1999 BMW 328i (E46) – Coolant Hose Replacements Part 3

Hey guys,

now we’re into the third episode of this four part series and this one covers a lot of ground. We get all the remaining hoses installed, so that includes the two radiator hoses, the ones that connect to the heater core, and the hose that runs to the back of the intake manifold. We covered the installation of the one other hose in Part 2, and as I’ve said before, we skipped the plastic ones (and will be shown instead in a future video). The installation of the new hoses went quite a bit more smoothly than their removal, much of that is due to them being brand new hoses that haven’t been attached for perhaps 20+ years. The lower radiator hose was perhaps the hardest, mainly because it’s routed into the thermostat in the small space between the engine block and the radiator fan, so there isn’t much space to get your hand in there to push on it to get the spring to click closed. Since if you’re smart unlike us, you’ve removed the manifold to get the two plastic pipes (and maybe the thermostat too), the other hoses should be really easy to put on. Also, don’t forget to move the temperature sensor over on the lower rad hose too (or replace it).

The torque value for the Engine block drain plug is 18 ft-lbs (24 Nm). This is an awkward bolt to torque, the way we showed it seems to be about the only way to do it well.

The torque value for the Radiator drain plug is 27 inch-lbs (3 Nm). Honestly, the amount you tighten this with your wrench before hand will most likely exceed this value so I wouldn’t even worry about this one, but it is in the manual and we showed it in the video. I suppose the main thing to be aware here is to not crank on the bolt, it’s just plastic into plastic and will not take much to break it, and then you’re buying a new radiator. Just tighten it until it’s snug.

So yeah, we hope you enjoy the video!