Smoke from back of engine car overhearing

[e90Erick]

Yesterday I noticed the car was getting quite hot so I popped the hood and there is a hissing noise with smoke caused by coolant protruding from the back of the engine bay in the space between the engine block and the fire wall. So I know I have a coolant leak of some sort. I took it on the lift today and tried to find the leak from every angle but just can’t see it. I’m not really sure what lines run back there but from what I could tell coolant was sprayed everywhere, probably where the smoke was coming from, but I couldn’t see any distinct coolant lines leaking, I don’t even know if I was looking at the right lines. I don’t really want to pay someone to find this leak for me but I already had my mechanic buddy take a glance at it with me. The weird part is today after bleeding the system and refilling lost coolant the car ran fine for a little bit but it started overheating so I pulled over, climbed in the engine bay to look in back, didn’t see anything and by the time I did that the car cooled a little, I drove it back home and it didn’t overheat at all. So basically car is overheating and losing coolant, sometimes. Also could I have a blown head gasket??? Thank you for any help, I’m pretty new to the whole E39 scene. All feedback will be looked into tomorrow.

[Dave Sal]

Sounds like one of the hoses going to the heater core has failed. I believe that they are located under the intake manifold. I would not drive the car until you find and fix this leak. Go to RealOEM and put in the last 7 digits of the VIN and do a search for the cooling system. You should be able to find a diagram.

https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/select