Urgent: Help with coolant top up please

[Mdifficult]

Hey guy, dash is showing a 'top up coolant' message.

I've checked the expansion tank to the left (as you look at the car) and it's on MAX. However, I know that's the tank for the inter cooler and turbos.

I've checked the other top up filler (the one for the engine coolant, on the right as you look at the car, at the back of the engine bay by the bulkhead).

However, that doesn't appear to have any top up level to check. The manual tells me to visit my dealer which:

A) is a bloody joke - a dealer to top up coolant??
B) is useless as they're all shut as its past closing time.

So, how the hell do I check and top up the engine coolant without visiting a dealer???

Thanks!!

[boots]

Check the coolant level for the ecu if you haven't

[RPiM5]

I ran into this issue while on a cross-country trip with my M5 before.

I talked to my technician about it and he said topping up the coolant on the M5 is a bit tricky.

In the engine bay there are two knobs that are removable to which you can check the coolant level. One is for the engine and the other is for the turbos. The knob on the passenger side is for the engine and this is the one you need to fill.

Once you remove the knob get a flashlight and you can see a gauge down inside there. See what the level is. If it looks low then put some coolant in there. Use can even use plain old water if you want to, no big deal. The reason why it is tricky is because the coolant (or water) you put in there needs to take a little bit of time to make it's way down to the reservoir. So basically you need to put some coolant in and then wait a few minutes, maybe as long as 15 minutes between each time you fill it. After you've waited check the level again and refill until the indicator says it is above the fill indicator.

My biggest problem when the iDrive was yelling at me to fill the engine with coolant was that due to the extreme cold weather outside in the place I was passing through, I couldn't even get the knob off, it was frozen shut so I had to stop by a Firestone store and have one of the technicians use a tool to get the knob off.

Good luck.

[Mdifficult]

Originally Posted by RPiM5

I ran into this issue while on a cross-country trip with my M5 before.

I talked to my technician about it and he said topping up the coolant on the M5 is a bit tricky.

In the engine bay there are two knobs that are removable to which you can check the coolant level. One is for the engine and the other is for the turbos. The knob on the passenger side is for the engine and this is the one you need to fill.

Once you remove the knob get a flashlight and you can see a gauge down inside there. See what the level is. If it looks low then put some coolant in there. Use can even use plain old water if you want to, no big deal. The reason why it is tricky is because the coolant (or water) you put in there needs to take a little bit of time to make it's way down to the reservoir. So basically you need to put some coolant in and then wait a few minutes, maybe as long as 15 minutes between each time you fill it. After you've waited check the level again and refill until the indicator says it is above the fill indicator.

My biggest problem when the iDrive was yelling at me to fill the engine with coolant was that due to the extreme cold weather outside in the place I was passing through, I couldn't even get the knob off, it was frozen shut so I had to stop by a Firestone store and have one of the technicians use a tool to get the knob off.

Good luck.

Cheers. I know which cap (knob), but even looking down with a torch I can't see anything that looks like a min or max level. Did the tech give any indication of what it looks like? All I can see is a long featureless tube.

[Mdifficult]

Originally Posted by boots

Check the coolant level for the ecu if you haven't

Do you mean in the idrive?

Or with my ODBII connector?

I need to see a level in order to know how much to top up (but not too much!)

Thanks

[Fast400]

Did you ever figure it out?

[TrevorM3]

A motor isnt suppose to lose coolant, no? If its under warranty, stop driving it, and take it to the dealer.. imo

[M5Hambre]

Yeah, agree. I had this issue and ended having a coolant leak that was repaired under warranty. I would get it checked out at dealer asap

[danielt]

Hi as you look at the engine bay, which is the correct tank to fill?

Even manual says coolant tank is on the left (as you look at engine bay) however dealer said that's incorrect. Don't want to add coolant to incorrect tank and stuff something up!

I'm in Australia so the driver and passenger side is reversed!

[rsuhandy]

Originally Posted by danielt

Hi as you look at the engine bay, which is the correct tank to fill?

Even manual says coolant tank is on the left (as you look at engine bay) however dealer said that's incorrect. Don't want to add coolant to incorrect tank and stuff something up!

I'm in Australia so the driver and passenger side is reversed!

The one on the right side of the engine bay (looking from front to back of car) is the coolant for the engine. The other way to tell is that the engine coolant does not have a min/max indicator. The one for the intercoolers has a min/max indicator. Both take BMW blue coolant.

[josec70]

Originally Posted by danielt

Hi as you look at the engine bay, which is the correct tank to fill?

Even manual says coolant tank is on the left (as you look at engine bay) however dealer said that's incorrect. Don't want to add coolant to incorrect tank and stuff something up!

I'm in Australia so the driver and passenger side is reversed!

Top them both off w/BMW Coolant.

[steeve13m]

Originally Posted by Mdifficult

Hey guy, dash is showing a 'top up coolant' message.

I've checked the expansion tank to the left (as you look at the car) and it's on MAX. However, I know that's the tank for the inter cooler and turbos.

I've checked the other top up filler (the one for the engine coolant, on the right as you look at the car, at the back of the engine bay by the bulkhead).

However, that doesn't appear to have any top up level to check. The manual tells me to visit my dealer which:

A) is a bloody joke - a dealer to top up coolant??
B) is useless as they're all shut as its past closing time.

So, how the hell do I check and top up the engine coolant without visiting a dealer???

Thanks!!

Top off both coolant tanks in red arrows attached....I use this product to top off;

https://lucasoil.com/products/proble.../super-coolant

[finlandm5f10]

Originally Posted by steeve13m

Top off both coolant tanks in red arrows attached....I use this product to top off;

https://lucasoil.com/products/proble.../super-coolant

Engine coolant is left side when you look in the car from behind the wheel.
Open the tank and take some measure ”stick”. Put stick in to the tank.
Highest part to the tank to water must be 15-18cm.

[ruiibanez]

Thank you! this is so helpful, it wasnt immediately obvious to me that their are two coolant tanks, i kept checking the one on the left (US passenger side) and it was always full. eventually i thought it was the coolant level sensor was broken... now that i know there is a second tank to fill up ill try that

[elgordo19]

I have just taken delivery of my F10, just changed from an E60, and while I have been away from home, my wife had exactly the same problem. Being quite a resourceful lady, she first checked under the bonnet and when she couldn't find anything that looked like a top up point, she checked the manual only to get the same message - "contact the dealer". Luckily, with the car less than a week old, she was able to take the car back to the dealer straight away.

Useful post. Now I know how to top up if I am nowhere near a dealer, or the dealer is closed.

[TLK]

To be fair, the owner's manual does show you where the filler cap is, and it is the same filler cap as on other BMWs, even though the manual says you need to see a dealer to fill it. The manual also shows the turbo coolant tank filler as well.

In the States, you can just set a tape measure to 6 inches, then stick it down the neck and if the it just touches the coolant when the tape measure case rests on the top of the threaded neck, the level is ok. This is approximately the same as the "official" metric measurement.

Owner's manuals for other countries show that the min/max level gauge, like the one present in the turbo coolant reservoir, is supposed to be there, so I think that BMW North America is responsible for this situation.

[mjcecil]

Originally Posted by TLK

To be fair, the owner's manual does show you where the filler cap is, and it is the same filler cap as on other BMWs, even though the manual says you need to see a dealer to fill it. The manual also shows the turbo coolant tank filler as well.

In the States, you can just set a tape measure to 6 inches, then stick it down the neck and if the it just touches the coolant when the tape measure case rests on the top of the threaded neck, the level is ok. This is approximately the same as the "official" metric measurement.

Owner's manuals for other countries show that the min/max level gauge, like the one present in the turbo coolant reservoir, is supposed to be there, so I think that BMW North America is responsible for this situation.

I suspect you're right on this BMW NA thing. Unfortunately, the "Stealer" name holds true here, since, other than generating mechanic hours for the Stealers, I can't think of a real reason for leaving the scale or an indicator out.

Also, since I just topped off my coolant yesterday (I had been thinking I had a stuck float in the engine coolant reservoir, and not that I was low on the turbo side), it occurs to me that there were no indications that this was a Turbo coolant versus and Engine coolant issue. Is there a way to tell from the indicators? If I had checked my OBD with Torque, would I have seen a specific code pointing me to the Turbo coolant?

And finally, do we know what the TC system is supposed to hold? Mine took quite a lot of coolant (for what I perceive as a small system). If I had to guess, a little more than 0.5L went in before it stopped bubbling at the bottom of the tube bend. I guess this because I used a new Dasani bottle (Yeah, even my cooling system is a little Bourgie) half emptied and mixed with Pentafrost, then added a bit more from a second bottle just like it.

[v3n0m]

My US spec F10 M5 took about 1.5L of distilled water to fill it back up. Which will make it about a 45/55 coolant/water ratio.

Checked the coolant hoses and one seemed to be leaking. The crimp clamp seemed pretty loose so I took some pliers and crimped it down again. (A bit tricky since it was covered by the heat shield from the tsb). Hopefully that fixes it. If not I’ll probably pull the heat shield from that hose and add a screw type (really don’t want to replace the lines).

[M5Rick]

Always worth checking no 1 suspect the turbo coolant pipes under the plastic engine cover end then of course the coolant hoses if your losing fluid from either of the two tanks.Take advantage of the free Bm multi point check where they inspect your car and can spot these things easier on a ramp every time you take it for service or its yearly roadworthiness exam.

[de56723]

Folks - read this thread with interested as my F10 M5 is telling me to top my coolant. I'm in the UK so engine are likely reversed, but i deicded to suck out some coolant from the resovoir with the min and max on it and it was blue as i expected. The levels on this were perfect. I then went to the opposite side which is more difficut as their is no min or max just an opening. Decided to suck out some of it and to my suprise its flipping yellow ! I have no idea no what this is or what to top it up with ! Anyone ever experience this before ??

Ive atached a pictures of the two coolant extracts. Any help much appreciated folks.

Peter.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1-N...Qhn97TToDa0dKz

[TLK]

Post a picture of where you extracted it from, that would be easier to tell.

[Craze]

Should both be blue

Left is charge coolers and ecu, right is engine