The tube used to indicate coolant level on my bike is white, except where it has been clamped over the connections, and the fluid level is not visible.
I am in the process of trying to clean it, but so far, it's not looking good.
Is this plastic a special product to withstand heat, or will any crappy clear plastic tubing do the job?
Cheers
Ian

I replaced the tube on a friends K75 about 5 years ago with plastic tubing and AFAIK it's still OK.

Any clear plastic tubing is fine (8mm) as the fluid is never hot back there. I threw away the clamp and placed a small cable tie around the bottom, much tidier, you don't need anything around the top as it's above the fluid level. Looks nice when it's new, all green and pretty.

That's great, sounds like a simple fix.
I had visions of requiring a genuine BMW plastic tube costing many dollars.
Thanks for your answers.
Cheers
Ian

Ian don't go thinking that a brick is going to be expensive to maintain, we have found many many sources for almost everything and being a bunch of skinflints there aren't many dollars involved.
The main thing is don't go to a BMW dealer they WILL rob you be it for parts or service.
I have found that there are not many things, maybe 1/2 dozen that aren't available as non OEM parts.
The resources of this site and a few others are amazing.

You can always call your dealer to compare prices. From this site I understand that not every dealer is using normal mark-ups , but some do. I have bought parts here that are practically similar priced as from the usual suspects. You can always ask

Just a comparison with that tube...non BMW after market...$23 for the tube. From a hardware store 35 cents, and you get enough to have 3 tubes.

Wish I had your hardware store near me. I wanted to replace mine and had to buy 5 meters of the stuff, still only $15.00. So I am a bit long of it if you need it. Maybe I could make a Manometre?.
RT

RT, cut it up into little bits and charge $13 each....plus postage and handling....that should come to about $35.

That's a good idea except now you've told everybody. I was thinking of cutting it up and selling it to the local
druggies to stop them from nicking everyone's hoses.

I know that someone in your family may not be happy with that statement.

That overflow hose (number 23 in the ETK image) is about $9 in the USA but closer to $30 in OZ, if you go to a dealer. As Rick G said, we are generally skinflints and can almost always come up with a cheaper, often more effective, version to replace the OEM part.

http://realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=0503&mospid=51751&btnr=17_0628&hg=17&fg=12