99 z3 2.8l roadster

[Jake]

Bleeding an M52-ish BMW engine is annoying.

Get the nose HIGH in the air (parking on a very sloped driveway works too). Heat to full blast. Bleed screw open on expansion tank. Fill the tank, run it, rev it, the thermostat will eventually open and start sucking water down. Keep filling the tank. It will piss coolant everywhere out of the bleed screw kind of by design. Yes, this is messy and annoying, but you'll see bubbles come out too. Eventually the bubbles will stop and you'll be done. Take it for a good hard romp around your area and check level once it cools.