[iMnot]

Hi everyone.

I just wanted to share. Last month I had the dealer check my car because i my AC wasnt working (fluctuating rpm on idle etc) I dropped the car off but the dealer wasn't able to see my car because they were swamped. 2 days later they told me my radiator was damaged. Everything will be out of my pocket, warranty covers nothing. Fine.

Total cost was a little less than $2000. $400 and some change for the radiator, 800++ for labor plus the 5 day rental. Mind you my car is always in my garage and i do have my own parking at work. It is dusted off every so often that i would have noticed had there been any new damage or scratches. I did check my fluids before i even consider bringing it in lol. I guess it doesn't leak in my garage or office parking spot. I guess i was lucky. Apparently an unknown object went between the vents on the lower right side (ofcourse there is now a hairline scratch when the dealer sent me a picture. It is also leaking coolant) I am sure it did not happen while i was driving the vehicle or else i would have heard it and check it. By the way, my car is a 2018 230i with 4k miles when the damage occurred, still under 5k to this date. I actually had to ask the dealer if my was done because i saw the mileage go up using bmw connect.

That's all. Im trying to stay positive and vent a little. I did come from a MINI and within the first year i probably upgraded everything minus the paint lol.This time around, I have done nothing. Heck It took me a year before my first post here in the forum The good news is i just got my technicpnp in the mail LOL.

J

[dradernh]

Originally Posted by slow white

Hi everyone.

I just wanted to share. Last month I had the dealer check my car because i my AC wasnt working (fluctuating rpm on idle etc) I dropped the car off but the dealer wasn't able to see my car because they were swamped. 2 days later they told me my radiator was damaged. Everything will be out of my pocket, warranty covers nothing. Fine.

Total cost was a little less than $2000. $400 and some change for the radiator, 800++ for labor plus the 5 day rental. Mind you my car is always in my garage and i do have my own parking at work. It is dusted off every so often that i would have noticed had there been any new damage or scratches. I did check my fluids before i even consider bringing it in lol. I guess it doesn't leak in my garage or office parking spot. I guess i was lucky. Apparently an unknown object went between the vents on the lower right side (ofcourse there is now a hairline scratch when the dealer sent me a picture. It is also leaking coolant) I am sure it did not happen while i was driving the vehicle or else i would have heard it and check it. By the way, my car is a 2018 230i with 4k miles when the damage occurred, still under 5k to this date. I actually had to ask the dealer if my was done because i saw the mileage go up using bmw connect.

That's all. Im trying to stay positive and vent a little. I did come from a MINI and within the first year i probably upgraded everything minus the paint lol.This time around, I have done nothing. Heck It took me a year before my first post here in the forum The good news is i just got my technicpnp in the mail LOL.

J

First, thanks for posting this, as I believe this is an expensive problem waiting to catch out many owners of our cars.

I first became aware of this issue on a British website, and it was an eye-opener. Many drivers over there were reporting perforated radiators, and the repair was costing them amounts similar to yours.

As a result, when I was preparing my car for the track and various parts were off the car, I asked the builder to put some sturdy screen inside the openings of my front bumper cover. He did that, and at a nominal cost, especially compared to replacing the radiator at the dealer, or anywhere else.

Subsequent to that, one day at the track I found a stone trapped in one of the openings in the screen the builder had installed. That stone was the size of the nail on my little finger (i.e., it wasn't small), and I was grateful for the posts I had read on the British website. If that particular stone had been just slightly smaller, it would have been able to pass through the screen, making me think that I should probably place some even finer screen in my bumper cover openings.

This is going slightly off-topic, but I believe that this is another example of BMW focusing more on aesthetics than on practicality. Unfortunately, those of us who can't see these potential problems / issues will eventually have to pay a price for that. Given how much BMWs cost, this is an unattractive aspect of owning one of these cars. FWIW, in my case I long ago made my peace with this reality - I simply like the cars for their driving dynamics, even if I do have to spend quite a bit more to modify the car to meet my needs, I believe it is worth it.

[hwntime]

Originally Posted by dradernh

First, thanks for posting this, as I believe this is an expensive problem waiting to catch out many owners of our cars.

I first became aware of this issue on a British website, and it was an eye-opener. Many drivers over there were reporting perforated radiators, and the repair was costing them amounts similar to yours.

As a result, when I was preparing my car for the track and various parts were off the car, I asked the builder to put some sturdy screen inside the openings of my front bumper cover. He did that at a nominal cost, especially compared to replacing the radiator at the dealer, or anywhere else.

Subsequent to that, one day at the track I found a stone trapped in one of the openings in the screen the builder had installed. That stone was the size of the nail on my little finger (i.e., it was NOT small!), and I was grateful for the posts I had read on the British website. If that particular stone had been just slightly smaller, it would have been able to pass through the screen, making me think that I might want to place some even finer screen in my bumper cover openings.

I always thought about adding mesh to my car. Any pics of your mesh pattern? I want to get an idea of how wide the holes are on your set up.

[dradernh]

Originally Posted by hwntime

I always thought about adding mesh to my car. Any pics of your mesh pattern? I want to get an idea of how wide the holes are on your set up.

No, but I'll shoot one, measure the openings, and I'll post the photos.

As I've indicated, I'd likely go for a smaller opening if I had it to do it over again. The trade-off, of course, is air flow vs. protection for the radiators. I suspect that for most owners air flow is a much lesser issue than is avoiding $1.5-$2.0K repairs, which to me are just ridiculous for a car in this price range with a waiting-to-bite you issue like this one.

[Tony88]

Ouch, that's a real bummer.

Where I live here in Alaska, the roads are covered in gravel through the winter and even though the roads are swept in the spring, a fair amount of gravel sticks around during the summer. All that means - flying rocks and rock chips - and plenty of them. I have seen plenty of damage from rocks, I even had a small rock make it all the way through the windshield in my truck just last year but I have yet to see anything penetrate a radiator

I hadn't really thought about it but now I'm going to be scared of this happening to my 235!

Hopefully that was a 1 in a million thing and you never have to deal with a similar incident again!

[hwntime]

Originally Posted by dradernh

No, but I'll shoot one, measure the openings, and I'll post the photos.

As I've indicated, I'd likely go for a smaller opening if I had it to do it over again. The trade-off, of course, is air flow vs. protection for the radiators. I suspect that for most owners air flow is a much lesser issue than is avoiding $1.5-$2.0K repairs, which to me are just ridiculous for a car in this price range with a waiting-to-bite you issue like this one.

Yeah, I know they sell different size mesh sheets which you can cut to size. I was going to go with a bigger FMIC soon and was looking into meshing my car. Seeing how your car is set up would give me an idea of what it would look like.

[Dj_Quik]

Happened to me too. Small piece of rock punctured my radiator. Thankfully Bmw canada goodwilled 60% of the replacement cost. I was losing coolant and my jb4 was reading unusually high intake air temps. No codes but i decided to bring it in and lo and behold, 3 other b58 powered cars were there with the same exact problem. Its a known issue and that why i think bmw agreed to eat some of the costs. Apparently b58 cars made afrer december 2017 were retrofitted with radiator guards. I cant confirm this but i think i may ask my dealer to retrofit it.

[Luftwaffe1O1]

So, I am wondering if it is a road object that struck it and damaged it, if you can go through insurance to cover it? Like if you hit a big rock on the freeway, that would be covered, why not a smaller object?

[iMnot]

Originally Posted by Luftwaffe1O1

So, I am wondering if it is a road object that struck it and damaged it, if you can go through insurance to cover it? Like if you hit a big rock on the freeway, that would be covered, why not a smaller object?

Ive probably edited this post that much that I forgot to mention that I did use comprehensive to get it fixed. My agent said a no fault claim wouldn't increase my premium. It wasn't a rock that hit my radiator rather a piece of metal and it actually seem like somebody purposely stabbed it with a knife. If my premium does go up then damn lol. Like i said, in a couple of days my car would be a year old so its time for registration and insurance renewal aswell hah

[XutvJet]

I guess this is one of the disadvantages of not having a front intercooler. I've heard of similar things happening to M3/M4s. On those cars (and M2C) there's an oil cooler that faces the ground that's susceptible to road debris puncture. It gets punctured, oil drains out fast and bam, spun rod bearing. $25k short block and turbo replacement,

[tennisfreak]

Exact same thing happened to my radiator.

I used insurance to file a claim and it just cost me the $500 deductible.

But in the end it actually cost me nothing because BMW broke another radiator trying to fix the initial punctured one.
They had to keep my car even longer to fix it so they gave me a free loaner and didnt make me pay my insurance deductible.

I know its a matter of time before it happens again.
I need to get some mesh screen down there to protect the radiators.

[dradernh]

I found the website where I first read about this issue. It's babybmw.net, and the 29-page(!) thread discussing it is here: https://www.babybmw.net/forum/viewto...?f=74&t=110573

Originally Posted by Dj_Quik

Apparently b58 cars made afrer december 2017 were retrofitted with radiator guards. I cant confirm this...

Perhaps it's confirmed in the screenshot below from realoem.com page http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/show...23#17118485042

Originally Posted by hwntime

Any pics of your mesh pattern? I want to get an idea of how wide the holes are on your set up.

Below are a couple of photos I shot this afternoon - the screen hole sizes are noted on the photos. The screen shown in the kidney grille is the same screen I have in the fog light openings. I believe the builder sourced it at Lowe's.

One thing I don't know is if the screen shown in the lower, central bumper cover opening is OEM or if the builder put it in. I mention it because it's a different size and a thinner material. Nevertheless, the smaller openings are all to the good, and it's still a pretty stiff material. Do you have a screen behind the black plastic grille in that opening like the one in the photo? If you don't, I'll update to show it as aftermarket.

I wanted the screening painted black. As you can see, it's silver in color. Not a big deal, as spray paint would have gotten chipped away over time, making the whole thing ugly. Something higher-end might have worked long-term, but...whatever.

I show the measures as approximations, but if they're off at all it's by very little.

Bumper Cover Kidney Grille Opening – Showing Aftermarket Screen in Front of Radiator


Bumper Cover Lower Central Opening – Showing OEM(?) Screen in Front of Radiator

[Unicorn123]

Thanks, drader. Excellent photos...

Did you look at this material when you were evaluating materials:

https://www.amazon.com/Honeycomb-Rad.../dp/B07B8V7JTY

Just curious. It appears to be purpose made. My concern stems from my 100 mile RT commute here in CT. Invariably, you end up eating some interesting road debris here in the nutmeg state...

[dradernh]

Originally Posted by Unicorn123

Thanks, drader. Excellent photos...

Did you look at this material when you were evaluating materials:

https://www.amazon.com/Honeycomb-Rad.../dp/B07B8V7JTY

Just curious. It appears to be purpose made. My concern stems from my 100 mile RT commute here in CT. Invariably, you end up eating some interesting road debris here in the nutmeg state...

No, I didn't actually look at any materials myself. The shop that put the aftermarket parts on my car did the looking and the installation.

[Unicorn123]

Cool. Thank you.

[2018M240]

Hi, just curious, is BMW NA aware that missing a rock guard is basically a design flaw?. I am on a similar situation and trying to get some help to see if BMW can fix my radiator leak under warranty, due to a rock chip problem. Thanks!

[dradernh]

Originally Posted by 2018M240

...is BMW NA aware that missing a rock guard is basically a design flaw?

It certainly seems reasonable to assume that it is, especially since it ended up creating the rock guard.

I don't know much about the inner workings of BMW or BMW NA, nor BMW NA's legal and other relationships with its dealers, but I suspect it's the dealers who get credit for the rock guard finally being created and then installed when the car is built.

FWIW, I ended up having a rock guard retrofitted to my car at the dealer. That cost me $765. The job included a coolant flush, which I was already going to have the dealer do for me.

[freakystyly]

Just thinking out loud, but why are these radiators so special that rocks get sucked into them and they seem to penetrate but the millions of other cars on the road don't share the same fate? It seems to be a strangely common problem that pops up from time to time on this section.

I haven't been in this section for long, just a couple of months now..

Is this strictly the auxiliary rads on the lower sides? Are people tail gating or driving too close to others who drive on the shoulders? I'm assuming highway speeds mostly where this would happen.

[MarcoZandrini]

https://www.speedwaymotors.com/Nomex...x-26,3545.html

[Shaq in the Ozarks]

Has anyone had success with protecting the radiator
The speedway link says May not fir the m240

[aerobod]

Originally Posted by Shaq in the Ozarks

Has anyone had success with protecting the radiator
The speedway link says May not fir the m240

Our 2017 M240i has had black hexagonal aluminium mesh fitted behind the grill openings for the past 5 years, zip tied in place. It has worked well to protect the radiators:

[albertw]

Originally Posted by aerobod

Our 2017 M240i has had black hexagonal aluminium mesh fitted behind the grill openings for the past 5 years, zip tied in place. It has worked well to protect the radiators:

I just got some mesh and removed a top grill to plan how to do this. There seem to be several ways of zip-tying the mesh to the grill. Since your installation has held up well, could you describe exactly where you ran the zip-ties?

I'm leaning towards drilling holes in the vertical bars, but perhaps there is a better way.