Out of Coolant 128i - General questions/concerns - Which non-BMW coolant can I use?

[mham99]

2010128i 74K miles

I had the low coolant light come on about 2 weeks ago when I started car to go to work, it went off and didn't come back - to be honest I forgot about it. It did come on one other time but I had a service appointment coming up so thought I could make it and have them check. I had looked at a few posts and saw that you needed specific BMW coolant.

Yesterday the car stalled after about 30 mins of driving great with the maintenance icon (car on a lift) and when I cycled through the 'check' I did see low coolant again. No indication of high temp. lights, steam, nothing

I let it cool off a for a bit - it started fine and I limped home slowly - car was running well.

This morning with it 100% cold I checked overflow and gasped when I saw that was nearly dry.... I want to puke

I never saw a hi temp warning.

Questions:
1) any chance of damage - head gasket, etc.? How would I know? - no smoke, car was running fine when I limped home, but I had been driving it in a "spirited" fashion earlier in the trip before it stalled

2) I have an appointment for service this week but want to top it off before the car moves again so will this be OK?

https://www.autozone.com/antifreeze-...lon/720578_0_0

3) any way to see engine temp with the computer like you can for oil levels?
no temp gauge gives me some heartburn.

**UPDATE**- I found this. I had remembered seeing it a while back. Not useful for me today but would have been good when I stalled and suspected the issue.

Menu option 7 once you unlock


Thanks all - I feel like an idiot for not immediately checking and toping off coolant first time that light came on

Mike

[blue135]

WRT to the temperature - it can be displayed on Scan Gauge II or similar devices that plug into OBD II. That is how I monitor mine, as well as Intake air temperature or actual speed or whatever interests me at that moment.

[Almuliman]

I do the same for coolant temp with my OBD dongle / app. How do you see oil temp? (Yes, I'll go search for it too )

[blue135]

Well, I have a 135i, which is why I need a device to monitor water temp (just because I want to). I know Scan Gauge has the ability to add certain indicators (through programming steps) that are in the car's monitoring system. That is how I monitor trans temp in my truck with my second Scan Gauge II. So. if the oil temp is not readily available, perhaps they can give you guidance on how to get to it.

[mham99]

Any thoughts on this coolant ?
I need to get some in there to get it to the dealer

https://www.autozone.com/antifreeze-radiator-additives-and-windshield-wash-fluid/antifreeze-coolant/p/peak-oet-antifreeze-and-coolant-european-vehicles-blue-concentrate-5-year-150k-mile-protection-1-gallon/720578_0_0

[Olgeezer1]

Originally Posted by mham99

Any thoughts on this coolant ?
I need to get some in there to get it to the dealer

https://www.autozone.com/antifreeze-...lon/720578_0_0

No need to use coolant for the short drive you're talking about . Just add water (distilled if you want to do it right ). Water is actually the best coolant, what we buy is for it's lubricating and anti-freeze properties. When you change out your coolant , forget aftermarket. BMW blue coolant mixed 50/50 with distilled water.

[BMWCCA1]

Originally Posted by Olgeezer1

When you change out your coolant , forget aftermarket. BMW blue coolant mixed 50/50 with distilled water.

Except that Blue is now Green at your local BMW store.

[tracer bullet]

Originally Posted by mham99

Any thoughts on this coolant ?
I need to get some in there to get it to the dealer

https://www.autozone.com/antifreeze-...lon/720578_0_0

I guess the need for it depends on how far a drive you have. Adding coolant also ups the boiling point of the combination, and a fully warmed engine will typically run higher than standard boiling point of water.

Distilled or RO water is best as well, the minerals are removed from it. But if the dealer will just dump it all out right away then I wouldn't' sweat it for now.

[mham99]

Thanks all - Closing the loop here.

I did top it off with the coolant I asked about and made it to dealer ok
No damage done. Did coolant flush and they suggested that my battery could have caused the car to die not necessarily the temp / coolant.

[tracer bullet]

Hmm, well, hope they are right.

There's a battery cable recall on some cars, not sure about yours, but worth asking about / looking into.

And if your coolant reservoir was actually empty, it's still a concern. There's a chance though that now it's full, it stays full. Guessing you aren't the original owner, maybe the previous owner was a moron, or a shop that did some work left it dry after a flush or something. Who knows. Certainly keep an eye on it.

[mham99]

Thanks - I will definitely keep an eye on it. I have had it for about 6yrs but only put 30K miles on it. Had a coolant flush 2 yrs ago. I felt like a bit of a moron as I did see a low coolant message once a few weeks ago but it never came back on so I forgot about it. Thats why I wanted to puke when I saw it was dry.

I know the batt was low but last time I was in they charged it since I was a bit shaken on the $450 cost to replace. Came to learn why - "registration" etc. ok fine..it does appear to be smarter than your average battery / charging system. My rear defogger stopped working before the charge and now just before this incident.
Will chalk it up to that and watch..

[tracer bullet]

If you do the battery I'd expect to pay about half that. The batteries aren't cheap but the coding only takes a few minutes. $450 is way too much. Was it a local shop quoting the work or a dealer? I suggest shopping around. You can also DIY the coding, there's up front costs for software and hardware but you'd still pay less in the end and also have the tools to do other things.

Get in the habit of occasionally checking everything - oil level, coolant, power steering fluid, brake fluid (and clutch is shared from the same reservoir if you have a manual) and so on.