Some problems.. E34

[ilya]

my brother has my car right now (95 525i). he was driving it and i guess it started smoking from under the hood. he pulled over and put some cold water in, and started it up a bit later and it started smoking again.
what could this be? any ideas?

[Rigmaster]

hmm, we could probably help, but need more info. Where is the smoke coming from? Is it smoke or steam? Is anything leaking onto the ground, or is it just smoke?

Bret.

[ilya]

i just spoke with him, here is the conversation we had:

brother (8:26:48 PM): overheated for some freaking reason
brother (8:26:54 PM): so i took to the shop
brother (8:27:01 PM): they'll tell me what's wrong with it tomorrow
brother (8:27:25 PM): had to get it towed, it sucked, cause i don't have $100 just lying around
me (8:28:46 PM): yeah
me (8:28:50 PM): mom told me abou the towing
me (8:28:59 PM): did it ever overheat before? i never had that problem with it before..
brother (8:29:20 PM): nope
brother (8:29:22 PM): first time
me (8:29:23 PM): also, was it leaking at all? were there any puddles under the car
brother (8:29:28 PM): yea it was
me (8:29:32 PM): oh
me (8:29:37 PM): it's probably a cracked radiator
me (8:29:39 PM): something like that
brother (8:29:43 PM): hopefully not
brother (8:29:51 PM): i don't know how the **** it would get cracked
me (8:30:00 PM): well they wear out over theim that's about it i guess
brother (8:30:04 PM): hopefully just a thermostat
me (8:30:08 PM): or that
me (8:30:13 PM): i wouldn't just trust a body shop though
me (8:30:19 PM): if you have some friends that are knowledgeable i'd ask them too
brother (8:30:26 PM): well see
me (8:30:41 PM): also, have more than 1 shop look at it if you can.. though im guessing you probably can't since you can't drive it right now
brother (8:30:57 PM): i can drive it for maybe 2 mins
me (8:31:21 PM): wowo
me (8:31:24 PM): so it's leaking out
brother (8:31:41 PM): it look like it after i refilled it
brother (8:31:52 PM): only the first time after it i pulled over
brother (8:32:07 PM): then i refilled it and it didn't look like it was leaking anymore
brother (8:32:15 PM): i don't know whatt the hell that was all about
brother (8:32:28 PM): it just gets really hot after about 5 mins
brother (8:32:35 PM): starts steaming and ****
me (8:32:42 PM): weird
me (8:32:47 PM): never had anything like thta before
brother (8:32:49 PM): so i didn't want to **** around with it
me (8:32:53 PM): yeah
me (8:32:55 PM): definately
brother (8:32:55 PM): just took it to the shop
me (8:33:05 PM): yeah
me (8:33:06 PM): that's fine
brother (8:33:16 PM): they are supposed to call me tomorrow
me (8:33:18 PM): does the trunk work?
brother (8:33:22 PM): so i'lllet you know
brother (8:33:27 PM): i haven't tried to fix it yet
brother (8:33:29 PM): haven't had time
me (8:33:34 PM): ok so it's still ****ed up?
me (8:33:41 PM): that shouldn't be anything bad though. just alignment
me (8:33:45 PM): lock alignment
me (8:34:37 PM): well hopefully you'll get it fixed so you cna bring it down for thanksgiving
brother (8:34:40 PM): yea, i looked it up in the manual, looks like that's what it is
me (8:34:49 PM): does it say how to fix?
brother (8:34:54 PM): yea
me (8:35:01 PM): ok
brother (8:35:07 PM): i'll do that after the radiator is fixed
me (8:35:14 PM): ok that's fine
brother (8:35:16 PM): i gtg though
brother (8:35:18 PM): i'll talk to you later
me (8:35:19 PM): let me know tomorrow what the shop says
me (8:35:20 PM): later

[bimmerd00d]

where are you guys located?

[Robin-535im]

[ilya]

haha that's not the problem

[632 Regal]

either radiator hopefully! Hope he didnt crack the head from over heating it.

[ilya]

here's the verdict from the body shop:
waterpump and thermostat need replacement. they quoted at 400. UHH YEAH RIGHT!
i told my brother to order parts from BMA and either do it himself or pay the shop to install it if he doesn't have time. i think he's going with the shop..

he's got my bentley manual though so dont know why he does't just do it.

[632 Regal]

simple job.