06-23-2020, 10:53 PM | #1 |
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Check coolant!
As I was about to head off to the shops today, I received this rather serious message. No warning messages up until this point. I hope I don't have a coolant leak issue.
For the novices like me, there are two coolant reservoirs. Only open them once the engine is cold (suggest first thing in the morning). You can see from my photos both were below low. Inside the tanks you can see the plastic low/high level guide. Bring back the dip stick - so much easier than these things. Essentially you are trying to cover the low level of the yellow plastic tab with liquid but not the high level. My car gulped down over a litre of coolant. The mixture is 50/50 genuine BMW Coolant / De-mineralised water. In the good old days driving in country, you'd pull up at the servo and fuel up and ALWAYS check the radiator. Because it was hot and a lack of water in your radiator would often mean you were in for a long walk home. These days in a our fancy cars, I've never thought to check the coolant. I can read the oil and fuels levels from the digital feeds into iDrive and BMW Connected. But not the coolant. Anyway team, I just thought I would post this and perhaps prompt you to check your coolant. |
06-23-2020, 11:16 PM | #2 |
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I don't think you should be using coolant...how many miles on yours?
If you have time have your dealer do a pressure check and inspect for leaks.
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06-23-2020, 11:23 PM | #3 |
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Owners guide says to add coolant 50/50 mix.
4,499km on the clock. |
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06-23-2020, 11:38 PM | #5 |
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Too little mileage to be adding coolant, take it in and have the aforementioned testing done.
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06-24-2020, 06:50 AM | #6 |
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That exact thing happened to me last Fall, after the new car’s first hot and humid Deep South summer. I checked for visible leaks and found none. I topped off that annoying reservoir. Thus far, nine months later, the problem has not reoccurred.
My theory: The reservoir was incompletely filled in the first place, and normal, hot-weather use lowered it just enough to generate the error message. That said, I am watching it very carefully this summer.
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06-24-2020, 09:42 AM | #7 |
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Odd amount for the little miles on it. BMW engines will drink coolant and oil, mainly oil. Every car I've had has encountered this until switching to run the engine colder. Definitely take it in so they can look it over but also make sure the engine is up to temp before beating on it.
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06-24-2020, 03:26 PM | #8 |
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Pressure test is always best to ensure all is good with these kinds of things
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06-24-2020, 04:11 PM | #9 |
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Y'all should check this thread out. Seems as though the water in the coolant is boiling off...or at least that's what some folks who are more handy than I am are saying.
https://www.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...php?p=26334929 |
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06-24-2020, 06:58 PM | #10 | |
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I checked it again a few weeks ago as summer returned here and it was fine. But...that was shortly after the car's first routine service visit. It is extremely possible that the level was fine because the service tech had just topped it off again.
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06-24-2020, 09:40 PM | #11 | |
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01-29-2024, 12:18 PM | #12 | |
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Standard disclaimer: This is my experience living in Florida. These points may or may not work for you, your car, or your climate. WAIT for the engine to cool down for a few hours before attempting to remove the cap. 1. If you live in warm weather climates (like I do in Florida), then you CAN safely add distilled water (ex SMART water) to our M8s. I added about 750mL of distilled SMART water and my car was fine with it. The warning indication immediately went away 2. Natural spring water and tap water are NOT recommended b/c they contain too many other minerals. 3. The BMW Part number of the coolant that my BMW dealership gave me is Part # 82141467704 "BMW Antifreeze/Coolant" 4. Buy a plastic funnel while you're at it. 5. Check for leaks. My car wasn't leaking on the driveway but one of the SA's mentioned that the M8 has some kind of catch plate underneath and it may not actually drip onto the pavement even if there is a leak. I looked around the cap and resevoir and saw all sorts of dried up coolant which I will have checked at my next service. 6. Secure the cap back into place with the two arrows kissing BEFORE turning the car on. I know there are some slick mechanics and YouTube car gurus that don't do this, but let's face it, most of us are not BMW engine magicians, so I err on the side of caution and my warranty. 7. Keep extra coolant and a bottle of distilled water in the trunk of your car; just in case. Last edited by rajahfl; 01-29-2024 at 12:20 PM.. Reason: Grammar, doh! |
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03-19-2024, 05:09 PM | #13 |
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I got a similar message when starting car today w 7K miles, but no other warnings could be found after I started driving. I found that strange that there was no check engine light. I opened up cap last night and put in about 8 ounces of coolant. Message is now gone
Last edited by Humy; 03-20-2024 at 11:24 AM.. |
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04-02-2024, 09:35 AM | #14 |
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What's your consumption?
Figured I'd pick up this thread.
I got my M850 just over 3 years ago and never gave coolant levels a second thought - I've never had a new car (BMW or other) where I have needed to top it up. I live in Sweden so climate varies from mostly dry, warm in the summer to potentially snowy winters. Car is "always" parked in hot garage overnight. Late winter/early spring 2022 I had it parked outside one cold night, and when starting I got a low coolant message. Checked both reservoirs and the one closest to the radiator was fine, the other one was below min. Got some BMW coolant, mixed with water and topped it up. Don't recall how much it took and didn't think more on it. Three months ago I once again parked outside overnight, and same thing, coolant warning. Checked, the one closest to the radiator was once again fine but the other was below min. As I still had the flask from last time I refilled and now it took 0,7 litres (0.2 USG) which to me sounds a lot! At that time the car had ~28k km (17.4k miles) on it. My dealer just advised me to keep an eye under the car when it had been parked but I could see nothing. I've driven an additional 2k km (1.2k miles) now and as it's time to go to the shop and swap to summer wheels I manually checked the reservoirs even though the car has not warned. The one closest to the radiator was fine as usual, but the other one was again below min! This time it didn't require much to top up (0,1 litre, 0.25 USG) but I seem to have a continuous consumption. What's your experience? Is this normal or should I be worried? |
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04-26-2024, 10:43 PM | #15 |
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Anyone with an 2022 and older M8 should view this.
https://f90.bimmerpost.com/forums/fo...play.php?f=661
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04-27-2024, 06:45 AM | #16 | |
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04-27-2024, 12:31 PM | #17 | |
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Last edited by yugrac; 04-27-2024 at 01:33 PM.. |
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04-28-2024, 12:52 PM | #18 |
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Hi guys
I have an M850i build in December 2022, is the face lift. Also as I know is EU6-e version. And in these regulations, engine should work very hot. No matter country. But as it seems, that’s effective the coolant level of the engine. My car ask coolant refueling at 30.000km and after six months at 37.000km in the engine tank. I refuel with 1,2 liters!! Is a lot. I took the car in Bmw and said everything seems normal. They told me to go again after 600km. I don’t have a leakage for sure, but we need to find where the coolant goes… Does anyone knows? |
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04-28-2024, 02:54 PM | #19 | |
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Although my build date was October 2019 I did end up with the warning mid 2020 with less than 3K miles on the car. Couldn't see the level in the main tank but turbo tank was at the perfect level. My SA said if turbo tank is fine then it was safe to drive it about the 12 miles to the dealership and they'd top it off. Have never had the warning since. Plus, he mentioned it was likely just not properly filled at the VDC in Long Beach as they fully pressure tested, etc. |
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04-28-2024, 03:13 PM | #20 |
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M cars (M8/M5) and M-lite (M850/M550) have two different coolant tanks.
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04-28-2024, 08:08 PM | #21 |
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Yeah and apparently they all suck. I’m sure it’s a slightly different design but same material and adhesive. Mine leaked from seam (M550)
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