[Nushibo]

I got the whole coolant is low message. Should I, A just top it off or B flush and refill the system. If B does anyone have a guide and or similar to the N engines. if not anyone got a ball park cost to do it? From a dealership/Indy. Please and thank you. Currently at 57,xxx K

[135i_vs_]

I would just top it off for now and keep an eye on it.
I think the BMW coolant is "long-Life"; there is no provision to change it, maybe 100k.

[BB_cuda]

Not that this is gospel but Mike Miller maintenance recommendation is every 2 years for coolant change. I had an Indy do it for $50 and I had the BMW coolant. He drained system and pulled a vacuum on it and added 50/50 mix back in.

The air in the system thing isn't trivial. My GF's mustang isn't heating the cabin and i'm pretty sure it is air in the system. Different cars are sensitive to differing degrees though. So, the $50 was worth it in terms of knowing it doesn't have entrapped air in system. I need to try to bleed that mustang's coolant system.

[TDIwyse]

Interesting. Do you have a description of how/where the vacuum is applied? And how much vacuum was used?

[Yozh]

On my old E92 there was a procedure to activate the aux water pump to bleed the coolant system. For the 09's that still have one it may be an option. Otherwise, if someone knows the procedure, please share.

[Yozh]

Here are the instructions, but I am not sure these are applicable to us:

[BB_cuda]

Originally Posted by TDIwyse

Interesting. Do you have a description of how/where the vacuum is applied? And how much vacuum was used?

I will ask Indy. I needed to go check on something else anyway.

[Nushibo]

Thanks for the info so far. I just topped off the mix with a 50/50 of coolant and distilled. Ill probably do a flush after I finish my brake line upgrade.

[remlemasi]

So uhhh, I can't find the drain plugs to do a flush. Lol. Anyone DIY this before? Do I need to remove the black plastic brackets on the sides to expose the drain plugs?

[remlemasi]

I see the issue now: I'm staring at the intercooler wondering where the radiator drain plug is.

So... How do I get to the radiator now??? I hope I don't have to drop the intercooler. :/

[remlemasi]

Yep, I did have to drop the intercooler, along with 85k miles worth of debris.

[Persian Whisperjet]

I thought we beat this to death a year ago and the consensus was a) it is extremely tricky to purge the cooling system requiring the use of EDIABAS or equivalent to activate various secret pumps and b) there is minimal benefit as the fluid lasts a long time (the person who did the purge found the coolant looking like Poland Spring water in the office cooler.

[remlemasi]

I must have missed that memo, but I did the drain/flush as I was replacing the thermostat already and would lose a bunch of coolant in the process.

I plan on following the procedure outlined above. Will let you know how it goes. (Didn't finish last night as I snapped the hose going into the top of the EGR cooler ) Why in the world wasn't that hose made to be flexible???

If anyone has tips on bleeding I would love to hear it.

[335dlci]

Originally Posted by BB_cuda

I will ask Indy. I needed to go check on something else anyway.

I personally own one for work, I have worked for the dealer for 8 and now a little Indy. I bought the coolant bleeder tool through Matco. Snapon also makes a nice unit. You can the coolant and you use an adapter for the reservoir and hook up shop air and turn it on. It sucks all the air out of the cooling system before adding coolant. You close one valve for vacuum and open the second valve to add coolant all from one tool. Never have to worry about air pockets again or worry about the bleeder screw leaking or cracking.

http://www.matcotools.com/catalog/product/MCR102A/cooling-system-refiller/

[BB_cuda]

That's the rig the Indy had too. I had to open my system for thermostat change. I caught spillage in pan and added about another 1/4 jug of 50/50 mix of coolant. Spillage was nice and blue so I poured it back in. I found that the system appears to be self purging. Look at stream flowing back into the reservoir. It spit pockets of air for a while. I confirmed with dealer mechanic. I just let car run about 20 minutes with cap off and added coolant a little bit at a time. The return to the reservoir pees a little stream so it is easy to see if stream has air or not. My car runs about 85C when fully warmed with new T/S but I don't have EGR cooler.

[Nadir Point]

I modded the system after pulling the EGR cooler for just this purpose. Filter is one of those "not a bad idea" kind of things:

EGR Cooler Delete Mod

[TDIwyse]

Used this thing for changing the coolant when eliminating the EGR cooler, and it did "ok", but didn't work good enough to completely refill the system.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ilpage_o00_s01

Topping the fluid up and letting it recirculate seemed to fully bleed things. At least I haven't noticed any issues that would indicate air in the system.

Also did a fluid analysis on the drained coolant. It looked in really good shape at 5 yrs and 62+K miles...

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showpo...7&postcount=74

[Built4Sin]

I get emails from ECSTuning all the time, and last week I saw this.



https://www.ecstuning.com/BMW-E90-33....0L/ES2712734/

It seems to have a few more accessories than the Amazon offering from TDIwyse. I don't buy much from Schwaben since they seem in most cases to be overpriced. But what I have gotten has been really high quality.

[mjn77]

How much coolant does the e90 hold?