M3AN

Assuming you didn't add the markup to those pictures Chris I read that text as saying interference is expected on RHD cars (which would be odd, you'd think they'd design that out). How are you reading it?

Yeah, I certainly wouldn't dent the headers. That bit that you've marked isn't load bearing so it would be at the lower end of my "concern scale" but you need to remove enough material to ensure it never came into contact, even with worm mounds or you'll be in a whole world of exhaust leak pain. If you chopped off the marked bit, would the mount shaft and nut clear the headers? If not then modifying the bracket would be futile.

Hmm, 10mm sounds like a lot. Impossible to tell from the pic but if it's likely to affect the strength of the hole then that would be a "nope" for me. And on the other hand I wouldn't want to compromise the headers... is a custom mount an option? Or remove the material from the top of the bracket and reinforce the hole elsewhere (perhaps the underside)?

If I'm seeing the interference correctly then do the latter for sure. Might it just be the head shield (assuming that's what the sheet metal is)?

In the case that they're the same cost there's no question, Speed Science are based in NZ, you have automatic CGA protection if you buy from them, none at all if you buy from overseas.

Lordy, lordy, that's a nice car. GLWS.

PM sent.

Further to this, I didn't know how much the electric pump got out so I drained and filled her 3 times, 2 fills with de-mineralised water, then finally a fill with 50:50 G48 (Penrite concentrate). Each drain included the electric pump procedure and running the car with the heater on, I reckon about 2.5 litres is left in the system each time, you'd need to drain that via the block. Regardless, after my 3 cycles, whatever remained would be sufficiently diluted to be of no concern. I still want to do the water pump etc as I have no records on that. This hose was OE so it may be that nothing else has been touched. Car's at about 130k.

Nice work on the mats @Vass, and smart move to remove that aftermarket alarm crap. 👍

Bimmercode is great, check car compatibility and recommended adaptors at their site: https://bimmercode.app/

@Angelo I'm just up the road, happy to help if I can. I have butane torch you can borrow, and some Rost Off Blue Ice for cooling, it would be best to start with cooling although I don't know how much is left in the can but you can pick up more from Wurth in Wiri. Do you have any vice grips or wrench pliers that you can grab the head with? Cutting the head off, or even just the flange, will release the tension and should allow it to be removed. Drilling through the head will allow you to insert something into the hole to twist it out, being aluminium that should be viable. Have a bunch of tools you can borrow if you like, I'm in Mt Wellington and working from home on Monday.

I won't do the work for you, read some of the recent posts... 😉

Got the bugger off, had to use a Dremel (carefully), there was no way it was budging otherwise. New one slipped on easily indicating the polymer resin, probably the wrong type, on the old one had shrunk considerably. Took me all of 10 minutes, I should have resorted to that at the beginning. New hose on, system bled, running her up to temp now.

Looks good although not a fan of the stripe. Easy enough to do? Where did you get it from?

Yes, that's exactly what I've done, thanks. They were left soaking last night, will be starting up again soon, hopefully they're ready to budge.

Oft, this "hose" is really poorly designed, I'm not sure if it could be dumber. 40 mins in and one end is a few mm off but still stuck hard, the other end I haven't touched yet (and that's the largely inaccessible end). Two different types of plastic mating, in a coupling exposed to thermal expansion, nothing to leverage against because it's all plastic, mated to a plastic extension on the radiator that, if it breaks, requires a whole new radiator, and, because of "unnecessary" design features (locating lugs for installation only), you can't twist it off. Something like a twist lock coupling would seem much more sensible (there's an inner seal, the coupling itself doesn't need to provide the seal, just the clamping force). It's BMW branded so probably 130k kms old, but still. Oh, and a chemist from Honeywell that apparently provide the liquid compound used in the plastic fitting on the hose claims it's incompatible with the coolant BMW specify. Neat. So my 1 hour refit and top-up is evolving into a multi-day exercise. Ace. 🙄😐 I do like the electric water pump and the ability to get it to purge coolant, does anybody know how much remains in the block after the electric pump finishes its process (it cycles on and off for about 12 minutes)?

That PS situation is quite astonishing. If there's nothing wrong with the system then it might simply be a consequence of track time plus your aggressive camber and (effective) offsets, that's a lot of extra steering load. Steal on the pump, good score!

Still one of the best lookers they've ever made ^, from any angle.

lol - well as it turns out I had the wrong coolant for the E87 so had to get new stuff, as a result will do exactly what you suggested @Jacko. 🙄

Whilst I agree that's not practical at the moment, and I have enough concentrate to top it up (I think) but not fill it up. I suppose I'll find out when I remove the original hose!

Does anyone have an idea about how much coolant I might lose replacing the top hose? It's still dripping nearly 4 weeks on so clearly there's still coolant running into the existing hose (much to my surprise, I've lost over 1 litre already).

So, coolant hose arrived, later than expected but I haven't had a lot of time recently so no real loss, I wasn't expecting Saturday delivery. Does anyone know how much (more) coolant I'm liable to lose when I remove the existing one? To my surprise it's still dripping nearly 4 weeks after it started. I was going to jack up the left side of the car only when replacing it in the hope of making that hose the highest part of the system, but am unsure if that's a futile exercise?

I'm not sure about race to the bottom, good reproductions are as good as the original, the originals are just criminally overpriced. So the open market tells us what they're actually worth, and highlights how unreasonable BMW branded parts prices can be. My Renn coolant hose was $70 including shipping and GST, same part from BMW, same manufacturer, over $150. So, what are they worth? Well, ~$70 obviously, certainly not $150. And there's no real value added service in supplying spare parts, that shouldn't materially affect the cost of the product.

Right, I didn't know it was the same thing, it wasn't when tried Spark Sport (some time ago now). Regardless, 100 bucks a season is better than 25 bucks a month, there's very little else on Spark Sport that I'm interested in.