I am looking for tips, and a good manual (or step by step) on replacing my radiator in my 1986 325. Radiator started leaking and I haven't replaced a radiator before. Want to give it a shot, wondering if it is hard, and if I can do it in my driveway easily.
Buy the E30 Bentley Manual! You can get it at amazon, http://www.amazon.com/BMW-E30-Service-Manual-1984-1990/dp/0837603250 It will give you step by step and doing this job in the driveway is no problem at all. Done it many times. It is extremely helpful to have a jack and jack stands. Although car ramps would work. You will also need a 32 mm wrench for the fan clutch. Buy one from your local bike shop, about $15. Just grab one of v-belts with a gloved hand to keep the pulley from moving. Remember it is reversed threaded. So clockwise to get it off. Change the coolant while you are at it if you haven't done it in the past two years. Use BMW coolant, it is worth it. Be sure to set the HVAC temp to full heat and don't forget to drain the block. There is a drain plug on the pass side just below the exhaust headers. Replace the crush washer on the block plug. Also don't for get to bleed the system once you have everything back in place. Bentley does tell you all of this. It is always satisfying once completing a job like this! Good luck.
EZ job - follow common-sense safety rules when jacking up your car - flat, level, solid surface (concrete or asphalt; if on asphalt, place your jack stands or ramps on some plywood larger than the overall base of your jacks or ramps so they won't dig into the asphalt). Never jack your car or place jack stands on a unlevel surface or ground. I usually place front jack stands near the front of the front frame rails, and rears outboard, on the rear subframe. You'll need a large catch tray, ideally 3 feet square or more, to catch the coolant. The kitchen 12"x9" bake pan won't cut it! Don't allow automotive fluids to get into groundwater, storm sewers, or dump straight into the ground. Coolant is lethal if ingested, and animals are attracted to it because of it's sweet smell; take steps to keep dogs or any other animals away from your used coolant, and get it into sealed containers so you can dispose of it safely, perhaps your area's hazardous waste disposal facility. No need to remove the radiator drain plug, just pull off the lower rad. hose, with the catch tray in place. Check your hoses, time to replace any while you're draining the coolant completely. +1 on E30 Bentley manual, a must for most tasks you'd want to tackle. You don't have to pull the fan clutch to swap the radiator, but if your fan clutch needs replacement, now is the time to do it. Bav auto has a nifty tool for holding the fan pulley but as Grant mentions, it's not absolutely necessary. In my case, my fan clutch was always on tight enough that I needed to apply far more force to break it free than I could hold by hand - in other words, the tool was a necessity; huge channel locks are not ideal, as you can easily damage the pulley risking premature belt failure. I think a time or two I got by, by jamming a large screwdriver between the pulley bolts, with the handle against something on the front of the engine that wouldn't move, and holding the screwdriver in place while breaking the fan clutch nut free. That's a bit of a nuisance, the tool is easier. There's large metal washers on _both_ sides of the top rubber mounting bushings, and the forward-most ones will drop to the ground when you pull the mounting screw-bolt, as the bolt is the only thing that holds them in place, so don't let them get away from you. If they're missing, it's because someone else already lost them. There are two locating 'nubs' on the bottom of the radiator, an inch or so in dia., which help to place the radiator correctly on the lower mounting bushings - it's ez to get the radiator in place and think it's down completely when it's not, so make sure it's seated properly. Make sure you put the fan shroud in place over the fan clutch BEFORE you put the new radiator back in place - there's not enough clearance for it to fit into place without either pulling the radiator back out, or removing the fan. Pulling the clips off the fan shroud is straighforward, you might want to use a flat-bladed screwdriver or needle-nose pliers to push them out a bit, and once you have some space, you can pry them out from the side of the radiator, using leverage, until they're off the fan shroud - I don't think you need to remove them completely, just get them slid off the fan shroud. Sometimes M20's can be difficult to bleed, might take some driving and additional bleeding. This job is more pleasant to deal with if you don't have the car steaming hot - park it where you're going to work on it (if you can) and work on it when it's cool or cold and then you don't have to worry about getting scalded. Nitrile gloves are nifty for car work, protects your hands and reduces toxicity exposure - I usually get them from Harbor Freight, but any variety of places have latex or nitrile gloves.
