The thermostat is essential to the proper operation of the cooling system on the BMW E39. If the thermostat goes bad, it will not open up to properly allow the flow of coolant throughout the engine. The result is that you can get no heat in the car, but worse still, is that your BMW will begin to overheat. Replacing the thermostat on the car does not take much time to do, and you do the repair in your driveway.
Instructions
- 1
Drain some of the engine coolant into the drain pan by opening the drain valve with a wrench on the bottom of the radiator.
2Remove the bolts holding the thermostat housing on the engine with a wrench. You can find the thermostat housing by following the radiator hose to the engine. Pull the thermostat out of the engine and scrape away any remaining gasket material using a scraper tool.
3Install the new thermostat into the engine, putting the spring side in the engine. Place a new gasket and the thermostat housing in place on the engine and tighten the bolts with the wrench. Fill the radiator and reservoir with coolant as needed.
