Coolant Leak?

[Florida-X3]

So our 2014 X5 (xDrive, 3.0 N55) has 102k miles on it. It's the wife's DD so I don't drive it much. I took it today to go get gas and noticed a slight sweet smell, didn't think too much of it as she has a pretty strong air freshener in the car. While pumping gas I noticed a slight steam like smoke/vapor coming from out of the engine/grill area. Not a lot but enough to notice. After pumping I moved the car forward to a parking spot (shut the car off) and opened the hood to see if I could see anything obvious, which I couldn't and it wasn't producing any smoke/vapor at that point.

Drove home (about 8-10 miles one-way) so the car was good and warmed up and the temp stayed steady, well under 250. Got home, looked under the hood, no smoke/vapor still and nothing obvious. The car hadn't been driven in 3-4 days prior to today. No drips, etc. on the garage floor.

I'm thinking a slow coolant leak somewhere that accumulated over those 3-4 days and burned off today. Once the car cools down I'll check coolant level. So ..... from the engine bay, where should I look for the usual suspects? I'm hoping not a water pump, if so whats a realistic dealer cost (I have no close, semi close good indy shops)?

[Edwardsc1]

I just had to have my expansion tank replaced because there was a slight crack in the bottom of it, and I also had to have all my T-joint connections replaced as well because they were leaking. Chances are, it's one of those 2 things. Could also be a small leak in the radiator if there was a puncture from a rock, but that's probably not as likely.

Mine is a 50i, not the 35i, but still you're around the time when some of those plastic pieces begin to break. They just get brittle after going through so many heat cycles over the years. I had my T-joints replaced with brass ones and have been good to.

[Florida-X3]

Originally Posted by Edwardsc1

I just had to have my expansion tank replaced because there was a slight crack in the bottom of it, and I also had to have all my T-joint connections replaced as well because they were leaking. Chances are, it's one of those 2 things. Could also be a small leak in the radiator if there was a puncture from a rock, but that's probably not as likely.

Mine is a 50i, not the 35i, but still you're around the time when some of those plastic pieces begin to break. They just get brittle after going through so many heat cycles over the years. I had my T-joints replaced with brass ones and have been good to.

Thanks, will find out on Friday. Have had a small oil seep in the pan for some time now. Investigating the above issue yesterday I climbed under the car and the seep looks more like a leak now. Not dripping on the garage floor or oil level issues but there is a fair amount of oil covering things when I peek under there. We have decided that if the repair bill is to high, it's time to replace. Ten years old and 102k miles it's time, we'll see. Appreciate the response.

[Edwardsc1]

Originally Posted by Florida-X5

Thanks, will find out on Friday. Have had a small oil seep in the pan for some time now. Investigating the above issue yesterday I climbed under the car and the seep looks more like a leak now. Not dripping on the garage floor or oil level issues but there is a fair amount of oil covering things when I peek under there. We have decided that if the repair bill is to high, it's time to replace. Ten years old and 102k miles it's time, we'll see. Appreciate the response.

Glad to help! If the oil leak seems to be coming from mainly the lower oil pan, that gasket is pretty easy to replace. I replaced it on my 50i when I tightened up the oil chain pump tensioner. It's a lot of bolts, but if you have a drill/ impact gun, super easy to get them all off and then torque back to spec.