Thermostat change on 328i Sport

[RemyMartin]

Hi all,

Has anyone had any experience on changing the thermostat Im guessing itll be a fairly samey job on all m50/52 engines. Anyone help?

I've had a quick look online and found a guide which scares me as it looks like a big job! :-S

[Rotary Madness]

Its easy, as long as you have the hands of a a small girl. The biggest problem is theres only about 5cm of space from the fan to the engine block, so you have almost no room to use a socket and get your hand in there.
Now you can always take the fan off, but its a bh to do, and the nut is reverse threaded. I just managed without resorting to that, but ive got big hands, and left quite a lot of skin on the fan

The job itself is very easy, hardest part was undoing the bolts, and bleeding the bd air out.

[NickXX]

If it's the same as the M42 (sounds like it is), it should be ok if you have a lot of different socket sets. I must have used a ratchet spanner, ratchet socket set with extension and a screwdriver with the socket on the end - all to save having to take the fan off.

Other than that it's an easy job - if you have a plastic thermostat housing, be very careful not to crack it when refitting - i.e. make sure it's on perfectly flat before tightening up the bolts.

[RemyMartin]

Sorry if this sounds daft but how much( if any coolant will drain out etc?)

[Rotary Madness]

Not a huge amount, but id say have a couple of litres just in case. Oh, and make sure you put the new thermostat the right way in. The old one should have an arrow on it, make sure the new ones arrow is facing the same way as the old one, and you'll be fine