Coolant flush help

[robbieredknapped]

Thinking if doing a coolant flush to my E87.
Just wonder how often do you guys here actually flush your coolant? And what brand coolant do you use? Does it have to be BMW coolant ?
Went to a repco store, the guy checked their database with my cars model number and recommended me Tectaloy 100 Plus.

[NorthernDancer]

There is very little written about this even on 3 series board. Looking back at the E46 cars, BMW recommended coolant flush every 4 years. There are probably millions of BMWs out there that have never had a coolant flush. There are 2 options, #1 full flush of engine & rad. If you did a good flush, you could probably use the fluid recommended to you. Option #2 would be to just drain the radiator and top up with new BMW anti freeze. You would only change about half the coolant but this procedure is so simple, easy and not expensive. You could do this every 2 years. And again, because there is very little written about it, I suggest not many have done it yet. MOST important is to bleed air out of system.

[robbieredknapped]

Thank you. Will keep that in mind

[Kiwi Peter]

You should do this every two years, it needs to be a complete flush with water then drain.
Add the correct amount of Castrol NF concentrate with demineralised water, then carry out the bleed process.

As we all know BMW like most other car makers use plastic everywhere, it has a use by date you will help the plastic parts in your cooling system live a little longer by doing a proper coolant flush and using the BMW recommended Castrol coolant.

I am seeing a lot of plastic cooling system crap fittings dissolve and fail, old coolant doesn't help.

[kmli5]

there you go my fellow 130i friend.

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=248187

[robbieredknapped]

Originally Posted by kmli5

there you go my fellow 130i friend.

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=248187

I was reading this last night 😉

[robbieredknapped]

Thanks Pete. When u say flush with water, do you mean after draining old coolant top up with water, running the heating cycle then drain the water again. Then top up with fresh coolant mix ?

[Kiwi Peter]

Originally Posted by robbieredknapped

Thanks Pete. When u say flush with water, do you mean after draining old coolant top up with water, running the heating cycle then drain the water again. Then top up with fresh coolant mix ?

Yes you will need to do the flush a few times to completely clean out the system.

[Blauweisser]

Originally Posted by Peter@Advan

You should do this every two years, it needs to be a complete flush with water then drain.
Add the correct amount of Castrol NF concentrate with demineralised water, then carry out the bleed process.

As we all know BMW like most other car makers use plastic everywhere, it has a use by date you will help the plastic parts in your cooling system live a little longer by doing a proper coolant flush and using the BMW recommended Castrol coolant.

I am seeing a lot of plastic cooling system crap fittings dissolve and fail, old coolant doesn't help.

I have been an industrial chemist long enough to realize that no plastic lasts forever. All plastics will eventually fail, particularly if they are subject to constant high temperatures and combinations of water and solvents such as glycol. Coolant should always have an excess of anti-oxidant present to prevent corrosion of metal parts and oxidative attack on plastics. The fluorescent green dye is there to indicate whether anti-oxidant is still present in the system. Regular coolant changes will help things last longer.