The cooling system is arguably the weakest point in numerous BMWs. If you drive an aging BMW or plan on taking your car to the track like we do, we recommend beefing up your cooling system before going to the track. Generally, the main components in your cooling system that are prone to failure include the following: expansion tank, factory hoses, water pump, thermostat, fan (especially if your vehicle comes factory with a clutch fan), and radiator. Factory BMW expansion tanks are plastic and prone to either breaking off at connection points or combusting. As factory rubber hoses age they either crack or break over time - we offer silicone cooling hose upgrades for most applications to avoid future failures. If you have an older vehicle, your water pump likely comes from the factory with a plastic impeller - we offer upgraded water pumps with metal impellers that are far more reliable. Newer model BMWs utilize electric water pumps - BMW spent millions of dollars engineering these water pumps, but they fail so often that we recommend replacing at 60,000 mile service intervals to avoid being stranded on the side of the road. In terms of thermostats, we offer various upgraded thermostats for racing applications. If your BMW utilizes a clutch fan from the factory, we have several options available in terms of universal electric fans - we recommend replacing these to avoid sending brittle plastic fan blades through your hood. For radiators, we recommend swapping out your radiator for one that does not use plastic connection points like your factory radiator.
If you're working on your cooling system, chances are you're going to need coolant to replace what you lose during your service. We recommend Genuine BMW coolant. BMW's blue G11 coolant is designed to promote heat transfer and prevention of corrosion throughout your cooling system. Genuine BMW coolant is nitrate and phosphate free. Note that BMW coolant must be diluted with distilled water to a 50:50 mixture before adding to vehicle.
We offer replacement hoses from several OE brands that we trust, along with performance silicone upgrades for those who want increased wear resistance compared to factory rubber.
Coolant temperature sensors are vital to your cooling system. If you're running a stock cooling system, a non-functional coolant temperature sensor can prevent your fan from flipping on or give you an inaccurate temp reading, preventing you from knowing when your vehicle is running hot. This can be a huge issue in particular if you're tracking your vehicle. Replace yours today!
There are certain specialty tools that make servicing your BMW easier than using what you already have in your arsenal. We carry everything you need to service your cooling system.
On certain models, namely E36, E46, and E90, the factory BMW expansion tank is prone to either breaking at connection points or blowing apart altogether. If you're starting to feel like your expansion tank is on borrowed time, it's probably time to replace with either a direct OE replacement, or strengthen your cooling setup with an aluminum expansion tank - we offer numerous performance upgrades for your expansion tank. Especially if you're someone who likes to track your BMW, we recommend upgrading your expansion tank to avoid ruining your track day.
Older BMWs utilize a mechanical clutch fan from the factory. If your vehicle still has a clutch fan, you can validate its functionality with the 'newspaper test,' but we recommend our customers do a clutch fan delete, adding in an electronic fan to avoid sending a plastic fan blade through your hood. Alternatively, we do offer factory replacement parts for your clutch fan if you would like to keep your vehicle as BMW intended it.
Freeze plugs are a preventative part that keeps coolant from freezing and causing your engine block to crack. If yours is missing or damaged, we recommend replacing yours to prevent a much larger issue.
Keeping your BMW's engine oil temperatures in check is extremely important. Temperature fluctuations in engine oil can lead to excessive wear and tear on critical internal components such as the pistons, turbos, rod bearings, main bearings, and more. Many BMWs come from the factory with a stock oil cooler, but these often are damaged from rocks, dirt, and other road debris and must be replaced to maintain reliability and consistent oil temperatures. For those looking to track their vehicle more than a handful of times a year, we recommend upgrading your oil cooler to an aftermarket alternative that allows for greater heat dissipation and increased oil reserves. This will help keep oil temps low even after extended track sessions, keeping you on the track longer and reducing downtime.
If you are the type of person who, rather than fixing individual components as they break, likes to refresh everything at once to make sure your cooling system is stout, then you're in the right place. Our overhaul kits give you the option to purchase everything you need to get your cooling system back in check at once. Our overhaul kits generally include thermostat, water pump, radiator, hoses, and expansion tanks.
We sell only OE supplier or approved aftermarket upgrade radiators for your BMW. It seems BMW took some shortcuts when it came to radiator design and used weak materials like plastic for critical connection points. If you are tracking older models like E30, E36, or E46, you probably are well aware of these issues. As these cars age, the plastic pieces become more brittle and failure prone. The solution is to replace with upgraded radiators that perform as upgrades for the original, failure prone radiator to avoid being left on the side of the road or, worse yet, the track.
BMW thermostats are known to fail, but luckily they typically fail wide open - meaning that your car can still cool. We offer thermostats from various OE suppliers we trust along with upgraded motorsport specific thermostats where applicable to make sure your BMW stays cool on track.
The water pump is a known failure point on most BMWs, new and old. Older model BMWs come from the factory with a mechanical fan that features a plastic impeller. If your BMW still has a water pump with a plastic impeller, you should upgrade to one with a metal impeller to avoid future failure. New BMWs utilize an electric water pump that cost BMW millions of dollars to design - when it is working it is great, unfortunately these fail so regularly that we recommend replacing your electric water pump every 60,000 miles to avoid stranding yourself on the side of the road. We have hand selected the best OE suppliers for replacement water pumps so you don't have to pay the high cost of Genuine BMW. However, if you're someone who only puts Genuine BMW parts on your car, we understand - that's why we have those available for you as well.
