[nazali]

Guy's

I believe I had a cooling system service as part of my warranty, I want to say sometime this year.

Besides the service, is there any preventative maintenance on the cooling system I should do or could do, I mean check coolant etc

I'm guessing nothing

[nazali]

just checking, looks like, coolant flush/change is not covered, WOW
car is a 20, should I be looking at changing it at the same time as dealer wants to do the oil ?

[Wnajr5]

Originally Posted by nazali

just checking, looks like, coolant flush/change is not covered, WOW
car is a 20, should I be looking at changing it at the same time as dealer wants to do the oil ?

Coolant is technically lifetime or in bmw terms around 100k unless your putting crazy mileage on it, racing it, tryna make crazy power, etc etc. You should be fine for right now. If you rly want some peace of mind though go for it or install something in your car that can monitor the temps so if anything does go out of wack you'll know. Personally, I use the race display wheel but I'm sure there's more reasonable options to check temps.

[aerobod]

If you do decide to flush the coolant, it is not just a simple drain and refill process:

- The intercooler coolant and engine coolant circuits and reservoirs are separate, so both need servicing separately.
- Without an appropriate vacuum fill system, it can be challenging to get all the air out of the system.
- Any substantial air pocket in the engine coolant circuit could cause head damage.
- The purge procedure on each circuit requires a specific initiation process to run the electric coolant pumps during the purge.

[nazali]

yes that's what I'd heard, Dealer it is !

Originally Posted by aerobod

If you do decide to flush the coolant, it is not just a simple drain and refill process:

- The intercooler coolant and engine coolant circuits and reservoirs are separate, so both need servicing separately.
- Without an appropriate vacuum fill system, it can be challenging to get all the air out of the system.
- Any substantial air pocket in the engine coolant circuit could cause head damage.
- The purge procedure on each circuit requires a specific initiation process to run the electric coolant pumps during the purge.

[nazali]

thanks all, just to advise on my 10k car so far I have had the dealer do

oil changes / under 4 year
rear diff oil change / paid for at 2500k
brake fluid change / under 4 year

I'll get them to do the coolant, for me it's piece of mind, yes I understand the 100k thing, but everywhere people say 2 years, and fluid deteriorates

I have an oil change coming up under 4 year so will get it done

so yes thanks all you kind people !

[dradernh]

Originally Posted by nazali

I'll get them to do the coolant, for me it's piece of mind, yes I understand the 100k thing, but everywhere people say 2 years, and fluid deteriorates

The last time they changed it, my dealer filled the coolant above MAX. It may be worth checking the level after you run the car for a bit.

I keep my level at or just above MIN per this advice from Mike Miller:

[freakystyly]

I'd be more worried about too low than too high. The car will let you know.

The cap is supposed to limit the pressure built up in the expansion tank. Assuming the engineers and cap manufacturers did their jobs.

[overcoil]

I think one of the best things you can do for your cooling system is to make sure you periodically run the heat all year long. During summer occasionally run the heat to move coolant thru the heater core and associated hoses.

Likewise in the winter use your defroster or A/C occasionally to keep the rubber lubricated in the A/C components.

And analyze the coolant for corrosion. (multimeter)

Does this sound right ?

[mecheng77]

Originally Posted by Caravaggio

I think one of the best things you can do for your cooling system is to make sure you periodically run the heat all year long. During summer occasionally run the heat to move coolant thru the heater core and associated hoses.

Likewise in the winter use your defroster or A/C occasionally to keep the rubber lubricated in the A/C components.

And analyze the coolant for corrosion. (multimeter)

Does this sound right ?

Originally Posted by Caravaggio

I think one of the best things you can do for your cooling system is to make sure you periodically run the heat all year long. During summer occasionally run the heat to move coolant thru the heater core and associated hoses.

Likewise in the winter use your defroster or A/C occasionally to keep the rubber lubricated in the A/C components.

And analyze the coolant for corrosion. (multimeter)

Does this sound right ?

I think there is coolant always running through the heater core it's just the ducts that adjust

[msej449]

The Forum consensus around long-term servicing for an N55 is to refresh the coolant around 35-40K miles and then at 60K miles replace the water pump and overflow pipe.

Some people have reported the overflow pipe going earlier then 60K: given that it's such a cheap and apparently easy part to replace, you might consider doing it at the same time you get the coolant refreshed.

As mentioned, draining and refreshing the coolant ideally uses a vacuum pump so it's something that less able mechanics might want to leave to their service garage. It's one of the few unscheduled service items that BMW actually seems prepared to do (unlike diff' oil replacement and gearbox oil replacement).

[mecheng77]

Originally Posted by aerobod

If you do decide to flush the coolant, it is not just a simple drain and refill process:

- The intercooler coolant and engine coolant circuits and reservoirs are separate, so both need servicing separately.
- Without an appropriate vacuum fill system, it can be challenging to get all the air out of the system.
- Any substantial air pocket in the engine coolant circuit could cause head damage.
- The purge procedure on each circuit requires a specific initiation process to run the electric coolant pumps during the purge.

Originally Posted by aerobod

If you do decide to flush the coolant, it is not just a simple drain and refill process:

- The intercooler coolant and engine coolant circuits and reservoirs are separate, so both need servicing separately.
- Without an appropriate vacuum fill system, it can be challenging to get all the air out of the system.
- Any substantial air pocket in the engine coolant circuit could cause head damage.
- The purge procedure on each circuit requires a specific initiation process to run the electric coolant pumps during the purge.

I thought the B58 only has a separate circuit ? And for that I'm not sure how critical it is to change the intercooler circuit.

For the N55, just drain from the aux cooler, fill and then run the bleed procedure. You don't need any software to run the bleed procedure

[nazali]

Txs but mine is a B46, yes I had seen that for the N55's

Interesting thing on the diff oil replace (and background).

My car is a 19 prod, sold as a 20, in 20 it sat in the dealer for a year, only doing 211 km's

After I bought it THOUGH not scheduled at around 2500, I wanted to do an oil and diff change, mistake 1 I spoke to the girl up front instead of the SA

conversation went basically
She said it didn't need doing. I wasn't concerned with her worrying about it needing to be done, I wanted it done as prev.maint and the car was sat for a year the car is also AWD, went back and forward between her and some one back stage, said it didnt needed to be done wouldnt even, even when I asked for a price she wouldnt

So I rang spoke to an SA , booked it in and when I spoke to him, he was cool, said she probably thought I wanted it under warranty, but also accepted I was trying to pay for it, so he was a bit bemused, but was totally happy to do it as he understood my POV, and I guess if a bmw owner wanted to throw money at him he wasnt going to say no.

I must have been the proverbial "unicorn"

Anyway I gave the dealership a google review pointing out the crappy customer service from the stupid bint on the front desk, the next time I went, she wasn't there anymore

Originally Posted by msej449

The Forum consensus around long-term servicing for an N55 is to refresh the coolant around 35-40K miles and then at 60K miles replace the water pump and overflow pipe.

Some people have reported the overflow pipe going earlier then 60K: given that it's such a cheap and apparently easy part to replace, you might consider doing it at the same time you get the coolant refreshed.

As mentioned, draining and refreshing the coolant ideally uses a vacuum pump so it's something that less able mechanics might want to leave to their service garage. It's one of the few unscheduled service items that BMW actually seems prepared to do (unlike diff' oil replacement and gearbox oil replacement).

[freakystyly]

Unrelated to cooling, my mech said the gear oil in the rear differential was runny like water when he swapped it out. I'm guessing 75W-85 oil isn't very watery normally. Maybe he was just exaggerating, I didn't see it.

[MarcoZandrini]

Originally Posted by mecheng77

I think there is coolant always running through the heater core it's just the ducts that adjust

No, there's a coolant flow valve that prevents coolant from flowing through the heater core. Also, heating/ac air goes through both the heater core and the ac evaporator. Why? There's a temperature sensor in the evaporator. The climate control (IHKA) uses that data stream to determine if the evaporator is about to ice up. When the evaporator is about to ice up the IHKA opens (pulses, actually) the coolant valve to heat the air going through the evaporator. When the car is shut off the valve opens as it's held close by 12VDC.

[XutvJet]

It's really a waste of money to change the coolant this early. I did a coolant drain (not a full flush) on my 2016 M235 last year (nearly a 6 year old car) and at around 50K miles. The coolant that came out looked brand new and when I tested it, it was WELL within specs.

I'd suggest not doing this until the car is at least 6 years old or 60K-70K miles. You can also buy test strips and other cheap devices to test the condition of your coolant.

We need to get past sticking to old school service intervals. Fluids these days are far more robust than they were just 10 years ago. Coolant, especially BMW coolant, will last WAY MORE than 2 years. About the only thing one to should do more often than what automakers recommend is oil changes assuming the recommendation is 1 yr/10K miles. In most instances, the oil has fallen out of grade by around 5K to 7.5K miles.

[nazali]

just had an oil change on Saturday (free)-so the 3rd this year I do at both tire changeovers and when BMW tell me.

I decided to do a coolant flush, it's not just a drain, they flush it through with detergents "apparently" $250+tax, for me it's piece of mind

Christmas pressie for my 2er

[freakystyly]

Hey at least they didn't fill your coolant reservoir with oil.
https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1978452

[nazali]

ouch !

Originally Posted by freakystyly

Hey at least they didn't fill your coolant reservoir with oil.
https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1978452

[DanG]

My service advisor says that a coolant change should be every four years on a BMW regardless of mileage.

[nazali]

interesting,
BMW Richmond advise
"How often should you change coolant in a BMW? Typically, you should have your BMW coolant flush completed every 30,000 miles or every two years."

My guy said, same as you 4-5

I split the difference LOL, as I said my car was sitting for a year on the lot

Originally Posted by DanG

My service advisor says that a coolant change should be every four years on a BMW regardless of mileage.

[MarcoZandrini]

My car was built in August 2017. After fours years I had the dealer, at my expense, flush the cooling systems (engine and intercooler). Note that because it was built in 8/17, it uses the older coolant (p/n 82 14 1467 704) and not the new stuff.