BMW E46 Expansion tank Replacement doityourself

[shadowpuck]

I'll post up photos and more details later.

Wanted to offer up a suggestion that proved invaluable when changing out the expansion tank on the ZHP this past weekend. I did a cooling system overhaul (hoses, etc.) plus belts, pulleys, spark plugs.....It was a good time!

What was not a good time, however, was removing the expansion tank. We could not get the tank removed while it was still attached to the radiator. Both the Bentley and the factory service manuals say you can remove the tank while it is attached.

What we ended up doing was removing the bracket with the tank still attached. Once the tank was out of the car, it was simple work to get it removed.

I'll post up more photos and details later - just wanted to get this out there in case anyone else was struggling with their expansion tank. I didn't find much while searching Saturday....

[Mtnman]

Any follow up on this? My new expansion tank will arrive tomorrow.

[shadowpuck]

shoot - thank you for reminding me.....i totally forgot.

the big piece of advice here is that we found it much easier to remove the bracket to which the expansion tank is connected. when you have the whole thing out of the car, it's much easier to remove.

here's a photo of the bracket removed - the expansion tank has already been removed. the little blue bit at the bottom of the photo is the bottom of the expansion tank.

i can send you a larger photo if necessary. the bracket is held in by at least one screw (as I recall). for the most part, the bracket is simply clipped in place.

http://www.kcbmwclub.com/gallery/d/57605-2/IMG_1032+_1_.JPG

another photo from ECS.....

http://c1552172.r72.cf0.rackcdn.com/40233_x600.jpg

[danewilson77]

Mmmm....great data.