Bad news, BMW E46 related.

"Nibby" (nibby68) 08/08/2014 at 22:32 • Filed to: None

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My sister's friend was driving her facelifted E46 325xi to our house and she called saying it's overheating and smoking. We told her to pull over and we went to check it out. I put some coolant in there and drove it to my uncles place near by. The temp gauge is all the way to hot and the red oil light is blinking. Engine makes some strange noise too. I went with her for the ~2 mile drive from where she broke down to my uncle's place. There was only one red light and the car turned off there, but luckily turned on again. It made a weird rattling noise from the engine bay and it was still running ridiculously hot. Last time it was serviced was just a month ago and BMW said it was running fine. It has 130k miles, if that helps. Is it the headgasket? Also, how do I get this thing back to my house (for we don't mind leaving it in our driveway for now but rather not in someone else's driveway). I can tow it with the Sequoia but I don't have a trailer.

Brian, The Life of > Nibby 08/08/2014 at 22:37

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Is there oil in the coolant or vice-versa? Check for chocolate milk, if none it may not be a head gasket. It could be a stuck thermostat valve. STOP DRIVING IT. Tow it.

Nibby > Brian, The Life of 08/08/2014 at 22:39

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She and my sisters went on vacation for the next week. I told her don't worry about your car, go relax.

There was some liquid spilled on the engine bay but I wasn't sure if it was water or coolant or oil.

Brian, The Life of > Nibby 08/08/2014 at 22:41

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Just don't drive it anymore until you can diagnose the issue. Warping the head would not be good. Anyone have AAA that can help?

AM3R > Nibby 08/08/2014 at 22:43

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if you can't get someone with AAA to help you out I'd rent a trailer from uhaul. Driving it will only cause more problems. That seems really early for a headgasket on an E46.

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > Nibby 08/08/2014 at 22:44

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Call AAA. Which is what you should have done when it first overhead. You could have fucked the head up.

Nibby > Brian, The Life of 08/08/2014 at 22:45

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Not that I know of. I'm not planning on driving it at all, I just want to tow it to my parents place.

Nibby > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire 08/08/2014 at 22:48

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We had an int'l flight to catch. Ain't got time for that shit! My uncle's place was close by.

Nibby > AM3R 08/08/2014 at 22:51

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Yeah there's a UHaul near my uncle's place.

dogisbadob > Nibby 08/08/2014 at 22:55

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You don't need a trailer to tow :p

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > Nibby 08/08/2014 at 22:56

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her money

Clown Shoe Pilot > Nibby 08/08/2014 at 23:04

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when you're overheating, close by doesn't matter. if you don't shut it down, you're done. it sounds like it's gonna be expensive.

Nibby > Clown Shoe Pilot 08/08/2014 at 23:05

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She shut it down for ~20 minutes while waiting for us. I don't know how much that helps or hurts.

VellyHappy > Nibby 08/08/2014 at 23:22

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I'm no tech, but I had the exact car and experienced a similar situation.

Your coolant tank might have a leak (broken) or a burst in the pipe from the coolant tank to the engine = engine overheating. How was the power steering?

My situation @ 200,000 km: Serpentine belt broke, belt splits open the coolant tank and engine bay was immediately cover with coolant (and leaking underneath car). The engine overheats and I lose power steering. Shut off car and called a tow truck, engine was saved. Fixed, but drove for another 2000 km and got rear ended... RIP

Nibby > VellyHappy 08/08/2014 at 23:27

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Steering was okay. Thanks for your input.

Bird > Nibby 08/08/2014 at 23:38

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My bet, your expansion tank burst, letting all of your coolant out, then the car overheated. That probably caused it to blow the head gasket.

If you drive a BMW while the temps in the red, you most likely warped the head too. They really don't like to be overheated.

I know it's too late now, but never drive a car hot...if it overheats and cools off, it may seem fine, but you lost all your coolant. If it's not replaced, it will overheat again almost immediately. The air in the system can also cause localized hot spots. That's one of the big causes of a warped head.

I hope I'm wrong.

FWD > Nibby 08/09/2014 at 00:02

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ss

jordang1028 > Nibby 08/09/2014 at 03:30

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Rent an autozone comp tester and start praying. Also check for oil/coolant mixing. The fact it was driven in the red is very bad news, but you can get lucky. My little brother did this to my mom's 325i a month or so ago and she was lucky. I thought head gasket or warped head for sure, but the BMW gods smiled upon her that day....

Nibby > jordang1028 08/09/2014 at 09:33

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I told her it's probably a head gasket and that it's probably not worth fixing the car. E46 325s with 130k miles sell for around $5-7k. Spending at least half of what it's worth probably isn't a good idea.

n54 & s38 > Nibby 08/09/2014 at 11:43

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if its making a ton of noise and the fan is really loud, it's probably the water pump. At least thats what it always is on the E90 when this hAppens. DON'T drive it anywhere. Should have gotten it towed in the first place probably.

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > Nibby 08/09/2014 at 14:31

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Don't be surprised if it needs an engine. I'm not a BMW tech but I think this is one of the blocks that had problems with pulling head bolt threads when torqueing head bolts. Exasperated by driving hot for a couple miles. Driving overheated basically makes the oil about as effective as water, thus the oil light and noises.

Nibby > AMGtech - now with more recalls! 08/09/2014 at 15:34

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Thanks for your input!

Nibby > n54 & s38 08/09/2014 at 15:35

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We didn't have time to call a tow truck for she had a flight to catch. It's not that loud, just noticeable.

jordang1028 > Nibby 08/11/2014 at 03:44

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Definitely. If it is the head gasket then cut your losses and run!

Nibby > jordang1028 08/11/2014 at 08:35

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My dad refuses to believe it's the head gasket.