e46 Expansion tank bracket removal.

Alanstrainor

This thread is just to share my experience of one part of the removal of an e46 expansion tank which is particularly annoying, and my easy fix to get around it.

There are plenty of excellant guides on the whole process from start to finish all over the web, so I wont cover that here. This thread is simply showing the process of removing the expansion tank, from the bracket/hanger.

I completely removed the expansion tank and bracket from the car. The hoses are very stiff and difficult to remove so patience is needed, I even used some wd40 to help free them. My tactic was to spray with some wd40 and pull while gently rocking from side to side or up and down. And eventually they will come off. Make sure you have a catch pan under the car to catch any coolant still in the tank.

You should then be left with this:


Now the bracket is towards the bottom of the pic, where the blue drain pipe is located. A very common problem is removing the tank from this bracket. You see a lot of people talking about leaving it all attached to the car and using the jack, but I feared breaking the bracket. So idea was to simply dump it in hot water. Fill the kettle and pour the hot water into a basin or sink, and then throw the bottom of the tank/bracket it. Leave for 30 seconds and it should come off relatively easy.

This works as its the rubber gasket that is holding the tank in place, once this is heated it will allow it to be pulled out. I actually used a similar process putting the new tank on, with warm water to gently warm the new part/gasket and then pressed it all together.

Hopefully someone on the internet will benefit from this.

delly

I've had mine replaced, but not by me. As an BMW indie specialist, the guy who did mine but a nice big tie wrap around the middle section of the replacement. He reckons that it helps prevent another future split.

X200

Oh I have been there many times, gotta love the cooling system on the E46s!