Coolant under the carpet.

[Mdriver]

OK, I think by having the heatercore still screwed in, this is preventing better access to the water valve. I will take the heater core screws out first and slide it out, all I need is a good inch of extra space. I have been trying to work on this a little by little on my lunch break

I am located in Irvine.

- gabor

[Mdriver]

update:

I am completely unable to get the lower metal coolant pipe that runs parallel to the water valve pipe out from the fire wall. From the engine bay, I cannot gain access to the hose that the metal hose plugs into. I swear BMW used children to assemble these cars because my hands have no chance of getting into such a tight area. How much of my engine do I need to disassemble to gain access to the coolant pipes in the engine bay that head into the cabin?

Also, how to you push a firewall gromit back into its hole?

Just a little frustrated ...

-gabor

[TooTall]

Gabor,

In the engine compartment there is a plastic cover over a wiring tray along the top of the firewall. It is about 2 feet long and snaps out. Remove this cover. Just above where the heater hoses pass through the firewall there are three electrical connectors that pass through the bottom of the wiring tray. Label the connectors with some tape or something. Disconnect the connectors. The lower portion of the connectors will just pull out of the bottom of the tray. Mark the lower portions of the connector to match the upper connectors that they mate with so you don't get them mixed up. After the connectors are out of the way the portion of the tray that the connectors pass through will slide out, its a separate piece. You should then have enough room to get to the lower hose. It's still tight but its doable. As for the grommet, I suspect you push it through from the inside. Some lube will help.

What I have found with this car is that a lot of time you have to take several unrelated things off to get to what you want. I'm a big guy with big hands. Every time I work on the M I come away with scratches and knicks on my arms and hands. It's just the price you pay.

Cheers,

Kurt

[Mdriver]

Kurt,

Thank you so much for that tidbit, that did the trick. After removing those three plugs and tray, it was much easier to access!

The new valve is in and working fine. Thanks for all of the help everyone.

- gabor

[Mdriver]

Here is my write up to help out the next guy.

http:\\gabor.gsm.uci.edu\gallery\waterValve\index.htm

Gabor

[BeastPower]

Here is my write up to help out the next guy.

http:\\gabor.gsm.uci.edu\gallery\waterValve\index.htm

Gabor

Very nice write-up. Thanks, Daniel.

[hardtailer]

Also for future reference: should the car not start, although the starter motor engages and turns the engine over, it is most likely that the 3 connectors have been mixed up. As a consequence the signals for rpm and tdc cant be processed by the motronic. The third is a diagnostics-only TDC reference that is wired to the diagnostics plug.