Need help/ Enthusiast Input

[ginonj]

Car is a completely stock 1988 BMW 325is with m20 6cyl.

Last night while driving, I managed to to pinch and create a hole in one of my upper radiator hoses, due to the engine mounts I'm assuming, through driving and the fan making contact with the rad hose. I noticed smoke and and popped the hood to then getting sprayed by coolant and finding the problem. I managed to safely drive the car home seeing I was a short distance away, and I also did not experience any troubles with over heating and the car drove extremely well. Also while this happened, the MPG gauge on the cluster stopped working about the same time everything happened. My questions now are how should I go about fixing the MPG gauge? Check fuses etc? And is there a specific coolant I should use on these engines to prevent troubles/ failures, or is any coolant okay? and should I replace all coolant hoses with silicone hoses, or get OEM replacements. Does the hose that is crimped, have a part number? Thank you in advance for your time and effort!

[keine30]

i can tell you for sure that you want to get BMW coolant and distilled water (it doesn't come 50/50 mixed) to refill with. anything else isn't up to BMW spec, and i'm told the stuff from the dealership isn't that expensive anyways.

[tytypetersen]

The blue bmw coolant from the stealership is like 25 bucks for a jug.

[blunttech]

just get regular hoses. But look for the reason your hoses are contacting your fan. check motor mounts . tolerances are tight in there but the motor may be moving around. email me and I can send you a list of hose part numbers you need

[McGyver]

Assuming its the top hose, you probably need that dumb clip (or a zip tie) to hold the hose back against the engine. It happened to me once and i just drove it with ductape on the hose until the new hose came. get a hose from blunt.

as far as coolant? unless you have BMW stuff sitting around, just get the green stuff. Remember to use DISTILLED water if you don't get the 50/50 mixed coolant. M20s don't need anything special if you're changing your coolant 1-2 times a year like you should.

[ginonj]

Assuming its the top hose, you probably need that dumb clip (or a zip tie) to hold the hose back against the engine. It happened to me once and i just drove it with ductape on the hose until the new hose came. get a hose from blunt.

as far as coolant? unless you have BMW stuff sitting around, just get the green stuff. Remember to use DISTILLED water if you don't get the 50/50 mixed coolant. M20s don't need anything special if you're changing your coolant 1-2 times a year like you should.

just get regular hoses. But look for the reason your hoses are contacting your fan. check motor mounts . tolerances are tight in there but the motor may be moving around. email me and I can send you a list of hose part numbers you need

The blue bmw coolant from the stealership is like 25 bucks for a jug.

i can tell you for sure that you want to get BMW coolant and distilled water (it doesn't come 50/50 mixed) to refill with. anything else isn't up to BMW spec, and i'm told the stuff from the dealership isn't that expensive anyways.

Thank you to everyone for your help. I now just need a clue about the MPG gauge issue? Is it related? Like I said it is stuck past 40 (the needle won't move from the left side) and no longer works.

[101]

I don't think the problem with the econometer is related to your coolant hose failure, but it MIGHT be. The econometer uses engine vacuum as one of its inputs. If there's a vacuum line that also got tangled up and torn at the same time, that could be it.

If not, welcome to the world of the fickle E30 cluster!

http://www.e30tech.com/forum/showthread.php?t=36071

I have an econometer that will occasionally stop working - but a well placed love tap on the top of the dash gets it back in order.