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.

(more…)

CALL NOW