BMW Heater core Removal / replacement, E46 3 series (No dashboard removal) 

Please consider subscribing if I helped you out with this video, It doesn't mean you're obligated to watch any other videos of mine but its a great token of appreciation and it helps me out with my channel, Thank you! Also if your car has no heat from the vents I recommend checking the plastic heater pipes that run from the engine block first. these leak and cause air to enter the system and prevent coolant from efficiently reaching the heater core.

Also works for Compacts/Ti's! Just wanted to post a reply to say that my E46 compact(2004) was slightly different with some cabling and how things was behind it all BUT everything worked out much like the video. Though getting the new clips in to lock the metal pipes, to the heater core, was quite difficult. I think if you bend the pins them ever so slightly down, before installing, they will push in easier. Meaning bend the pins down towards the ground before installing them as they will more easily clear the rear holder. It looked like i was pushing the rear stop a bit to get them in, it really took a lot of force for me. I also used a piece of the cardboard box to put on top of the radiator when installing. It make it much easier to not poke holes or bend too many fins, especially with all the pushing i had to do. Keep something handy you can push with on the clips. Also when installing a new heater core i suggest filling it with water before installation as then any air bubble you create will be minimal, i only lost like the equivalent of 2-3 sips of your favorite drink, when uninstalling the old one. I turned my car on and it didnt take much more than a few minutes for heat to come through and i did not have the smell of coolant, so wish me luck this was all that was needed! Total time ended up being like 2 hours with 20min to look for my phone and taking it really easy and without any previous experience going into the dash, but slight know how when it comes to technical things overall. I would say a mechanic doing it for the first time could get it done by an hour for the job, someone knowing what they are doing maybe even 30-40min. As a complete novice 2-3 hours. Edited for clarification

Thanks Chris for posting this. Much easier than removing the whole dashboard.

Wow. That's was easy and much less time then a clip I saw years ago. The clip I watched was involving whole dash board( in order to remove dash a guy removed whole steering column, a passenger side air bag and so on everything). Took whole day. Thanks for the video.

Thanks . youtubers like you are very intellectual for hard promblems being made easy. Thanks

Two thumbs up👍🏻👍🏻 I don't know why the manual insists on removing the dashboard - it takes 10 mins to get to the core, and 10 mins to climb back out again; the only tricky bit is pressing the metal pipes in with enough force to pop the o-rings.

Great video thank you. I'll be doing this to mine now

Brilliant video. I might have preferred some explanatory chatter rather than the music, but great nonetheless. Had you done this job before, or were you figuring it out as you went?

He did a good job there, I broke loads!

I'm really impressed! Could you tell me, what is the reason that you decided to remove/replace heater core? In my 320d core is getting blocked every winter and I don't know why :( I was flushing it with vinegar and NaOH, but now I decided to replace it :( Thanks for your material!

Seems a long job with usual BMW parts creaking and braking. Thanks for film i think i can do it now.

Did you have to drain the cooling sytem first, or did you block it off at some point?

Great video ! Thanks

Great how to video 👍🏼

Amazing video, thank you!! Question... if my 330xi core is leaking, would that possibly show as a leak underneath the car in the area of the oil pan? (I also smell coolant in the vents.) That's what I see. I'm hoping that replacing the core will fix that, and it's not from the head gasket, uggg! Really hard to see where the coolant is leaking from.. it's not from the water pump or hoses at the front.

Great video!!

looks great 🤟

do I have to flush coolant first? should I flush after replacment?

Question; after removing the heater core, was there access to the flaps that are mechanically controlled by the rotary knob between the center vents. Have a situation where the driver's side is cold but the passenger's side is hot!

Can it be done this way on an E39 as well?

Hi does the 1998 e46 can i remove with same steps

Question....before we replace the heater core...have to empty all the water or the paraflou from the rest circuit ;

Hi, this is the AC radiator gas for make cold or is the hot radiator with hot water from motor?

Would replacing the heater core eliminate the smell of "heat" that I get when I turn on my heater ?

would this work for e36

Do you need to drain the coolant before doing this or are there valves that keep it from spilling everywhere?

Does this work for an automatic

Could this work in a 5 series?

Good content. Thanks. Makes it look not too hard. Personally I would have liked it better if you talked and explained things, rather than playing super annoying music that I had to turn off so I could watch. Otherwise, good job.

Just remember guys, "no dash removal"......yet he went ahead and first thing he took apart was the dash, people from this generation, smh.