[CosmicCharlie]

On Sunday evening, I arrived home from longboat key, FL, about 2hr drive, and I had encountered very heavy rain but definitely didn't run over or hit anything on the road.

Next morning I'm getting ready to leave for work and I get the "low coolant" IDrive warning. I take a look underneath the car and there's a significant amount of coolant that had leaked on the garage floor.

I cleaned it up and noticed that the leak appears to be coming from the driver side bumper area and there was even coolant sitting on the plastic honeycomb-looking air intake cover (which I thought was a bit weird- how would coolant leak to an exterior component like that?). I took my other car to work and when I got home saw that it was still leaking, both reservoirs now completely empty.

Anyway, had the car towed to the dealer and I'm interested to see what component has failed. I had the "engine lubrication strategy" recall completed a few months ago and maybe one of the new lines is leaking, maybe it's the radiator itself.

This is apparently a separate issue from the "low coolant" issue resulting from incorrect filling at the factory that seemed to mostly impact 540's. Has anyone had this kind of complete coolant leak/part failure on their m550?

[claykin]

Maybe just the plastic overflow tank. Good luck.

[CosmicCharlie]

Ok- well, this one is just bad luck, not any kind of BMW defect... no warranty coverage.

a small pebble or something punctured one of the tubes that carries coolant through the left auxiliary radiator, which sits right behind the lower air intake. Was quoted >$1,200 parts and labor, but, what can I do.

Seeing the damage explains why I saw coolant splattered on that lower plastic grill in addition to the steady and complete coolant leak... when the motor runs, the coolant is pressurized and spurts out of the puncture similar to a cut artery.

While the price to fix it is a bit nuts, I give the service dept. credit for very quickly sending me pics of the issue.

[SteveinArizona]

Your insurance may cover it but it may be too close to your deductible to be worthwhile.

[Bymep]

Bummer. That sucks.

Is there no mesh on the cover to keep things like that out (sorry, haven't felt the need to look myself)? Must've been a substantial stone or piece of metal hitting at high speed to do that kind of damage

[reesch]

I'm already thinking of how to engineer a stone guard there....

[CosmicCharlie]

Originally Posted by reesch

I'm already thinking of how to engineer a stone guard there....

Let me know when you do. I know a guy who might want one 😂

[530iDriver]

Damn that was one expensive peeble.

[cartaozinho]

Originally Posted by CosmicCharlie

Ok- well, this one is just bad luck, not any kind of BMW defect... no warranty coverage.

a small pebble or something punctured one of the tubes that carries coolant through the left auxiliary radiator, which sits right behind the lower air intake. Was quoted >$1,200 parts and labor, but, what can I do.

That is rotten luck. Sorry to hear.

And thanks for reporting the pricing. I'm "curious" to learn how expensive the M550 is to maintain once it comes off warranty.

[georgere]

Op, is it possible you were following someone too close so the rocks flew into your car from under their wheels? Otherwise I can't see how a pebble would get in there...
I agree this is just bad luck and very unusual and actually happy to hear it was only 1200 fix.

[CosmicCharlie]

Originally Posted by georgere

Op, is it possible you were following someone too close so the rocks flew into your car from under their wheels? Otherwise I can't see how a pebble would get in there...
I agree this is just bad luck and very unusual and actually happy to hear it was only 1200 fix.

I don't typically tail other vehicles, but the pebble must have been kicked back by a car or truck... no way to know for sure at this point. I think it's highly unlikely anyone else will experience this same issue! And yes, I was thankful the bill wasn't higher, and that the damage was consistent with the service shop assessment (I'm always suspicious they might overstate such damage/parts that need to be replaced). As far as a stroke of bad luck goes, I'll take it any day compared to actually bad things that can happen.

[tigerpants]

Today when driving home the light came on about low coolant. Came home and the passenger side front lip was dripping pretty rapidly. It left a big puddle in my garage. I was able to run it over to the dealer before they closed. Had the car for about 3 weeks. Bought it new....this seems like it may be a factory defect if others are having the same problem!

[CosmicCharlie]

Originally Posted by tigerpants

Today when driving home the light came on about low coolant. Came home and the passenger side front lip was dripping pretty rapidly. It left a big puddle in my garage. I was able to run it over to the dealer before they closed. Had the car for about 3 weeks. Bought it new....this seems like it may be a factory defect if others are having the same problem!

Interesting- this looks exactly like what I experienced (was surprised to see the splatters out the front).

Please let us know what the service dept. says, if they're able to identify the cause etc. in my case it really did appear to be a small pebble or something had managed to puncture the aux radiator, but seems almost too coincidental that you have pretty much the same issue.

[NYG1121]

my low coolant light has been coming on intermittently. I park in various spots so have not identified a leak. Have an appt this Thurs at dealership

[tigerpants]

So it was the same exact thing that happened to you....small rock hit the line inside the grill. They wanted to charge me $1k but I complained that the car was only 1 month old so they serviced it for free after getting approval from bmw USA. I'm thinking this is a factory defect but there's just not enough of these cars (M550) out there to make an impact and for them to admit there's a flaw. I can't see how this won't happen again to me in the future

[NYG1121]

Mine was just low coolant. thank fully no leak.

[FullBolton]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=L-dcvC...ature=youtu.be

[2022M550i]

Originally Posted by FullBolton

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=L-dcvCzDCO4&feature=youtu.be

How hard is it to get the inner fender well cover off? He blew that part off…. Probably the most difficult part of the entire procedure.

[FullBolton]

Originally Posted by 2022M550i

How hard is it to get the inner fender well cover off? He blew that part off…. Probably the most difficult part of the entire procedure.

It's held on by 8mm screws. Very simple actually

[2022M550i]

Originally Posted by FullBolton

It's held on by 8mm screws. Very simple actually

Nice….some cars a pain in the ass

[HerkHealer]

Originally Posted by FullBolton

It's held on by 8mm screws. Very simple actually

Thanks for posting that video. It sure as shit does not look like a $1200 job to me.

[cclcal]

ive been getting low coolant warning approx every 3-4 weeks for the past 6 months and have been just topping off.
I must have something similar to OP.
Ill take a look at auxillary radiators in the morning.

turbo line leaking, under the plastic engine cover