Really like how you succeed making your videos and commentary - clear and simple, and yet well-founded, knowledgable with great detail and explainations of each step.
Thanks for the video. The reason BMW expansion tanks (and hoses) split with alarming regularity is because their cooling systems are mostly set up to run at over 105 degrees most of the time. Hence the 105 degree standard thermostat. They will run happily at around 90 degrees with far less stress on the cooling system and oil temperature simply by replacing the thermostat with a 90 degree rated one. 90 degree thermostats are used in the BMW M cars and are fine to use on the 105 degree systems. Apparently they do this to try to improve very slightly fuel consumption and reduce emissions in traffic and do not care that it causes all kinds of problems - especially after the warranty expires. You can find 90 degree (or competition) thermostats on line. Well worth changing. After my cooling system on my 760Li blew up part by part (expansion tank first and then hoses) I changed the thermostat and hey presto, it runs sweet as a nut. This also contributes to the seal failure on the internal cooling pipe that leads to the dreaded "weep hole" leak which I also had to fix with a Bimmer Kit for 250 usd rather than 10 grand at a BMW shop.
Thanks for your comment. Do you know how to reduce the temp on a regular thermostat for this car? I have a replacement arriving next next week and was going to try manually reduce the temp to 95C. Maybe you know how to do that?
@@ecologicaltime In short, sorry but no. As you probably know the thermostat for your car has a wax element which has a built in heater. The wax element is set to open come what may at 105 degrees and the heating element is driven by the engines ECU. The way it is supposed to work is that the electrical element is powered up so as to heat up the wax based on certain parameters and thus open at a lower temp if it thinks the engine needs to run cooler. I think that this is when the engine is under a lot of load at higher speeds. In practice when I monitored my engines operating temperature it was always around 107 degrees or more when trundling around and occasionally it would drop to around 90 degrees on the freeway or a fast road but would then quickly climb back up to 107 in a kind of roller coaster. From what I have learned from forums there is a way to adjust the way the heating element is driven by the ECU but not by way of any simple options in NCS Expert and so on - it is much more complicated than that. The simpler solution is for the thermostat to have a modified wax element which is set to open at 90 degrees and then the heating element still operates normally in the background but effectively does nothing in terms of engine temp regulation as the thermostat is open by the time the ECU heats it to open. This link has a lot of information: electrorefit.com/product/cold-thermostats-for-petrol-engine-bmw/ Please let us know how you get on if you modify your own one in some way. I purchased a modified one from Turner Motorsport in the USA and had it shipped to me here in Ukraine.
thanks for your reply. I will try and work out how to modify this thermostat when i get it and ill do a video if i get it right. By the way i did do a video explaining the MAP function of these thermos if you interested: ruclips.net/video/2q_xL2P104Y/видео.html
@@ecologicaltime Thanks. Sorry I missed your video. Have watched it now. Very informative thanks. It seems to be beyond doubt that extended running with temps of 105 degrees and up accelerates the wear and tear on many of the cooling systems and other heat sensitive components and the benefits of marginal fuel savings and miniscule emission reductions are not worth the cost of having to replace heat sensitive parts. Of course BMW don't care about that as they only need their cars to survive until their warranty's have expired and do little to help owners of older cars with the latent issues that are so prevalent in some of their products. They know that people will not likely approach a BMW dealer for repairs as they are too expensive and so what do they care. They will happily sell you spare parts at hugely inflated prices and not provide spares to be used in fixing many items - an egregious example being their HP Fuel Pups that can be fived with a replacement diaphragm but they will only sell a whole new pump for about 2,500 USD. Good luck with your modification efforts on a thermostat and knowing your amazing levels of skill and knowledge I would be so happy if you could post a video of your successful conclusion to the attempt. I am sure many other BMW owners would also be very interested and grateful.
Really like how you succeed making your videos and commentary - clear and simple, and yet well-founded, knowledgable with great detail and explainations of each step.
Thanks for the video. The reason BMW expansion tanks (and hoses) split with alarming regularity is because their cooling systems are mostly set up to run at over 105 degrees most of the time. Hence the 105 degree standard thermostat. They will run happily at around 90 degrees with far less stress on the cooling system and oil temperature simply by replacing the thermostat with a 90 degree rated one. 90 degree thermostats are used in the BMW M cars and are fine to use on the 105 degree systems. Apparently they do this to try to improve very slightly fuel consumption and reduce emissions in traffic and do not care that it causes all kinds of problems - especially after the warranty expires. You can find 90 degree (or competition) thermostats on line. Well worth changing. After my cooling system on my 760Li blew up part by part (expansion tank first and then hoses) I changed the thermostat and hey presto, it runs sweet as a nut. This also contributes to the seal failure on the internal cooling pipe that leads to the dreaded "weep hole" leak which I also had to fix with a Bimmer Kit for 250 usd rather than 10 grand at a BMW shop.
Thanks for your comment. Do you know how to reduce the temp on a regular thermostat for this car? I have a replacement arriving next next week and was going to try manually reduce the temp to 95C. Maybe you know how to do that?
Any other faults on your 760?
@@ecologicaltime In short, sorry but no. As you probably know the thermostat for your car has a wax element which has a built in heater. The wax element is set to open come what may at 105 degrees and the heating element is driven by the engines ECU. The way it is supposed to work is that the electrical element is powered up so as to heat up the wax based on certain parameters and thus open at a lower temp if it thinks the engine needs to run cooler. I think that this is when the engine is under a lot of load at higher speeds. In practice when I monitored my engines operating temperature it was always around 107 degrees or more when trundling around and occasionally it would drop to around 90 degrees on the freeway or a fast road but would then quickly climb back up to 107 in a kind of roller coaster. From what I have learned from forums there is a way to adjust the way the heating element is driven by the ECU but not by way of any simple options in NCS Expert and so on - it is much more complicated than that. The simpler solution is for the thermostat to have a modified wax element which is set to open at 90 degrees and then the heating element still operates normally in the background but effectively does nothing in terms of engine temp regulation as the thermostat is open by the time the ECU heats it to open. This link has a lot of information: electrorefit.com/product/cold-thermostats-for-petrol-engine-bmw/ Please let us know how you get on if you modify your own one in some way. I purchased a modified one from Turner Motorsport in the USA and had it shipped to me here in Ukraine.
thanks for your reply. I will try and work out how to modify this thermostat when i get it and ill do a video if i get it right. By the way i did do a video explaining the MAP function of these thermos if you interested: ruclips.net/video/2q_xL2P104Y/видео.html
@@ecologicaltime Thanks. Sorry I missed your video. Have watched it now. Very informative thanks. It seems to be beyond doubt that extended running with temps of 105 degrees and up accelerates the wear and tear on many of the cooling systems and other heat sensitive components and the benefits of marginal fuel savings and miniscule emission reductions are not worth the cost of having to replace heat sensitive parts. Of course BMW don't care about that as they only need their cars to survive until their warranty's have expired and do little to help owners of older cars with the latent issues that are so prevalent in some of their products. They know that people will not likely approach a BMW dealer for repairs as they are too expensive and so what do they care. They will happily sell you spare parts at hugely inflated prices and not provide spares to be used in fixing many items - an egregious example being their HP Fuel Pups that can be fived with a replacement diaphragm but they will only sell a whole new pump for about 2,500 USD. Good luck with your modification efforts on a thermostat and knowing your amazing levels of skill and knowledge I would be so happy if you could post a video of your successful conclusion to the attempt. I am sure many other BMW owners would also be very interested and grateful.