Discussion
Hello all,
New to the forum. So I hope this will be posted under the correct section.
Some of you may already have read about this on bfest but I’m hoping to get some advice from anyone with the knowledge.
So here’s the story...
Bought myself a non-m e86 3.0si coupe last year to use as a weekend toy, which has been great fun. Car had just under 70k km on the clock and I’ve only put on just 3k km in a trouble-free year. ( km because I live in Hong Kong ) The car is looked after by a trusted garage, who has been servicing our cars since I was born probably, and the car never needed anything apart from an oil change right after I bought it.
Last week though, I received a message during work from the management office of where I live, telling me that the Z4 had leaked coolant all over the floor at the carpark.... So I rushed home when I got off work to see how bad it was and found out the expansion tank was empty ( residential buildings’ management fees are quite expensive here in Hong Kong but they do their job quite well and cleaned everything up by the time I got there ). Also noticed some coolant on the under engine cover, right below where the expansion tank sits. To my limited knowledge under the hood, I suspect that the E.T., which has never been replaced, must have given up. So I rang the garage and they suggested trying to pour water into the E.T. to see if it would leak, which it did right away, about 90% of it, in a matter of minutes. So we’d agreed on getting the Z towed to the garage to get it fixed, which I’m completely fine with because it hasn’t given me any headaches in the year and I have been quite prepared about putting in money to get things fixed on a 10yo bmw.
Anyway here comes my concern. The car is parked on the 6th floor and there’s no way the tow truck could go up because the carpark is very narrow and tight. So I must make it down to get it towed ( haven’t looked into getting the mechanic in to fix it on site because not sure if this is an option ). I haven’t started the car since the leak but I believe starting it won’t be a problem. However will it damage the engine if I do drive it down? Takes about a minute at most to get down. The street where I live on is also quite narrow so I’ve been thinking about driving it further up the road where it is a bit wider and quieter for make towing a bit easier - it’s about 400 metres away. Will the engine make it that far without coolant in the E.T.? Am I right in thinking that there should be some more coolant in the cooling system? The garage is only about 3km away, could I even drive there without damaging the engine?
Literally asking all the questions running through my head but my main question will be whether it’s okay to drive it down 6 floors to the ground level to get it towed or if I could make it 400 metres further up the road...
Thanks!
New to the forum. So I hope this will be posted under the correct section.
Some of you may already have read about this on bfest but I’m hoping to get some advice from anyone with the knowledge.
So here’s the story...
Bought myself a non-m e86 3.0si coupe last year to use as a weekend toy, which has been great fun. Car had just under 70k km on the clock and I’ve only put on just 3k km in a trouble-free year. ( km because I live in Hong Kong ) The car is looked after by a trusted garage, who has been servicing our cars since I was born probably, and the car never needed anything apart from an oil change right after I bought it.
Last week though, I received a message during work from the management office of where I live, telling me that the Z4 had leaked coolant all over the floor at the carpark.... So I rushed home when I got off work to see how bad it was and found out the expansion tank was empty ( residential buildings’ management fees are quite expensive here in Hong Kong but they do their job quite well and cleaned everything up by the time I got there ). Also noticed some coolant on the under engine cover, right below where the expansion tank sits. To my limited knowledge under the hood, I suspect that the E.T., which has never been replaced, must have given up. So I rang the garage and they suggested trying to pour water into the E.T. to see if it would leak, which it did right away, about 90% of it, in a matter of minutes. So we’d agreed on getting the Z towed to the garage to get it fixed, which I’m completely fine with because it hasn’t given me any headaches in the year and I have been quite prepared about putting in money to get things fixed on a 10yo bmw.
Anyway here comes my concern. The car is parked on the 6th floor and there’s no way the tow truck could go up because the carpark is very narrow and tight. So I must make it down to get it towed ( haven’t looked into getting the mechanic in to fix it on site because not sure if this is an option ). I haven’t started the car since the leak but I believe starting it won’t be a problem. However will it damage the engine if I do drive it down? Takes about a minute at most to get down. The street where I live on is also quite narrow so I’ve been thinking about driving it further up the road where it is a bit wider and quieter for make towing a bit easier - it’s about 400 metres away. Will the engine make it that far without coolant in the E.T.? Am I right in thinking that there should be some more coolant in the cooling system? The garage is only about 3km away, could I even drive there without damaging the engine?
Literally asking all the questions running through my head but my main question will be whether it’s okay to drive it down 6 floors to the ground level to get it towed or if I could make it 400 metres further up the road...
Thanks!
Thanks helix402 and G600!
Probably not a great idea to coast down the carpark because it is very narrow with immediate tight turns at the bottom of the ramps on each level, really don't want to crash into other people's cars
With Hong Kong being one of the most condensed places on earth, us hong kongers have very limited living space, so servicing/maintaining cars ourselves is quite a rare thing to do, hence the lack of knowledge under the hood.
I will most likely top it up then drive it down as suggested by G600.
Probably just panicking/overreacting caused by the lack of a weekend toy at the weekend
Probably not a great idea to coast down the carpark because it is very narrow with immediate tight turns at the bottom of the ramps on each level, really don't want to crash into other people's cars
With Hong Kong being one of the most condensed places on earth, us hong kongers have very limited living space, so servicing/maintaining cars ourselves is quite a rare thing to do, hence the lack of knowledge under the hood.
I will most likely top it up then drive it down as suggested by G600.
Probably just panicking/overreacting caused by the lack of a weekend toy at the weekend
Welcome to the forum!
If you fill it immediately before you drive down I can't seeing it being a problem - and at least you've got a temperature gauge to watch just in case!
I drove my first Z4 Coupe a few miles after the electric water pump died and once it had a new pump there were no ill effects.
Good luck with the fix.
And if you have some time to spare you might want to visit z4forum.com.
If you fill it immediately before you drive down I can't seeing it being a problem - and at least you've got a temperature gauge to watch just in case!
I drove my first Z4 Coupe a few miles after the electric water pump died and once it had a new pump there were no ill effects.
Good luck with the fix.
And if you have some time to spare you might want to visit z4forum.com.
Mr Tidy said:
Welcome to the forum!
If you fill it immediately before you drive down I can't seeing it being a problem - and at least you've got a temperature gauge to watch just in case!
I drove my first Z4 Coupe a few miles after the electric water pump died and once it had a new pump there were no ill effects.
Good luck with the fix.
And if you have some time to spare you might want to visit z4forum.com.
Thanks Mr. Tidy!If you fill it immediately before you drive down I can't seeing it being a problem - and at least you've got a temperature gauge to watch just in case!
I drove my first Z4 Coupe a few miles after the electric water pump died and once it had a new pump there were no ill effects.
Good luck with the fix.
And if you have some time to spare you might want to visit z4forum.com.
It is comforting to hear from you and G600 that it shouldn't be too bad to drive it down to the street level.
I will probably take the advice of topping it up then drive down gently, on Thursday because it will be the coldest day of the week, at 8°C.
I am lucky it isn't summer because on a typical summer day it could be over 33°C...
"First Z4 Coupe", how many have you had? I did spend a lot of time of the forums, z4f included, too much time actually, before buying. Only regret being not noticing this little beast earlier. Can't really think of any replacement options at this price point (without going down the JDM route Cayman probably comes closest, but front engined/rear driven 2 seater with 6 cylinders that's reasonably reliable and fun to drive? Can't really think of anything else.... going very off topic here but to me an upgrade from this car would be an Aston V8 Vantage )
Anyway thanks again!
Edited by Kjme86 on Monday 29th January 13:27
SebringMan said:
Given the rate he said it is gushing out of, I'd give Helix's idea a go.
Does the water not stay in the cooling system for any amount of time?
Thanks SebringMan,Does the water not stay in the cooling system for any amount of time?
I would give this idea a go if the carpark isn't so narrow.
There's a 991 gt3 on the 5th floor right after the ramp down, so I'd rather pay for a new head gasket than damages to the Porsche...
When i poured water in last Thursday it came back out pretty quickly, it slowed down significantly when it got to almost the bottom as I noticed the stick would float, I'd say about an inch. So it got me thinking that the crack must be on the sides rather than the bottom, if it was the tank that had a crack, also it must have been a pretty big crack or multiple cracks that could let water out that quickly.
I have also been wondering if there is any coolant left in the cooling system, but this is just out of curiosity. I will top it up and drive it down slowly on the day and keep all of my fingers crossed.
Kjme86 said:
"First Z4 Coupe", how many have you had?
To be fair I've only had two! Edited by Kjme86 on Monday 29th January 13:27
Actually it was the cost of a new water pump that prompted me to think of selling! My BMW Independent ordered one from BMW for £500 plus a thermostat for another £100 so by the time I paid for coolant and labour it was a painful bill. I've since found out you can get the same Pierburg pump from auto factors for more like £300.
Anyway once I'd agreed to sell it I realised like you said that there isn't really anything likely to be as much fun for the money - so I bought my second one! But I'll be keeping that!
Hope you get it sorted OK.
Mr Tidy said:
To be fair I've only had two!
Actually it was the cost of a new water pump that prompted me to think of selling! My BMW Independent ordered one from BMW for £500 plus a thermostat for another £100 so by the time I paid for coolant and labour it was a painful bill. I've since found out you can get the same Pierburg pump from auto factors for more like £300.
Anyway once I'd agreed to sell it I realised like you said that there isn't really anything likely to be as much fun for the money - so I bought my second one! But I'll be keeping that!
Hope you get it sorted OK.
Got it towed safely Actually it was the cost of a new water pump that prompted me to think of selling! My BMW Independent ordered one from BMW for £500 plus a thermostat for another £100 so by the time I paid for coolant and labour it was a painful bill. I've since found out you can get the same Pierburg pump from auto factors for more like £300.
Anyway once I'd agreed to sell it I realised like you said that there isn't really anything likely to be as much fun for the money - so I bought my second one! But I'll be keeping that!
Hope you get it sorted OK.
Topped it up with water and gently drove it down to the street level. Left trails of coolant so I went back to clean it up but noticed something else.... turned out it had been dripping a little bit of oil as well. Knowing that its a 10yo car, I always check underneath it so I know for sure it wasn't dripping any earlier last week. But at least it is at the garage now so whatever needs fixing will get fixed. Will also check if it needs a new water pump while it is there.
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