93' 520i water leak - Advice needed.

[PVO_Dave]

I have been offered a free K reg (1993), the only problem is it leaks water! (and it's in France and im in England!!)

I have done a few searches and looks like it's going to be either the Rad, the water pump or the thermostat.

Being a bit of a er... novice at car mechanics, I am wondering how difficult these engines are to work on?

I will have a haynes manual and plenty of tools, what sort of difficulty would you rate this job at, and any further advice on these BMW's and water leaks would be much appricitated!

Thanks!
Dave.

[MicahO]

The M50 motor-ed e34's are great for working on - lots of room under the hood, great and logical layout for all the maintenance bits.

First thing to verify - if there's a water leak, make sure that it's coming from the radiator/waterpump/hoses/tstat housing. If it's in one of those areas, it's a snap. If it somehow happens to be coming from the motor itself and could indicate a head gasket problem, run away!

Okay - presuming that it's a leak in the former "easy" category, there are a few weak spots that you'd likely want to take care of anyhow. First, the radiators on these cars have plastic tanks. These tanks can leak at the top, where the plastic hose nipple gets brittle. They also leak at the bottom, where the ORings get brittle and lose their seals. On a '93, good preventive maintenance might be to simply swap the radiator out. Second -the water pumps are really only good for 60K or so miles. They've got plastic impellers that break down, and if the plastic impeller doesn't let go, the seals might let go instead. So the water pump is a good thing to replace. And while you are in there, all of the hoses are up for renewal.

The good news is that all of these maintenance issues on an M50 motor are a snap. As long as your leak is up front and not from the block, it should be a piece of cake.

--Micah O'C
(used-to-be '92 525iT owner)

[PVO_Dave]

Thanks for that! lets just hope it's not the head gasket! - It wouldnt leak much water from that though would it?