04-01-2020, 01:58 PM | #1 |
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Changing Coolant on S63TU - is nobody doing this?
My MY15 M5 turned the big Five in late February so I thought I would look into what it took to change the coolant. Especially for the M5's, it's like crickets in Google. Nothing. I called one local BMW specialty shop and he said he prefers not even to swap the coolant because you can break stuff filling it back up.
Filling it back up seems like the easy part. Get yourself a Schwaben Coolant Refill Air Purge tool and follow the instructions. Not sure about the BMW procedure for the electric water pump bleeding cycle, if that works on the F10, and whether or not that opens the thermostat. Draining on the other hand, is a different story. BMW simply says to remove the fan cowl and disconnect the lower radiator hose. The closest I could find was like a 535 in the F10 forum, and obviously that isn't going to drain all the fluid in your system. In the M5 with the S63TU, there is more to it. So what I am thinking is this. Disconnect the lower radiator hose, let it drain, and then also disconnect the lower hoses on the two auxiliary coolers for the charge air coolers. (Not sure how easy it is to access them, but surely they are intended to be serviced.) Then, I can suck out the fluid in the expansion tank for the charge air coolers and between it all, get out as much fluid as I can. Since I only change oil about once a year, I might consider doing this more often say every other year and by doing it more frequently, ensure that my coolant never gets too old. Draining and topping up coolant (S63 B44 T 0) https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/f...check/Hqu3hTEY Venting and filling cooling system with vacuum filling unit https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/f...check/B9yoQmxG Removing and installing/replacing left auxiliary coolant cooler (S63 B44 T 0) https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/f...parts/I5rfbxaB Removing and installing/replacing right auxiliary coolant cooler (S63 B44 T 0) https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/f...parts/I5rjYaBL Bleeding cooling system and checking for watertightness (S63 B44 T 0) https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/f...trols/IIQKHzrr
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Born 02.27.2015 in Dingolfing Last edited by AirBull; 04-01-2020 at 04:42 PM.. |
04-01-2020, 03:01 PM | #2 |
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I'm going to be honest this was/is on my list of things to do but since it looks like a pain I was going to use my hand pump and flush out coolant then refill. Drive it for a while after things have cycled and do it again. Don't judge me.
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04-01-2020, 03:10 PM | #3 |
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BMW speciality shop quoted me $150 for the coolant and $100 for the intercoolers, which I believe he was inferring the two aux coolers for the charge air coolers. Probably worth the money but I do like to do what I can myself. I have four RennStands that I can get the BMW up on and that makes something like this all the more so easier.
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04-03-2020, 11:33 AM | #4 |
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I'm pretty sure you know this already but there are two separate cooling circuits. The charge air coolers and DME are separate from the main engine and turbo circuits. The marked up photo you posted covers the charge air/DME system. That is the reservoir on top of the engine. You will need to open and drain other hoses if you want to change the coolant in the other system/circuits.
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04-03-2020, 02:42 PM | #5 | ||
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04-04-2020, 11:00 AM | #6 | |
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Removing and installing/replacing charge air cooler (S63, B44 T 0) https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/f...parts/IHLZtKxV Bleeding cooling system for charge air cooler (S63 B44 T 0) https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/f...parts/IGoEfwRm
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Born 02.27.2015 in Dingolfing Last edited by AirBull; 04-04-2020 at 11:37 AM.. |
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04-07-2020, 03:43 PM | #8 | |
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I had one indy BMW shop say they could do a main coolant flush for one price and an additional fee for a similar procedure on the intercoolers but I also then had two more local indy shops say that it's a closed system and as long as you haven't had to break into it, they don't recommend it. So, given that my M5 only has a tad over 10k miles, time would be the only thing working against my fluid. I agree with your notion to get some test strips and test the pH of the coolant to best determine when I may need to replace the coolant. I ordered some GWR RadStrips off eBay that say are good to test for HOAT and I'll see where I'm at.
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04-07-2020, 04:25 PM | #9 | |
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04-30-2020, 01:50 PM | #10 |
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According newtis.info coolant should be changed every 4 years for non M cars, and every 3 years for M cars.
I'm thinking about changing it myself too because I have free time nowadays, and I have the Coolant Refill Air Purge tools to refill without introducing air to the coolant system. However, I'm unsure why there's a need to bleed the coolant system afterwards but it's in the instruction. I have changed coolant using the Coolant Refill Air Purge for many Japanese cars and I didn't need to bleed the coolant system afterwards at all. The tech manual for all those cars called to bleed the coolant system afterwards, but I never had to because the tool prevented air entering the coolant system. I think BMW just being extra careful. This is just my opinion Another part I'm a bit unsure is the secondary coolant system. It has instructions how to remove it but the manual doesn't call to replace it as a maintenance item. I also wondering did you get it done or have the dealer done it? |
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04-30-2020, 03:08 PM | #11 | |
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04-30-2020, 05:34 PM | #12 | |
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That's what I have. You also need a compressor for it to work. Look up youtube on how to use it. |
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04-30-2020, 07:29 PM | #13 |
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I looked over the requirements for coolant, and it looks like cars with CBS after 9/2003 don't need to change coolant. Interesting.
https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/f...-check/1DUJMrq |
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05-01-2020, 12:28 PM | #14 |
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"Lifetime" coolant. "Lifetime" transmission fluid. Who's lifetime? Lol. Does it logically make sense? IMO there's no such thing.
BMW is not alone, nearly every auto manufacturer claims the same for certain items. We've been lied to for years. I think their view is that they know that the fluid will last longer than your maintenance agreement or warranty in the majority of cases. By claiming it's "lifetime" they get out of having to replace it during that time period. After your warranty is up, the truth is that they want you in one of their new cars! It's all about the money. If your car breaks down after that time period, just see. They will claim you didn't change the fluid and it's your fault! It happened to me with my old Acura and Honda's notoriously terrible transmissions. Better to do your due diligence and do fluid changes more often than not. Fluid/preventative maintenance is cheaper and gives peace of mind.
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05-01-2020, 12:56 PM | #15 | |
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The danger is if know nots have topped up with red coolant or some other so if you know yours has not then leave it and top up if needed with the BMW coolant mix. The coolant in both the tanks is clear green/blue so leaving well alone. |
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05-01-2020, 02:35 PM | #16 |
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Yeah, good point. I agree. I'm sure there are some rare exceptions like that.
But for the majority of systems using pretty much ordinary variety fluids, wear is wear. Going over 100k is a lot of miles. You can't expect fluids to last 7 yrs. or 10yrs+. If you drained that fluid, just take a look at it. Nothing close to the new fluid.
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05-07-2022, 12:17 PM | #17 |
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Does it need unique coolant?
I had to replace my A/C condenser on my '14 M5 (F10), which means I had to remove the radiator. Since I needed to do that, I figured it's a good time to replace the coolant. I was surprised that the current coolant was green, and not the typical blue coolant from BMW. Does this require special coolant, or can I use the standard BMW coolant?
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05-08-2022, 07:58 PM | #18 | |
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07-08-2023, 01:56 AM | #19 |
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So has someone actually changed the coolant and noted the fluid volume that the car needed to be topped up? I did a turbo coolant hose change on my 2013 M5, and the return hard line elbow broke (common issue), so that ended up draining quite a bit of coolant when I had to change the turbo coolant hard line to replace the elbow. While I was there, I replaced the other two turbo coolant lines since they were also leaking. Since the coolant was mostly gone at that point, and it's 10 years old, I disconnected the lower rad hose (easy to do with the right intercooler removed which is a step for the coolant hard line replacement), though not much more fluid came out.
Then I struggled to get 5L of coolant in after and the capacity is supposed to be 18.5 L listed for the twin-clutch (though mine is a manual, but no capacity is listed for the manual). What is everyone else putting in, and what transmission do you have? Finally, the venting instructions say, in part, 1. Open vent plugs on coolant feed lines to turbocharger. 2. Add coolant to the upper edge of the expansion tank. The coolant level must no drop. No drop in coolant for approx. 1 minute. Close the bleeder screws of the exhaust turbocharger when coolant emerges. <clip> Did anyone find the vent plugs on the coolant feed lines to turbocharger? I didn't, so just left the top hoses disconnected until fluid started to come out. |
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07-10-2023, 01:03 PM | #21 | |
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07-12-2023, 09:19 AM | #22 | |
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Interestingly enough, the 'hold accelerator down for 10 sec' (accompanied by the pulsing of the coolant pumps) only appears in my manual for the bleeding of the intercooler circuit, and not the engine cooling circuit. However, it pulses the engine coolant pumps from what I can see (reservoir level fluctuates, engine coolant circuit hoses move). |
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