Coolant Level

[mogyi]

Hi guys i got my z4 last week and the place i bought it from put a new mot on it.

I had a quick look at all the fluid levels under the bonnet and it seems the coolant is very low. (no warning lights on the dashboard tho)
i have never had a bmw before so the coolant float thing is new to me. should that 'pop-up' when you remove the coolant cap???
it didnt move but i could manually lift it up and down - it seemed worryingly empty to me.

does anyone have a pic of what it should look like?

also can you tell me if this stuff is the correct stuff to use.

thanks

 

[sam1832]

It pops up

So with the lid removed it should be poking up

If you pull it up by hand as far as it goes, that's how other should be when full

Cold obviously

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

 

[mogyi]

thanks for the reply. abit worrying that it seems to be empty. :?

can anyone tell me what the tank capacity is? is that 5l bottle overkill?

 

[sam1832]

Hmmm I recently done this

It takes about 5l

If you just top it up with distilled water and coolant 50/50 mix

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[Pants]

bit of a prob with mine the stick is broken how high from the top should the coolant be? I'll use a high tech bit of string instead?

 

[slick]

bit of a prob with mine the stick is broken how high from the top should the coolant be? I'll use a high tech bit of string instead?

If you look down into the "bottle" you,l see where the float sits just under a sort of platform with a hole (8mm dia) in it , use that as your level referance .....just fill with coolant untill it (just) covers that platform ....

 

[mogyi]

ok thanks for your help sam1832, I will be popping into halfords on way home and filling this up 1st thing tomorrow morning.

 

[bcworkz]

also can you tell me if this stuff is the correct stuff to use.

thanks

BMW fills their cars with their special lifetime fill coolant. If you (foolishly) plan to never change your coolant, then you should use the BMW stuff. If you regularly change your coolant like normal people, any quality coolant meant for modern cars should be OK.

 

[Pants]

bit of a prob with mine the stick is broken how high from the top should the coolant be? I'll use a high tech bit of string instead?

If you look down into the "bottle" you,l see where the float sits just under a sort of platform with a hole (8mm dia) in it , use that as your level referance .....just fill with coolant untill it (just) covers that platform ....

Thanks mate appreciate it under that at the moment by not much as i was worried about expansion. Also my radiator cap is bloody stiff to take off anyone else's like that feels like it may have been cross threaded in the past.

 

[mogyi]

topped up the coolant this morning - only needed used about a litre of solution :lol: suppose i have plenty now for future top-ups.

this weekend will mainly consist of cleaning the engine bay. there seems to be a lot of oil spilled on the left side of the engine which is burning off after driving for a few miles.
im hoping its just overspill from some idiot not using a funnel and not a leak somewhere :?