ZHP down-end of an era for my 2004 Imola NaturalBrown

[zhp4life]

Sad to share the story but my 2004/Imola/NaturalBrown/Auto ZHP with approx 152K miles is down with engine overheating issue. The car was perfectly fine, no issues. My son took it for a drive, unfortunately the expansion tank cracked resulting in overheating, happened just before he reached home. If you look at my maintenance history, it would be shocking how it happened, everything was refreshed on the car with BMW OEM parts.

Initial diagnosis point to a bad thermostat and faulty Auxiliary Fan Switch.

Replaced the following (BMW OEM parts):
1. Expansion Tank with new cap
2. Water pump
3. Thermostat
4. Auxiliary Fan Switch
5. Fan Clutch

Test drove the car and the temp gauge start going up after about 25-30min. Also did a combustion leak test and the liquid didn't change color.
Based on the observation:

No Exhaust gases in coolant sniffer check
No Loss of coolant with no leak
No Bubbles in the radiator or expansion tank
No Oil in the coolant
No Coolant in the oil

At this point in life I just don't have enough time/energy/resources to go after troubleshooting and spend more money on it, it could possibly be a blown head gasket I am not 100% certain. I would love to see this car restore by a zhp mafia and ready to let it go, DM me a resonable offer. Car is located in dallas, Texas(75033).


Hard to let it go, so much memories attached to this car, some smiles from my son, first time fueling and when it was at a shop for some repairs.





Maintenance History:

[Vas]

@GeorgeH might be able to assist.

[GeorgeH]

Small world, I helped Adison diagnose the HG failure, we wrapped up with he thinks coolant is leaking into cyl#3. *Ironically I have an M54 here that is also leaking coolant into cyl#3.

I would be a buyer but I don't think I can get to your asking price.

Just out of curiosity what brand was the expansion tank that you installed?

[zhp4life]

this one@
https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw...in-crp-ept0018

[GeorgeH]

this one@
https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw...in-crp-ept0018

Bummer, it shows its now made in China, in '21 maybe it was still made in Germany/Europe. I've had mixed results with aftermarket expansion tanks and now only use BMW. Thanks for sharing, just another data point to note.

[JohnnyGraphic]

OP-Absolute bummer!!! If that is your son in the pictures that was driving, it would be tough to get mad at that mug.

I?m with George on the BMW parts. Especially for cooling systems or other critical engine bits. I did a complete cooling system refresh with OEM compatible (cheap) parts and an ?uprgrade? to a metal impeller water pump early on. Some of the parts don?t fit all that great but no leaks. A few years later, I find some debris in the coolant. Whut?!?! So I decide to do a complete overhaul of the cooling system including the radiator with only BMW parts. Everything fits together easily and it turns out that the ?upgraded? WP I had put in earlier, well the impeller blades self-destructed!!! Yikes!!! It wadded up into a little ball of metal right at the inlet to the engine block.

Hopefully you can get what you?re looking for with the sale. I too hope it goes to a ZHP Mafia member who will drive the snot out of it.

[John in VA]

The Modine expansion tank used to be good - not sure about things now.
https://www.e46fanatics.com/threads/...-tank.1321251/

[zhp4life]

Good old memories

[fredo]

GLWS. Many good parts in that car.

[das boots]

Had the same problem when I did not completely seal the reservoir cap and loss of coolant on way to LV. Towed to LV and refilled with coolant as much as I can when I got home. Returned to SD and purchased a new cap and new OEM reservoir. Brought to mechanic and he pressure tested the reservoir up to 80 psi. No leaks which I was concerned about on engine block, gaskets and other parts. Refilled with coolant again and new cap. All good, GLWS.