Originally Posted By: ViragoBry
Wow...why a new radiator and tank? Is this the case with all BMWs or just ones wih the M54? It's a slippery slope to being a 'throwaway car' if high $$ components have to be replaced before 100K.
They're all relatively cheap plastic components that have been shown to fail by 60-80K miles, at least in e46 (previous gen 3 series) and e39 (previous gen 5 series) with that engine. Many owners switch to aluminum radiator while doing the overhaul, but an aftermarket radiator can be pretty expensive. Of course, it's not a guarantee that your cooling system will fail, but if it does and your engine overheats, the potential repair costs would be even higher, so many people just decide to be proactive about it.
In my case, I developed a coolant leak as early as 55k miles, but my car is 7 years old, so age is probably a bigger factor than mileage for me. I had the cracked hose/purge valve replaced. If I decide to keep the car for a while, I'll go ahead with the cooling system overhaul at some point soon. I've been getting all sorts of leaks as of late (cooling, power steering, oil). Can't seem to keep up with them, even though I don't drive this car much - maybe that's the problem in itself - it's become a garage queen.
