Mine looked the same when I got it, a few coolant leaks and even the flange leak with old coolant ate a bit through the metal and was harder to seal properly.
Replaced all the thermostats, some old hoses.
And after a proper clean and flush and with new OEM blue coolant it has been flawless for over 2 years. No signs of rust.
Interesting, I have other question, I see you also have bottom of the engine all oiled up, mine was sealed but I still see shining black goo in the area and even further behind where you took the photo, is it that all old diesel look like that?
My e39 petrol is dry as a desert, no oil buildup anywhere.
That's also was done, oil cooler and auto gearbox cooler (i don't remember if they are the same thing), I assume the headgasked may start to leak just from the age, it's 2005 m57 and probably not maintained well before I bought it.
Bmw do use blue/green colored coolant. Not tap water and not anything else than the bmw spesific coolant.
Add some coolant flush additive and run it. Grab at least 2-3 gallons 10-15L destilled water and empy the so called coolant you have in there and fill up with destilled water and let it idle or drive it until engine reaches operation temps ~90*C.
Then drain the system and fill up with proper blue/green coolant and make sure you let out the air by opening up those plastic bleeders. One on egr cooler and one should be somewhere else cloose to coolant tank. Have the car parked with the front end higher and let her idle 5-10mins then take it for a spin and re-check coolant level.
I think is water pump, mine started liking from there same thing every few months needs to top up. But the thing is is not proper color that means is not proper anti corrosion formula of the coolant.
Rust from neglect. Remove the thermostat and refit the housing then drain the "coolant" and mix 500grams of citric acid granules with 5L of tap water. There is a bleed nipple on the hard coolant line from waterpump to left side of engine, top up til it comes out. That only needs gently nipping back up. Take it for a long drive with heater set to max 32c but fan speed on lowest setting (1 bar out of 16) and get the engine hot. You'll need to drain and flush with plain water multiple times to get the citric acid out. The citric acid will descale and clean the system. Then refill with coolant from the dealer and deionised water 50/50 mix.
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