[mefferso]

Low coolant light came on and wanted to top off my reservoir. Can I just add the 'mixes with any' type coolants or do I have to go to the dealer/order online BMW specific coolant?

Thanks

[E93Manny335]

Originally Posted by mefferso

Low coolant light came on and wanted to top off my reservoir. Can I just add the 'mixes with any' type coolants or do I have to go to the dealer/order online BMW specific coolant?

Thanks

Just get some from your nearest BMW dealer/center. It's the safest approach IMO. The quart to top off is about 10 bucks... I had the same issue and asked the same question a few months back.

[mefferso]

Originally Posted by E93Manny335

Just get some from your nearest BMW dealer/center. It's the safest approach IMO. The quart to top off is about 10 bucks... I had the same issue and asked the same question a few months back.

Kinda trying to avoid that if I really don't need to since the nearest dealer is about 45 miles away compared to local autoparts stores. I did try searching but must have looked right past your post.

[335dwanted]

Coolant is the kind of infrequent/long life fluid that I will always stay with BMW brand as there is very little economy in using other brand. Where I in your shoes, I would add a cup of distilled water and then follow that up with a cup of BMW coolant when I got my hands on it (you can mail order a liter). The BMW coolant is concentrate and mixed 50/50 with water. Hopefully the cup of water would turn out the dash light/notification and still leave room for the matching concentrate later.

[NickTheStick]

Under most circumstances, I would say just mix it. However, I was in the same situation recently and decided to USE BMW specific from the dealership.

[Hoooper]

You live in Louisiana, just add distilled water. The factory coolant comes mixed to deal with way lower temps than you will ever see unless you happen to travel to the northern border during a cold snap. If you feel you must use some coolant, get either BMW factory coolant or the others that are compatible. Pentosin blue works, as well as a few others. Dont just go grab some green stuff.

[BB_cuda]

I investigated a certain source for service recommendations. He doesn't like it posted to internet so I won't give his name. pasted in below. I knew there was a reason to stick with the OEM stuff.
------------------------------------------------------
Engine Coolant Service: Every two years
The factory coolant change interval used to be every two years. Starting in the late 1990s,
BMW lengthened the coolant change interval to every three years, then every four years.
As of 2004, BMW says coolant is “lifetime fill.” There was no discernable change in
original BMW anti-freeze during this transition, other than who pays for the service
during the warranty period.
I recommend changing engine coolant at two-year intervals, using only factory BMW
anti-freeze mixed 50-50 with distilled water (reason – BMW anti-freeze is phosphate
free, phosphates cause aluminum oxidation, which blocks cylinder head coolant passages
and causes head gasket failure, others may claim to be “aluminum safe” or “phosphate
free” – make your choice, but I’ve used BMW anti-freeze exclusively in many cars and
have never had an aluminum oxidation or head gasket problem)

[mefferso]

Thanks for all the quick replies guys! After a little online research and a few phone calls, found out that Carquest actually sells OEM BMW antifreeze: http://www.carquest.com/webapp/wcs/s...611_?acesApp=2

So just gonna go pick one up on my way to work. Will save the rest for a future complete coolant change.

[Hoooper]

Originally Posted by BB_cuda

I investigated a certain source for service recommendations. He doesn't like it posted to internet so I won't give his name. pasted in below. I knew there was a reason to stick with the OEM stuff.
------------------------------------------------------
Engine Coolant Service: Every two years
The factory coolant change interval used to be every two years. Starting in the late 1990s,
BMW lengthened the coolant change interval to every three years, then every four years.
As of 2004, BMW says coolant is “lifetime fill.” There was no discernable change in
original BMW anti-freeze during this transition, other than who pays for the service
during the warranty period.
I recommend changing engine coolant at two-year intervals, using only factory BMW
anti-freeze mixed 50-50 with distilled water (reason – BMW anti-freeze is phosphate
free, phosphates cause aluminum oxidation, which blocks cylinder head coolant passages
and causes head gasket failure, others may claim to be “aluminum safe” or “phosphate
free” – make your choice, but I’ve used BMW anti-freeze exclusively in many cars and
have never had an aluminum oxidation or head gasket problem)

FWIW BMW doesnt make their own antifreeze, they buy it from a manufacturer. There are a whole bunch of phosphate-free antifreeze options out there. Im fairly confident that the factory fill is pentosin NF which states on the spec sheet "It does not contain any nitrites, amines or phosphorous containing additives. " and also happens to be the exact same color as the factory coolant (could be a coincidence of course).

[shnaggs]

I will say from my own experience, with my tdi. Had a slow coolant leak and was away from home on a trip. Decided to stop at autozone and pick up some ALL manufacture safe long life antifreeze. Topped it off, and I was on my way. A few months later I decided to fix the coolant leak. Got the parts, and R&Red the O ring causing the leak. After getting her all buttoned up, I was going to take my sister and her husband up to Boston. Didn't make 3 miles down the highway, before the car overheated. Couldn't for the life of me figure out what happens. I just put a new T stat in, water pump had been replaced 30k miles earlier. Turns out that my coolant had actually coagulated!!! It had big globular sections all through the system. It was like vasaline. Did some digging, and it turned out that the audi/vw coolant can not be mixed with other coolants. Also found this was an issue with GM owners as well. So I assume that bmw's coolant would be similar. Not compatible with other coolants. Not worth it to find out at least.

[135i_vs_]

If you're still under warranty, need to use BMW coolant. Or they deny a claim if a failure were to occur in the cooling system.

[BB_cuda]

Hooper's point was to find same antifreeze chemically as the BMW sold product. I recall only paying $15 for the jug at dealer vs the $26 shown on the Link found by OP. If it's not too much more than parts store brand, it's faster to just get the known to be safe stuff. Not saying to avoid parts store brand if it is chemically right. It just requires proper research.

[dixy2k]

Toyota purists only use Toyota red coolant.
BMW owners would not think about any other brand to use in their cars but BMW coolant.

What if you use Toyota in your BMW, or vice versa? Is there a car black hole that would open inside your garage?


I got a gallon of "Peak" from Pep Boys and used in both cars. I think it's way better than using water, distilled or not.