The parts really are not very expensive if you buy from getbmwparts.com, pelicanparts.com, or autohausaz. I cross shop them all... just remember the shipping is free on orders above different dollar amounts on the latter 2... the first one always charges shipping.

Any repair shop will charge you higher prices than these comapny's sell for on the parts, then they will charge you fixed prices for the job based on estimates in a book. Combining the repairs often saves time, but they may not pass that savings onto you. DIY is really the way to go on these cars.

The cooling system is not that bad to dive into. And if your car is a 95, then you won't have to deal with the PITA y connector on the back of the head

I think there's only the two pieces mentioned here. If your car has 130k+ miles I would replace the pump as that's going to go very soon. I've seen radiators last over 300k miles in these cars though so don't replace that till it's shot.

Thanks - as I said, the PO replaced the radiator, water pump, and pulley just last year, but I'll have to look on the service report to see what else might have been done (hoses, ?) Anything other than what might have been replaced as part of that, I guess would be good to replace along with the infamous 2 plastic parts (my ti's a '98, so I do have the PITA y connector :-). I just gotta figure my mechanic's $1400 estimate included radiator, pump, and pulley even though I told them it had already been done...hmmm...

Seems to me that this more limited R&R effort should be just a Saturday's work, no?

Head's up when you buy these folks. I got this one from Pelican Parts and the entire thing is bent/warped. It was MTC brand which AutohausAZ also sells. Here's the new one (left) and older one (right) held flat against a fence post. You can see how the bad one is not a straight piece like it should be.

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f2...nnectorbad.jpg

So, when you bolt it to the two holes on the block the all-important seating face makes a huge gap! :mad:

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f2...nectorbad2.jpg

I ended up reinstalling the old one which has about 30,000 miles on it, plus a new o-ring.

I heard back from PelicanParts. They are having so much trouble with this part (or manufacturer too) that they are getting them taken out of their system, so they say. They didn't even want my old one back as they have seen so many.

try getbmwparts.com (Tischer). They sell Genuine BMW parts.

Gah!

Two weeks ago this would have been really useful to know. So this is the problem that causes leaks on the new parts? Mine was purchased from Pelican, so it might well have been MTC. Would never have occurred to me to check if the stalk was straight. I smeared the O-ring with a substantial layer of RTV, so maybe I'll get lucky....

I replaced both of these just two years ago and both leak when the car sits overnight in the cold (below 5F or so). That was my reason for replacing them again. Are others having leak issues?

I did use both a coating of P80 rubber mounting emulsion on the ring to get them to possibly seat better, plus a good coating of High-temp RTV silicone as well. Hopefully that does it.

The ring is not the culprit, it is the glass filled plastic. It gets weak over many heat-cool cycles and fractures.

My very-cold-weather leak issue is not due to a fractured piece. I don't know what else I can do to keep it from leaking when it's below zero, other than use a sealer like RTV Silicone.

Oh sorry, I meant the GFP was the culprit for the original post... obviously the o-ring thing sucks. I haven't had an issue with the O-ring but I would imagine a thin layer of high-temp RTV would be useful.

My new pipes don't leak at all after using RTV silicone, even below zero (F). I'd recommend using it.

Sub Total $25.14
Tax $0.00
Shipping $8.96
Handling Fee $0.00
Total $34.10

Pretty inexpensive considering how much money they can cost you down the road :p

i'm going to put my car in the garage until it warms up then replace these parts w/ my dad

I'm going to replace my valve cover gaskets this weekend, do you guys know if having the valve cover off will make that y-pipe easier to get to? Maybe I'll get it all done in one go.