Engine coolant change

P

Puggsley2

Member
 Perth; Western Australia
My E85 - Z4 has around 90,000km on the clock and although the oi and brake fluids have been change frequently the coolant has not. Anyone know the recommended periods for changing coolant?
 
Coolant changes are recommended every 3-4 years.

People get hung up on its "anti-freeze" abilities and so leave it unchanged for years and years because the tester says its ok down to minus 20 or whatever but the corrosion inhibitors within it, loose their effectiveness- which is not good!

Even if you're not changing it yourself, its a cheap garage job.
 
Many thanks Guys. You have answered my question. Not sure how to change it in 10 minutes though.
 
I just suction coolant out from the header tank and then replace every year. That way there is a continual change of coolant. Make sure you buy the BMW stuff and dont mix with other makes.
 
An alternative to the BMW branded stuff is G48 based coolants. I personally use Comma. Its identical to the stuff the dealers use in spec, I believe Comma are even the supplier or have been previously.
 
Thanks to all for the advice. I just changed the coolant with no problems. I couldn't match Wafoo's time though, it took me nearly 30 minutes.

Cheers
 
Couple of hours here, but that included changing the pump, stat, hoses and tank. Whoever decided to put a vertical part of the crossmember directly in front of the waterpump on the M54, makes a simple job into a 'lift the engine' state of affairs :thumbsdown:
 
Puggsley2 said:
Thanks to all for the advice. I just changed the coolant with no problems. I couldn't match Wafoo's time though, it took me nearly 30 minutes.

It was a Wafoo 10mins, it has a 300% error factor, it was a doddle though wasn't it

Cheers
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Houston we have a problem. During the fluid change I did not change the plastic plugs, mainly because I forgot to buy them. All went well but after a couple of days the low water warning light activated. Somewhere around 1 litre of fluid had been lost, presumably while driving. I now have new plugs but the one in the radiator comes with it's own sleeve (see photo) DSCF7766.JPG and I have no idea how to remove/replace the sleeve. What I thought were screw threads are not. I can turn the hex approx 60 degrees but no more. Do I just pull it out? I don't want to break anything that will cost mega dollars to fix
 
As a supplementary I refilled the radiator and ran the engine at low RPM until the temp alert sounded. Loosening the filler cap just released coolant which suggests to me that the radiator is not feeding into the engine block. The hoses are mad hot though. Any suggestions before I pull more hair out?
 
The car is a 2005 model which I presume is pre facelift. (In fact I've never had one). Going off the VIN I'd say the engine was N52. The good news is that I think I've fixed the problem. After couple of days driving the car I felt so confident that I re-fitted the belly plate. Now I can move on to my wife's Honda.
 
Is the car badged as SI? If so it’s the N52 engine. Alternatively post us a picture of the under bonnet view and we can confirm which engine you have.
 
Puggsley2 said:
The car is a 2005 model which I presume is pre facelift. (In fact I've never had one). Going off the VIN I'd say the engine was N52
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Put the last 7 digits of your VIN in here..it'll tell you lots of stuff

https://www.bmwvin.com/
 
Puggsley2 said:
The car is a 2005 model which I presume is pre facelift. (In fact I've never had one). Going off the VIN I'd say the engine was N52
Click to expand...

2005 is pre-facelift indeed, so I would expect the M54 engine. Far as I'm aware the N52 was facelift only, at least in European markets.

Visit Realoem website and put your vin in the serial search, then select engine from the list that appears. Should show you if it's M54 or N52.

The procedure is different for both, as the N52 has an electric pump to circulate coolant whereas the M54 has a belt driven pump.
 
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