E60 525i N52 Engine Overheating...

[t2ribena]

I wish to share my experience with my car which has reach its 3rd year and almost 99,000km mileage... A week ago on the way back from PG and travelling at high speed, my car overheated...the i-drive pop up a message to tell me that the engine is overheating, please so down...then after slowing down few seconds later the next message comes...engine overheated please stop now! so i had to stop on the emergency lane and shutdown the engine leaving the electical on...the fan was blowing at highest speed i ever heard from the engine bay...so i got stranded for like 1 hour before the message goes off...

sent the car to AB...and was told that the heat exchanger for the ATF is the culprit...and they have just confirmed it today that the heat exchanger is clogged and needs to be replaced...also they advise me to change the radiator, termostat, water pump and etc etc...quoted at more than RM6k for the parts only... the first sign was that my driver side Air-Cond blowing hot air...i don't understand why those things can go kong so fast... so guys, if u encountered the same this is a pointer for u guys...:top: update : 18/3 - After BMW M check on the car, they found that the water pump was the source of the overheating and not the heat exchanger as per AB. Only the electric water pump is to be replaced and not all the cooling system components...

 

[wc9922]

Bro, u drive in a rapid pace all the time lah.........Engine also cannot take it from you, surrender.

I suggest to check your ATF fluid is not contaminated with the rad coolant due to that faulty aluminium heat exchanger could have had sprung a leak and some coolant has gone into the gearbox and vise versa.Maybe it's related to your auto box issue u posted before.Seen it happen to other cars before.

Also take notice of the head gasket condition since u had high heat load on your trip back. Check the condition of the radiator top hose during engine hot condition and engine off cold condition for the next couple of days. If it's rock hard when engine's hot & has been driven for a while and/or hose has collapsed/ shrunk in after cooling off overnight, potentially head gasket is on the way out.

 

[t2ribena]

bro wc...thanks for the pointer...i also think the car surrender liau...hahaha

i will check on the head gasket condition as you mentioned...but my car has been with AB since 1 week ago...

 

[Lancelot Adolph]

Hi,

I also have same experience, fixed the whole thing, should cost 6k also, nothing surprise,

Here's what i've changed,
1) Water Tank
2) Thermostat
3) All Water Host
4) Whole fan unit

Just for pre-cautious... rather spend 6k to fix this rather than spend 20k to touch up an overheated engine...

E60 water host faults easily... i've changed mine twice d for the last 1 yr... once mechanic detect leakage, then change.

 

[chookleng]

so how to avoid all tis from going kong? or just cant be avoid n when times up u just have to change the whole things?

 

[t2ribena]

so how to avoid all tis from going kong? or just cant be avoid n when times up u just have to change the whole things?

its part of the wear and tear from the high operating temperature of the engine...the load on the cooling system is just too high...it has to cool the water, engine oil and atf oil...

 

[astroboy]

I notice Lancelot Adolph didn't replace his heat exchanger for the ATF, instead he replace the whole fan unit.. how come ??

 

[E46Fanatic]

I wonder if this affect E90 N52s as well. Hmm...

 

[Lancelot Adolph]

if you guys realise, bmw engines heats up very easily, i've drove an e class and camry before, both cars engine does not heat up so hot like bmw.

its like after you drove a long distance, once stop by r & r, u can feel your engine bonnet is so heated up.

 

[infinityKL]

if you guys realise, bmw engines heats up very easily, i've drove an e class and camry before, both cars engine does not heat up so hot like bmw.

its like after you drove a long distance, once stop by r & r, u can feel your engine bonnet is so heated up.

try going near a heated alfa..

 

[k3nny]

t2ribena,

I had a similar experience to yours but it was a very very weird one. But it cost me around RM3k to fix, not 6K at Sapura Auto.

I was driving to Singapore and sometime around Melaka, same thing that happened to you, happened to me.

Yellow Engine Temp high warning showed up asking you to slow down. So i turn off the A/C, slow down but after a minute or so, the red one showed up saying Engine Overheated. Ask you to stop and call BMW.

So i stopped the car. Turned it off, then got out. Locked the car. Unlocked the car, came back in. Started the car, and hey, no more message!

So i drove all the way to singapore fine. And i drove all the way BACK from singapore fine too. Very spirited driving too. Hehe


So i didnt think anything into it. 3 months later on another trip down to Singapore, it popped out somewhere around Sepang exit. Same thing, it went away after a restart.

But this time it came back at Seremban, Melaka, Tangkak and a few more times. I knew it was getting more serious but after Kluang exit, it started raining and i didnt have an issue anymore?

I think maybe the water cooled down the engine? So i made it all the way to Singapore.

Back from Singapore, it happened once and never again, but then again, it rained all the way back.

So when back in KL, i continued driving for another month or so before sending in the car for service and it seems nothing happens in the city?

Correct me if im wrong but shouldnt the engine be HOTTER when stuck in the traffic jam in the city as opposed to flying on the highway when theres so much air going through the radiator?

In the end, according to Sapura auto the water pump was faulty.

The part cost RM3k and fixed the problem for me.

According to them, the water pump is an electric water pump and when you're on the highway (maintaining constant rpm), the water pump might fail or not go on momentarily causing the engine to rise in temperature abit and get that warning. But the engine ISNT really overheated (oil temp 100c above). its actually just a little bit over acceptable and henceforth when i turn off the car and back on immediatly (and the water pump starts working), its okay again, for awhile.

I hope this was helpful and maybe not everyone needs to spend rm6k.

The funny thing till today for me was tht this would happen on highways and not in the city stuck in a jam at noon with the scorching mid day sun. I would think that it would be hotter that way.

 

[t2ribena]

thanks for the info kenny...now AB has change their diagnostics and blame on the water pump instead of the heat exchanger...the water pump itself is RM2100 from them...

the 6k quoted is for all the item i listed on my first posts...it is more like a preventive maintenance recommendation from them to replace all the things...

 

[ban]

bro good luck on ur repair.
hope to c ur car next tt :top:

 

[xstatic]

check your fan clutch....just my 2 cents....:wink:

 

[k3nny]

thanks for the info kenny...now AB has change their diagnostics and blame on the water pump instead of the heat exchanger...the water pump itself is RM2100 from them...

the 6k quoted is for all the item i listed on my first posts...it is more like a preventive maintenance recommendation from them to replace all the things...

no probs bro.

hope you managed to sort out the problem.

and of course start giving the car hell once again as soon as she's back on the road.

 

[t2ribena]

check your fan clutch....just my 2 cents....:wink:

there is no fan clucth on the N52's e60...its using electric motor...so got fan switch nia...

already check and working fine...


electric motor does not fail suddenly but it losses its performance and efficiency first...in the case of my high speed overheating, the pump could not keep up with the coolant movement requirment to achieved the required cooling during high speed driving...in slow driving or stuck in the jam, the pump does not need to be pumping at maximum level so the reduced performance of the pump could handle the requirement...but over time with this pump that is deteriorating, eventually the engine would overheat even driving at low speed...

 

[astroboy]

Yep... my E90 is running electric water pump too.. meaning it doesn't matter how fast you are driving, or how much air is gushing into the radiator, if the electric water pump stop spinning, your coolant is not circulating. Another effort to squeeze more HP from the engine to the wheels. Too bad my E90 steering pump is still hydraulic instead of on-demand electric, which is a lot more useful than the electric on-demand water pump.

The beauty about on-demand electric pump is, be it coolant, engine oil or power steering, when you need acceleration, it will cut off until critically needed. Just like VVTi in Toyota, as long as u keep pedaling aggressively, it doesn't matter what cabin temperature u set, the compressor just won't cut in!! Good? U be the judge..

Oh yes, one more beauty about electric water pump is when you are really overheated, or after spirited drive, the pump will keep running with the fan keep spinning with coolant keep circulating, even after you shut the engine and remove your FOB!! just like a turbo timer..

Sometime when my wife came home at night, after she came into the house, all house doors lock, I can still hear the E90 fan still spins..

 

[t2ribena]

Sometime when my wife came home at night, after she came into the house, all house doors lock, I can still hear the E90 fan still spins..

wah ur wife also spirited driver kaki oh...:top:

 

[E60MSport]

Good thing that E60's the fan is controlled by temperature. I would not like to hear it blaring away like those old Mercedes W124 E-Class..

 

[t2ribena]

Good thing that E60's the fan is controlled by temperature. I would not like to hear it blaring away like those old Mercedes W124 E-Class..

bro all cars fan also controlled by the thermostat one with different running speed for diff temp...just that the W124 always operating above the switch upper limit thus it is on all the time...

especially for those recon W124's which is not suitable for hot climate...so normally they change the fan to bigger one and always on regardless of the temp...