[Outrun]

Hey everyone,

so last night I was driving home from work when the "Low engine coolant" sign came up on the dash....when I started the car this morning the light immediately came back on. I was worried about it and took it to a Midas just down the street from my home. I watched the technician put about 2 quarts of coolant in the resevoir. The car is about 2.5 years old with 20k on the odometer.

The light went away but I was worried about a possible leak somewhere so I called my BMW dealership and told the service rep who nonchalantly stated that this was normal for BMW turbo engines, but couldn't really explain to me why. He said that during routine service they always make sure to "top off" the engine coolant, and that if the low coolant sign came up that I could "swing by to get the coolant topped off"

I've never had to replace the engine coolant of any of my other cars (non-BMW) before and wanted to get other thoughts on this? Should I be worried about a potential leak somewhere?

[overcoil]

http://www.2addicts.com/forums/showt...+coolant+light

[DarthFader]

I've had 3 N55 BMWs and all needed an occasional coolant top off when they were newer. Not sure why either. Don't need to top them off anymore. No problems noted. Oldest car has 86k miles and still going strong.

[aerobod]

Originally Posted by Outrun

Hey everyone,

so last night I was driving home from work when the "Low engine coolant" sign came up on the dash....when I started the car this morning the light immediately came back on. I was worried about it and took it to a Midas just down the street from my home. I watched the technician put about 2 quarts of coolant in the resevoir. The car is about 2.5 years old with 20k on the odometer.

The light went away but I was worried about a possible leak somewhere so I called my BMW dealership and told the service rep who nonchalantly stated that this was normal for BMW turbo engines, but couldn't really explain to me why. He said that during routine service they always make sure to "top off" the engine coolant, and that if the low coolant sign came up that I could "swing by to get the coolant topped off"

I've never had to replace the engine coolant of any of my other cars (non-BMW) before and wanted to get other thoughts on this? Should I be worried about a potential leak somewhere?

Do you know what coolant Midas used to top up with? It needs to be nitrite, amine and phosphate free. G48 is the correct spec. G05 is generally acceptable. If they put in standard green Prestone or any OAT coolant (typically red or orange), you need to have the cooling system flushed and refilled with the correct coolant to avoid future corrosion, sediment or plugged radiator issues.

[bimmerfile]

Originally Posted by Outrun

Hey everyone,

so last night I was driving home from work when the "Low engine coolant" sign came up on the dash....when I started the car this morning the light immediately came back on. I was worried about it and took it to a Midas just down the street from my home. I watched the technician put about 2 quarts of coolant in the resevoir. The car is about 2.5 years old with 20k on the odometer.

The light went away but I was worried about a possible leak somewhere so I called my BMW dealership and told the service rep who nonchalantly stated that this was normal for BMW turbo engines, but couldn't really explain to me why. He said that during routine service they always make sure to "top off" the engine coolant, and that if the low coolant sign came up that I could "swing by to get the coolant topped off"

I've never had to replace the engine coolant of any of my other cars (non-BMW) before and wanted to get other thoughts on this? Should I be worried about a potential leak somewhere?

Happened to me a couple of months ago. Only had 25K Kms (about 16K miles) on the clock. Needed about 1+ quarts. I was a bit surprised because I had my Z4 for 5+ years, my 128i ragtop for almost 6 years and the X1 for 3 years and never had to add coolant. Service advisor was unconcerned and they made me pay for the gallon of BMW coolant which cost several thousand dollars (O.K., that's a slight exaggeration, but it was expensive).
My guess is that they have a shitload of overpriced BMW coolant which they need to move - and they've found a way to do it.

[mcompact]

Originally Posted by aerobod

Do you know what coolant Midas used to top up with? It needs to be nitrite, amine and phosphate free. G48 is the correct spec. G05 is generally acceptable. If they put in standard green Prestone or any OAT coolant (typically red or orange), you need to have the cooling system flushed and refilled with the correct coolant to avoid future corrosion, sediment or plugged radiator issues.

Exactly; I keep a gallon of BMW coolant and a gallon of distilled water in my garage for topping up my cars. My 2er has never needed it, but my 3er does every so often...

[Cumberlandjames]

I find this very interesting and concerning. In my long career as a backyard mechanic, if your using coolant and there's no visible leaks, you have a head gasket problem.

It would be interesting to hear comments from a BMW mechanic about why their engines are using coolant. Somehow I don't think it to add some water to the cylinders to keep the pistons washed off.

For those who have had coolant added, have you checked the oil to see if it is contaminated?

[bryan_G01]

can use distilled water if your in a pinch.

[overcoil]

Originally Posted by bryan_f22

can use distilled water if your in a pinch.

yes, in the summer it may even cool better, In the winter you need to make sure the distilled water isn't diluting the freeze preventing capability of the coolant.

I think coolant also adds rust inhibitors and seal conditioner is that's one reason not to run straight distilled water in the hot temps.


(Bryan, I thought you were asking - then I reread)

[mcompact]

Originally Posted by Cumberlandjames

I find this very interesting and concerning. In my long career as a backyard mechanic, if your using coolant and there's no visible leaks, you have a head gasket problem.

It would be interesting to hear comments from a BMW mechanic about why their engines are using coolant. Somehow I don't think it to add some water to the cylinders to keep the pistons washed off.

For those who have had coolant added, have you checked the oil to see if it is contaminated?

Tell me about it! After 22 years and 145,000 miles the fact that my Club Sport has needed an occasional top-up of coolant keeps me up most nights...
And UOAs have yet to find any evidence of coolant in the oil.

[rich8566]

Originally Posted by Outrun

Hey everyone,

so last night I was driving home from work when the "Low engine coolant" sign came up on the dash....when I started the car this morning the light immediately came back on. I was worried about it and took it to a Midas just down the street from my home. I watched the technician put about 2 quarts of coolant in the resevoir. The car is about 2.5 years old with 20k on the odometer.

The light went away but I was worried about a possible leak somewhere so I called my BMW dealership and told the service rep who nonchalantly stated that this was normal for BMW turbo engines, but couldn't really explain to me why. He said that during routine service they always make sure to "top off" the engine coolant, and that if the low coolant sign came up that I could "swing by to get the coolant topped off"

I've never had to replace the engine coolant of any of my other cars (non-BMW) before and wanted to get other thoughts on this? Should I be worried about a potential leak somewhere?

We've had 6 BMWs and none have ever needed a top off of coolant except for our 2008 535XiT. It had the classic cracked overflow reservoir. Once BMW replaced that part under warranty it never needed another drop of coolant.

[moldcad]

Originally Posted by Outrun

The light went away but I was worried about a possible leak somewhere so I called my BMW dealership and told the service rep who nonchalantly stated that this was normal for BMW turbo engines, but couldn't really explain to me why. He said that during routine service they always make sure to "top off" the engine coolant[...]

Interestingly, while I didn't have to add any coolant to my M235i's engine (yet; I'm at 35kkm) - I did with my Golf 7R (same age, even slightly less distance covered), twice! The Golf has been the first car in my 47 years of driving which needed this (well - apart perhaps from a couple of "car-like" machines manufactured back in the righteously gone, communist era in Poland, by the Polish state "car industry" of those dark days). The VW authorized SA said almost exactly what the OP reports about his BMW SA - and when I dug the matter a bit more, totally unconvinced by his "explanation" - it turned out on the UK Golf R forum that actually the mechanic was totally correct (even if unconvincing): the knowledgeable guys over there confirmed there is an insider VW bulletin explaining that when filling the 2.0 300 PS R's engine at the factory, they are never able to put the amount of coolant which the Golf 7R's specs say - due to some quirk in the cooling system design of those engines which causes creation of an "air pocket" somewhere inside it which will evacuate very slowly, and - after several low coolant alerts during the first 20k miles or so - it will finally get evacuated, after all, and the engine will not need any top-offs any more...

Perhaps a similar issue here?

Piotr

PS. Of course I'd check for any obvious traces of leaks or oil contamination - but with none found, just give it some more time and not sweat about it to much...

[Outrun]

After hunting around on the forums, it seems that this is not an uncommon issue with BMW's...

here's a 6 page thread on the 3 series forum regarding coolant loss with the B58 engine:

http://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho....php?t=1324221

From other posts, it appears the low coolant light is coming up around mileages of 3k - 20k. Many theories speculated (underfilling from the factory, evaporation losses, turbos internally leaking, etc) but no definitive answers for why this is happening...at least one guy had his turbo charger replaced by BMW for persistently low coolant levels.

[IndyRed128i]

Hmm... ive got 14k on my 2016 228i m sport and I have never had to top off the coolant

[Mr Carrots]

BMW replaced my engine after coolant started vanishing at a crazy rate :/

[Outrun]

Originally Posted by Mr Carrots

BMW replaced my engine after coolant started vanishing at a crazy rate :/

how many miles were on the car when this was happening? And what was BMW's explanation?

[Mr Carrots]

Originally Posted by Outrun

how many miles were on the car when this was happening? And what was BMW's explanation?

7k miles

They didn't explain the issue to me or the dealership, just told them to stop taking apart the engine and replace it when the service department contacted them.

I suspect its a potential fault with the b58 they know about and are trying to keep quiet. I'm probably trading this for an RS3 once the works done because I don't want to deal with this again out of warranty

[amw896]

B58 posts will hopefully not turn into the focus RS forums. Good luck fellas!

[WolfGTI]

My experience has been different - needed a top up when we got those steady 20 degree days over the holidays. Not since. I am @ 18,000 miles.

[wdc330i]

Originally Posted by Mr Carrots

7k miles

They didn't explain the issue to me or the dealership, just told them to stop taking apart the engine and replace it when the service department contacted them.

I suspect its a potential fault with the b58 they know about and are trying to keep quiet. I'm probably trading this for an RS3 once the works done because I don't want to deal with this again out of warranty

Scary stuff. They’ll have to find a fix, as this is a core engine for the fleet.

[aerobod]

There may not be a need for a fix, this could be a one-off failure due to something such as a casting inclusion or may be something benign, besides the possibility of an inherent defect. The factory would want the engine back as undisturbed as possible to troubleshoot the problem, even if the dealer could have fixed it easily. The B-series modular engines with common parts have been on the market for almost 4 years now, so an inherent major problem is quite unlikely.

[TajoMan]

Agree
If there was some major issues (either design or manufacturing), it should've taken care already.
One thing that worries me is the leak from turbo.
If it leaks from turbo after the warranty, it's very expensive fix.