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      12-14-2018, 10:50 AM   #45
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Originally Posted by Zap-xpilot View Post
UPDATE:

So I took the car to the dealership and they filled almost a full litre of coolant. There was the usual talk of an air bubble trapped, which I call BS. After all, I drove the car around Germany, France and Spain this summer in searing heat, often at V-max - if that doesn't percolate the coolant inside I don't know what will.

The service guy (who is quite knowledgable, I'll give him that) said that it is not uncommon for 540s to "drink" coolant.

On top of everything else I believe he over-filled the coolant chamber - I don't know if you can see it in the pic, but the top of the MAX-level is barely visible.


Is it dangerous to over-fill the coolant reservoirs? It is freezing in Sweden at the moment, so the risk of overheating is limited, but I'm kinda nervous.

Where does the cooling liquid go? I've checked in my garage and there is no coolant spill under the car?

Engines don't "drink" coolant unless they are broken. If one is not seeing any coolant leaking onto the floor, and no leaks are suspected during driving, then the only way for an engine to "drink" coolant is through the combustion process--at least as far as I have ever seen. I don't know much about G30 at this point but I have seen older cars that have had coolant leak past gaskets or even casting cracks into the combustion chambers. The result is normally white exhaust smoke (as opposed to black (rich mixture) or grey (oil). If it is only a small amount then it may not be noticed, especially with catalytic converters burning up most everything. Sometimes you can get a slight smell of antifreeze--a sort of sickly sweet smell--from the exhaust even without white smoke. None of this, of course,
may apply to the much improved but more complicated cars of today.

Not really directly related, but many moons ago I had a 1980 530i that I left at my dealer for a regular service. When I came to pick it up it was parked out on the street in front of the dealer. After I paid for it and started it, I got a big plume of white smoke out the exhaust--something that apparently the technicians completely missed when working on it or parking it. Told them it wasn't like this when I brought it in. Had a nasty back and forth with dealership owner. They said it had a cracked head, was not covered under warranty and they wanted to make me pay $2,000 to fix it;later compromised to pay for half of it. I did some research (before internet and forums) and discovered that it was a known design defect and that BMW was indeed paying for repairs. The dealer had tried to double dip on me. They eventually replaced the head without cost to me. Apparently the defect was a fine crack that developed in the casting. THe dealer also had been rapped on the knuckles by the state for odometer rollbacks back in that era. Ironically, about 35 years later in my early retirement I went to work for the same dealer who had moved to a different location. Sold BMWs and MINIs there for seven years and they now have a sterling reputation which I can vouch for.--Bob
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Last edited by Warp Ten; 12-14-2018 at 10:55 AM..
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      12-17-2018, 11:42 AM   #46
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Just got the message on my idrive...

I'm in the UK, with a 530i that is about 14 months old with just under 8,000 miles on the clock.

I'll take it to the dealer tomorrow and will then update.
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      12-17-2018, 12:56 PM   #47
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Warp Ten View Post
Engines don't "drink" coolant unless they are broken. If one is not seeing any coolant leaking onto the floor, and no leaks are suspected during driving, then the only way for an engine to "drink" coolant is through the combustion process--at least as far as I have ever seen. I don't know much about G30 at this point but I have seen older cars that have had coolant leak past gaskets or even casting cracks into the combustion chambers. The result is normally white exhaust smoke (as opposed to black (rich mixture) or grey (oil). If it is only a small amount then it may not be noticed, especially with catalytic converters burning up most everything. Sometimes you can get a slight smell of antifreeze--a sort of sickly sweet smell--from the exhaust even without white smoke. None of this, of course,
may apply to the much improved but more complicated cars of today.

.--Bob
You are correct in general, especially so if talking about atmospheric engines..
With the turbo engines and the complicated two loop cooling plumbing they have I知 not so sure. Far from being an expert I understand that there is some sort of evaporative cooling going on in the inter cooler..if that is so this might explain (somehow) that minuscule amounts of vapor escape.
Also, if I知 not mistaken the 540 in particular uses the inter cooler as part of its AC loop, isn稚 this correct?

Perhaps somebody more knowledgeable can chime in. Fact is that a lot of the b58 engines are known to consume coolant, with none of the typical symptoms of coolant entering the combustion loop (white smoke and the like).
Still worrying though. I知 monitoring my coolant level and it is sinking, albeit very slowly.

Will try and take a picture one month from when the coolant was refilled.

It would also be helpful if the other members who have had coolant issues and topped up can report on subsequent coolant levels..
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      12-17-2018, 01:42 PM   #48
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Zap-xpilot View Post
You are correct in general, especially so if talking about atmospheric engines..
With the turbo engines and the complicated two loop cooling plumbing they have I知 not so sure. Far from being an expert I understand that there is some sort of evaporative cooling going on in the inter cooler..if that is so this might explain (somehow) that minuscule amounts of vapor escape.
Also, if I知 not mistaken the 540 in particular uses the inter cooler as part of its AC loop, isn稚 this correct?

Perhaps somebody more knowledgeable can chime in. Fact is that a lot of the b58 engines are known to consume coolant, with none of the typical symptoms of coolant entering the combustion loop (white smoke and the like).
Still worrying though. I知 monitoring my coolant level and it is sinking, albeit very slowly.

Will try and take a picture one month from when the coolant was refilled.

It would also be helpful if the other members who have had coolant issues and topped up can report on subsequent coolant levels..

I had mine topped up at around 3,700 miles, pressure tested etc and no problems were found. Since then (approx. 1,700 miles) I have noticed that the level has gone down a tiny bit - if it continues to drop then I would assume that it would reach the min mark in about another 6-7000 miles. So it does appear to be losing a very small amount of liquid out of the system over time. Really really odd! Guess the car is like me - likes a bit of a drink!!

No symptoms of any kind of problem, oil filler cap has no gunge / sludge on it, no smell from exhaust, nothing... Answers on a postcard to ...!
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      12-18-2018, 05:30 AM   #49
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Originally Posted by en1gma View Post
Just got the message on my idrive...

I'm in the UK, with a 530i that is about 14 months old with just under 8,000 miles on the clock.

I'll take it to the dealer tomorrow and will then update.
Well, my local dealer was having none of it: they would only make a future booking (for some point in late January!) and were unable to deal with any 'walk-in' queries...

Made me buy some coolant and sent me on my way... I'll deal with them another time as I don't have the one right now (I am going away tomorrow for the Christmas period)...

Anyway, on opening the tanks in daylight, both were well below minimum! About 1.2litres added overall (had to mix 1:1 with water).

Curious how after the initial warning in idrive, although the engine coolant light was lit orange, there were no check control messages.
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      12-18-2018, 07:56 AM   #50
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Quote:
Originally Posted by en1gma View Post
Just got the message on my idrive...

I'm in the UK, with a 530i that is about 14 months old with just under 8,000 miles on the clock.

I'll take it to the dealer tomorrow and will then update.
Snap! I have a 14 month 530i and I'm also in London with similar mileage. Yesterday I also got the iDrive message when I started the car. I drove a few miles, parked to do some shopping and found the message had disappeared when I drove home. No warning lights and no indication that anything is amiss.
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      12-18-2018, 11:06 AM   #51
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pale0Blue0Eyes View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by en1gma View Post
Just got the message on my idrive...

I'm in the UK, with a 530i that is about 14 months old with just under 8,000 miles on the clock.

I'll take it to the dealer tomorrow and will then update.
Snap! I have a 14 month 530i and I'm also in London with similar mileage. Yesterday I also got the iDrive message when I started the car. I drove a few miles, parked to do some shopping and found the message had disappeared when I drove home. No warning lights and no indication that anything is amiss.
I would do a visual check in daylight.

I had a similar thing (initial alarm, then just the amber light) and the light actually went out when I drove to the dealer this morning... but as my pictures above show, they really needed topping up!
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      12-18-2018, 11:15 AM   #52
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Quote:
Originally Posted by en1gma View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pale0Blue0Eyes View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by en1gma View Post
Just got the message on my idrive...

I'm in the UK, with a 530i that is about 14 months old with just under 8,000 miles on the clock.

I'll take it to the dealer tomorrow and will then update.
Snap! I have a 14 month 530i and I'm also in London with similar mileage. Yesterday I also got the iDrive message when I started the car. I drove a few miles, parked to do some shopping and found the message had disappeared when I drove home. No warning lights and no indication that anything is amiss.
I would do a visual check in daylight.

I had a similar thing (initial alarm, then just the amber light) and the light actually went out when I drove to the dealer this morning... but as my pictures above show, they really needed topping up!
So in conclusion, these turbo engines consume coolant for unknown reasons. I guess I have to keep coolant handy at home.

My N52 E90 never needed any coolant top offs in the years I had the car.
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      12-20-2018, 02:49 AM   #53
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Originally Posted by en1gma View Post
I would do a visual check in daylight.

I had a similar thing (initial alarm, then just the amber light) and the light actually went out when I drove to the dealer this morning... but as my pictures above show, they really needed topping up!
Still no warning lights or subsequent messages after initial message that then disappeared. Checked levels this morning. Small reservoir was just above min, large reservoir was just below min. Very small amount of white residue on large cap.Topped up.
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      12-27-2018, 07:34 PM   #54
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Had the same warning after 9,000 miles. The coolant level was low. The dealer stated that this is a common issue with this model due to coolant evaporation ????
They did find leaking coolant hose 2 weeks later and fixed it
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      12-29-2018, 10:33 AM   #55
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Zap-xpilot View Post
You are correct in general, especially so if talking about atmospheric engines..
With the turbo engines and the complicated two loop cooling plumbing they have I知 not so sure. Far from being an expert I understand that there is some sort of evaporative cooling going on in the inter cooler..if that is so this might explain (somehow) that minuscule amounts of vapor escape.
Also, if I知 not mistaken the 540 in particular uses the inter cooler as part of its AC loop, isn稚 this correct?

Perhaps somebody more knowledgeable can chime in. Fact is that a lot of the b58 engines are known to consume coolant, with none of the typical symptoms of coolant entering the combustion loop (white smoke and the like).
Still worrying though. I知 monitoring my coolant level and it is sinking, albeit very slowly.

Will try and take a picture one month from when the coolant was refilled.

It would also be helpful if the other members who have had coolant issues and topped up can report on subsequent coolant levels..
Good point. My experience in these matters is largely related to naturally aspirated engines. There may be other ways to lose coolant with a turbocharged or supercharged engine. --Bob
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      01-12-2019, 10:48 AM   #56
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I had replaced blue with pink g13 coolant + water wetter

No more loosing coolant. Rock solid
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      01-14-2019, 07:11 AM   #57
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I had the same issue last week, The message just appeared on the idrive when I started the car. Checked the coolant and it was well below minimum. Took it to the dealer and they were having none of it, wanted me to buy a 1L bottle of official coolant. Called a local BMW indy specialist near me and told them of the issue, they topped it off for free.
BMW need to learn how to keep customers happy!
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      01-14-2019, 01:03 PM   #58
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I had the same issue last week, The message just appeared on the idrive when I started the car. Checked the coolant and it was well below minimum. Took it to the dealer and they were having none of it, wanted me to buy a 1L bottle of official coolant. Called a local BMW indy specialist near me and told them of the issue, they topped it off for free.
BMW need to learn how to keep customers happy!
You was lucky at fairbairn dealer of bmw, ive been told (they dont sell it, instead they insist to leave car for a whole day).


Google out on ebay. Bmw official coolant and they got so confused and didnt know what to say.

Told them .. #%・%」#」#・ if they think i am an idiot.


Unless you book in car under warranty. Bmw sucks. Other dealer told me I need to book in first computer diagnostic to check car before they could do wheel aligment and argue with me about warranty, that it could be my fault (pot hole) etc.


Paid 105 (local shop). and got it sorted in 30min in proper way. Its absolutly brilliant now.

Everyone is try to make money these days... unless I have to, i go to dealer. Otherwise i preffer to pay for service and have things done right..
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      01-20-2019, 09:11 PM   #59
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Mine head the low engine coolant warning come on twice 2 months apart. First time dealer just topped it off. Second time they told me they had to bleed the system. Less than 8k miles, 2017 540xi
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      01-21-2019, 04:09 AM   #60
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It's actually really winding me up to the point where I am thinking about trading the G30 in for a new S Class. I get treated like royalty when I go to my local MB dealer.
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      01-21-2019, 07:51 AM   #61
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Had this issue on my 2016 B58 340, cracked radiator was leaking minimally at first and tremendously as time went on (would pour coulant in and a puddle would appear under the car as I poured).

On my 2018 B58 540 with 6000km had the coolant light come on once a week over last three weeks, went to check the coolant level under the hood and the cap was loose so I assume it was slowly evaporating. Topped it off and now keeping an eye on it.
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      01-21-2019, 07:55 AM   #62
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Had this issue on my 2016 B58 340, cracked radiator was leaking minimally at first and tremendously as time went on (would pour coulant in and a puddle would appear under the car as I poured).

On my 2018 B58 540 with 6000km had the coolant light come on once a week over last three weeks, went to check the coolant level under the hood and the cap was loose so I assume it was slowly evaporating. Topped it off and now keeping an eye on it.
That's both interesting and worrisome. Regarding the cap - mine is so tight that I really have to grip with both hands and push until what it feels like a vein will pop. I am usually told that my grip is quite strong but the way this cap sticks is something else.

After turning loose there is a detent, perhaps after 7-10 degrees and it will barely budge over that. Wonder if this is a sign that I should clean it somehow?
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      01-21-2019, 08:46 AM   #63
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Had low coolant last wave of cold weather. Had them top it off... Was told it could have been due to extra draw with heater running. Didnt make too much sense to me.
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      01-21-2019, 07:23 PM   #64
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Zap-xpilot View Post
That's both interesting and worrisome. Regarding the cap - mine is so tight that I really have to grip with both hands and push until what it feels like a vein will pop. I am usually told that my grip is quite strong but the way this cap sticks is something else.

After turning loose there is a detent, perhaps after 7-10 degrees and it will barely budge over that. Wonder if this is a sign that I should clean it somehow?
It was that tight on my 340, went in with sleeves rolled up amping myself up to undo this one, but it was so loose a 3 year old could have unscrewed it.

Really not sure what to make of this, will bring it in to the dealer if issue surfaces again.
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      01-22-2019, 06:50 AM   #65
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It's actually really winding me up to the point where I am thinking about trading the G30 in for a new S Class. I get treated like royalty when I go to my local MB dealer.
For the six figure prices they charge for a
new S-Class I would too, expect nothing less than royal treatment at the service dept bay entrance.

Enjoy your new Mercedes!
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      01-28-2019, 05:25 AM   #66
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Ok guys, got low level coolant again.

After lifting up car and removing plastics. It seems the 2nd radiator leak in corners. (No damage).

After speaking to friendly garage in europe (bmw) cannot tell which one.

Ive been told the radiators are faulty (bad seals) has been superseed by 1711 7933876

If you are getting message low level coolant (take it to bmw or indy garage) ask to remove bottom cover (just under radiator) there are 2 plastics.

Check bottom corners.

If leak find. Take a picture and ask bmw to replace radiator.

**be aware**
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