[sneal4600]

Ok, so I am about to take on the installation of a new thermostat, o-rings, fan/clutch, etc. Going through the FAQ, I found a parts list that was generated in Jan of 2010. It lists the O-rings necessary to complete the job, however, the guy said he went to Pelican and bought them for $1.25 each. I checked the website and they are listing for $3.75 (as of 12/3/10). I checked again today and they are $4.25! What the heck? I know times are tough but to almost quadruple the price in one year? Dare I say the dealer might be a cheaper source of these particular items?

Does anyone have a source closer to the $1.25 listed a year ago?

I know this is a petty, small potatoes kind of thread but hey if I can save $20 on 8 o-rings then I'm all for that. It would be like getting a free gallon of coolant!

 

[TQ2K]

Can't comment specifically on the O ring prices but from experience I've observed BMW has jacked-up the prices for parts significantly for the past 3-4 years...

 

[gsfent]

Ok, so I am about to take on the installation of a new thermostat, o-rings, fan/clutch, etc. Going through the FAQ, I found a parts list that was generated in Jan of 2010. It lists the O-rings necessary to complete the job, however, the guy said he went to Pelican and bought them for $1.25 each. I checked the website and they are listing for $3.75 (as of 12/3/10). I checked again today and they are $4.25! What the heck? I know times are tough but to almost quadruple the price in one year? Dare I say the dealer might be a cheaper source of these particular items?Does anyone have a source closer to the $1.25 listed a year ago?

I know this is a petty, small potatoes kind of thread but hey if I can save $20 on 8 o-rings then I'm all for that. It would be like getting a free gallon of coolant!

I did it a few months ago. I don't remember the dealer pricing to be that bad. The 0-rings are one of the few parts I would probably dealer source because it is a bit of pain to keep reseating the tubes that the o-rings go on. Get a couple of spares in each size, although the smaller ones are more prone to break.

Regards,
Jerry

 

[Lunker325]

I just ordered the parts for this job as well, and they prices have gone up. Autohaus pricing is below, which still isn't too bad.

11-53-7-835-558 - Thermostat - $36.77
11-53-1-406-249 - O ring - $2.65 each, ouch. I ordered 8 in case of tearing some of them up.
13 62 1 703 993 - Sensor - $13.24. My gauge reads low, so I am replacing this.

Autohaus does not have the below part number, and I could not find it anywhere else, so I am getting these from the dealer. I work right down the street and know the guys, so not a biggie.

11-53-1-407-002 - O ring - $1.50 each. I ordered 4 just in case.

Good luck and have fun.

 

[sneal4600]

I just ordered the parts for this job as well, and they prices have gone up. Autohaus pricing is below, which still isn't too bad.

11-53-7-835-558 - Thermostat - $36.77
11-53-1-406-249 - O ring - $2.65 each, ouch. I ordered 8 in case of tearing some of them up.
13 62 1 703 993 - Sensor - $13.24. My gauge reads low, so I am replacing this.

Autohaus does not have the below part number, and I could not find it anywhere else, so I am getting these from the dealer. I work right down the street and know the guys, so not a biggie.

11-53-1-407-002 - O ring - $1.50 each. I ordered 4 just in case.

Good luck and have fun.

I have priced out autohaus as well. The fan and exp tank are cheaper at pelican, everything else I am getting from autohaus. Although I did not see the o-rings on their website. I will look again.

For the record, my KTEMP is 69-71C. Obviously too low.

 

[jceg]

Pelican seems to consistently have more expensive prices for the same stuff than other parts suppliers, at least for the things I've bought...

I would say try BMW of North Haven, aka bmw-parts-direct.com, or Euro Parts Direct - Discount Prices - OEM Quality as they are apparently now at, but they are currently offline for upgrades or something.
Another place I've purchased from is Tischer, aka getBMWparts.com. Their price for the o-rings is $2.23 per.

 

[sneal4600]

Ok, so I checked both sites... one was down for maintenance and the getBMWparts had a better price for the coolant tank, o-rings, coolant, and coolant level sensor. Autohaus had better prices for the fan clutch, thermostat, radiator cap plus they have free shipping versus $15 from getBMW. I ordered a little from each and saved a few bucks.

 

[bcampbe7]

Needing o-ring size information so I can go to my local hardware shop to buy the o-rings.

Are these the sizes I need?
31X2.5MM
19.5X3.0MM

This is from Real OEM and are #9 and #18.
RealOEM.com   BMW E39 M5 Cooling System Water Hoses

 

[jselig]

Needing o-ring size information so I can go to my local hardware shop to buy the o-rings.

Are these the sizes I need?
31X2.5MM
19.5X3.0MM

This is from Real OEM and are #9 and #18.
RealOEM.com * BMW E39 M5 Cooling System Water Hoses

Those sound like the sizes Baeu but you probly will not find that exact size locally. Bring the pipes and old o-rings with you and you should find something close enough. If I remember right they will be slightly snugger but thats good too as they will be less likely to cut.

 

[Wane Ramsay]

Needing o-ring size information so I can go to my local hardware shop to buy the o-rings.

Are these the sizes I need?
31X2.5MM
19.5X3.0MM

This is from Real OEM and are #9 and #18.
RealOEM.com * BMW E39 M5 Cooling System Water Hoses

Part no 9 is correct but no8 incorrect, should be 11531407002 x2. I'd get 4 just in case.

 

[Wane Ramsay]

I mean no18 is incorrect

 

[jfoj]

Fatter O-rings for engine oil cooler, middle O-ring are:

<table border="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td class="r00">#11 -
</td><td class="r01">O-ring</td><td class="r00 p1">18,3X3,6MM</td><td class="r01">2</td><td class="r00">
</td><td class="r01">
</td><td class="r00" nowrap="nowrap">11531407002</td><td class="r01" align="right" nowrap="nowrap">
</td></tr></tbody></table>

 

[TravisBurrell]

I just ordered the parts for this job as well, and they prices have gone up. Autohaus pricing is below, which still isn't too bad.

11-53-7-835-558 - Thermostat - $36.77
11-53-1-406-249 - O ring - $2.65 each, ouch. I ordered 8 in case of tearing some of them up.
13 62 1 703 993 - Sensor - $13.24. My gauge reads low, so I am replacing this.

Autohaus does not have the below part number, and I could not find it anywhere else, so I am getting these from the dealer. I work right down the street and know the guys, so not a biggie.

11-53-1-407-002 - O ring - $1.50 each. I ordered 4 just in case.

Good luck and have fun.

im kind of confused here.....

11-53-1-406-249 is part #9 right? so what is part #11-53-1-407-002??? where do those o rings go?


I just edited, I think it was just explained in the post above? right? or maybe not. Please verify

 

[NJE39M5]

There are three connection pipes in the thermostat housing, the larger two use 11531406249 and the smaller one (that goes to the oil cooler housing) uses 11531407002 as seen in post 12 above

 

[mr_hyde]

Hello Gents! I'm new here but I moderate on a non-BMW car forum so I'm excited to get started here! I'm the proud new owner of a 2000 Carbonschwarz M5. It is replacing my E46 that burned down courtesy of a buggered LCM. The 3 series was fun and very easy to work on but didn't quite have the fun factor that I have with some of the other cars. The fire was a blessing is disguise!

The car had SES codes for the SAI system and low coolant temp. Some computer work fixed the SAI and the low coolant code was the same one I had on the E46 when I got it. I'm posting in this thread because it was the one I found first when googling the E39 thermostat info and I had some issues with the O-Rings I wanted to share.

This first photo is what the the new ring on the tube should look like. It should be tight and you should not be able to push it from side to side in its groove.

This is what it shouldn't look like. See how it bulges out on one side when it is pushed from the other side?

I am not squeezing it hard at all in this photo - just holding it snug on one side while the ring bulges out on the other side.

I split 4 of these (I bought 8 instead of the minimum of 4) trying to install the thermostat before I went to the local BMW dealer and got the correct size shown in the first photo. Here is a 'wrong' O-Ring next to one of the OEM BMW rings I picked up at the dealer:

Once I had a correct fitting O-Ring, it popped in the first time and sealed perfectly. I bought the first set of parts from one of the vendors mentioned a lot on this site. I don't want to mention who because they were extremely responsive when I contacted them. They say they only receive Genuine BMW parts also and are researching a potential lot problems. They refunded my purchase and reimbursed me for the Blue BMW Cool-Aid lost during the failed attempts. In short, mistakes happen and they handled it perfectly.

The moral of the story is if the O-Rings are loose (popping out the side) when you try to install the thermostat side, you have zero chance of getting the engine side in without at least one of them popping out and splitting.

Another top tip is to buy or rent a radiator pressure tester. Because of how far into the engine these go, you can't tell they are leaking until you do a heat cycle which means you have lost a bunch of coolant and spent a bunch of time on R&R for the VANOS lines and intake. It is much nicer to pump up the system with air and make sure it holds before you finish reassembly and pour in your $25/gal magic juice.

I am almost done with the first layer of triage on the car. SES light is out and emissions have been passed. I've done some simple things like replacing a broken window regulator, a broken fog lamp and the struts for the trunk lid. I'm tracking down the mystery of the stability/ABS/Brake triad currently and then will move forward on some more somewhat elective maintenance items. I also need to install my AL Priority/9500ci... soon. As you all know, this car would much prefer to gallop along at twice the legal speed limit.

I've read Alex Roy's book and I don't carry bail money in cash like he did. Better get the other countermeasures set up!

 

[mr_hyde]

I had one other thing to add to related to the thermostat and the temperature fault caused by it failing open. I spent some time monitoring the OBDII temperatures and watching the needle move over a few days of working through the O-Ring problem. I used a scangauge set to Fahrenheit instead of the secret menu (Celsius) because I had the wheel sensor error that would take over the display once I started moving.

I observed 4 distinct 'stopping' points of the needle at 4 distinct ODBII temperatures. The needle swings up to approximately 11 o'clock by the low 170s and stays there until the temp reaches above 181. 182/183 moves it about a needle's width to the right. 184 moves it another needle's width and 185 sets it to 12 o'clock (straight up). This solves some question about how the needle should behave under normal conditions.

In cool ambient while moving, your needle should be at this first position around 11 o'clock. In hot weather or while in traffic, it is perfectly normal for the needle to swing up to vertical and move back and forth between these two positions as driving conditions change. I didn't wait to see how hot things had to get to move the needle to the right - that could be an expensive experiment. The manual says swinging near the red is acceptable but that makes me very nervous.

I think it is great BMW gave us a somewhat 'smart' temperature gauge. The Mazda goes to a fixed position by ~165f and stays there until about ~232f. By the time it moves, you are in big trouble on those motors. It is basically an idiot light that doesn't do a good job of getting your attention like a light would. Many of us have linearized the gauge on that car to sweep in a useful range.

On the M5, I really wish there were another few needle ticks to the right of vertical that could happen when things were getting hot but not critical (perhaps there are). Please chime in if there are and/or you are aware of the temp that gets us to red. At any rate - thanks!