2000 528i thermostat, then CPS, now radiator? Girl needs advice..

[NYBmwgirl]

Gentlemen, I need your help. I've followed your forum & trust your opinions over anywhere else I've been on the Internet. I'm trying to make sense of a few things. I'll try to keep explanations to a minimum, to get to the point. I believe I have vanos prob. Cold stall, rpm fluctuations on starting, all symptoms match what I've seen in this forum. I can't afford to fix it right now, and no mechanics around me have even heard of a "double vanos". I've tested the theory & they're always saying "I don't know; Just bring it in." No, not doing that. But I digress...

Keep in mind please, thru this all, I've been leaking brown fluid on driveway for long time, vicinity of radiator, front-middle to front- right. Check engine light on & off for couple years. Got lucky on inspections few times. Inspection and registration now due immediately. Put these problems off bc unsure of mechanics around here, and cost to fix. BMW dealer too expensive.
My cousin, a mechanic upstate, ran codes. Thermostat came up, with a couple others I don't remember.
Recent problem started a couple months ago. Symptoms include:
1- After driving, car was idling in driveway & overheated. Steam pouring out of hood. Popped hood to find sputtering from bleeder screw beside coolant fill cap. Cooled car, checked coolant, low level, got BMW coolant & filled.
Suspected I may have overfilled. Left it alone, called a friend who owns towing shop & does light mechanic work, he said he'd look & try to help me save costs & see if he could fix. He picked up car, diagnosed thermostat, changed it.
He said he cleared "a bunch of codes." I was frustrated bc I need inspection- overdue- CEL still on. Car ran ok for few wks.
2- Cousin came to run code again. P1397 Camshaft position sensor appeared. Reset light. Came back on immediate.
3- I sent (don't yell at me please) instructions on how to fix it to towing mechanic, stated its quick job. I think he was (rightfully) offended at a girl telling him how to do his job, and didn't respond. Called him couple times, he ignored me. One last call, he said he'd fix when I said I'd get part.
4- Got OEM CPS from BMW 3 days ago (Wed) Mechanic replaced on Thurs.
5- picked up car Thurs, drove for 2 min, sat idle, car spewing steam, checked under hood, steam coming from bleeder screw again. Attempted to tighten with quarter, at request of mechanic who I called immediately. Placed quarter on bleeder screw & it moved. Lifted gently after realizing it was broken.
6- mechanic towed car back to shop, (yesterday) replaced bleeder screw, filled with more coolant, which was empty (again)
7- Yesterday, picked up car, drove for 35 miles, average driving, shut off for short intervals, no prob. In a parking lot, idling, excessive overheating & smoke (?) coming from hood, burned my eyes. A man came to look. Bleeder screw and fill cap "area" bone dry. A ton of liquid on ground under car front, and various wet areas and streams to the right of the fill cap, down front of car. The stranger gently pushed on new hose that mechanic had just replaced when he changed radiator. Heard 'hissing' No way to see origination point of leak... Didn't check under car at risk of looking like idiot blonde sprawled under car in mcdonalds. Haha Mechanic towed car back to shop last night.
8- Mechanic texted me "radiator is no good"

The original overheating, pre-thermostat fix, started this process. My cousin said that while mechanic was replacing Cam position sensor, he may have damaged radiator. I'm at my wits end, and afraid to be taken advantage of. Cousin lives too far away. Can any of you guys make sense of this? I'm neurotic in checking in this forum and I think I get mechanic aggravated when I'm giving my input based on what you guys say. So far you've been right. What can you advise?

Just an FYI, the mechanic speaks as if he's unsure of problems, and is very nice to me when I called him & said I needed tow back to his shop. He's a friend but I'm having doubts about things. He seems to get too excited when he says "if this doesn't fix it, bring it RIGHT back & I'll know exactly what the problem is!" This has happened each time. He's got no knowledge of BMWs beyond basics. He has kids working for him, swears he fixes my car himself. When she overheated Thurs night, I found 2 snap-on wrenches under the hood after the cam position sensor repair. Grrrr...

[south42]

I would post in the e39 section.


Andy

[Kwilso25]

Did you ever figure this out???