheating without major damage.’
Guy – ‘Well, it runs fine except that in the morning it runs pretty rough for about 30 seconds and then it’s really smooth.’
Me – ‘You are definitely going to need an engine, but feel free to tow it in.’
This is the number one killer of BMWs built after 1999. The Cooling System.