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      08-04-2016, 10:46 AM   #1
saintvilk
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Coolant flush question(s) capacity? coolant to purchase?,drain plugs ?

Hello all,
I was thinking on doing a coolant flush and just had a few questions on doing a coolant flush and refill,

I was wondering for a e89 z4 3.5, what is the total coolant capacity in the vehicle?

I was thinking on purchasing BMW 50/50 mix Blue is this what everyone else recommends? (http://www.bavauto.com/lview.asp?img...7704_img01.jpg)

i wanted to make sure i know where the drain plugs are for the car, one underneath the radiator and where is the one for the engine block?

And last question is there an affordable drain and refill vacuum coolant system?
I saw this one (https://www.amazon.com/UView-550000-...coolant+vacuum

And it seems good but they recommend not to drain using this system.
any recommendations?

Last edited by saintvilk; 08-04-2016 at 01:37 PM..
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      08-04-2016, 02:21 PM   #2
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Capacity is 10.5 quarts.
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      08-05-2016, 02:21 PM   #3
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Measure what comes out - I bet it's only ~6 quarts.

Be sure to bleed well, BMWs in general can be a pain to get all of the air out of the system
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      08-06-2016, 08:47 PM   #4
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I just flushed my 2010 3.0. Drain radiator removing plug on radiator, driver side. Get in car and turn on ignition but do not start car. Put heat on max and fan on minimum. Put your foot down on gas pedal for 10 seconds. Water pump will cycle on and off for about 5 -10 minutes draining block. Replace drain plug and fill with distilled water. Repeat pump purge cycle except this time add water as pump cycles. Repeat process until water is clear, no antifreeze remaining. Fill with 2 liters of BMW antifreeze and then keep refilling during pump cycle with 50/50 mix of antifreeze and distilled water. If you live in a freezing climate I might add 3 liters of antifreeze to start. Take short drive and check coolant level. Refill untill full.
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      08-10-2016, 01:25 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Vetracr View Post
I just flushed my 2010 3.0. Drain radiator removing plug on radiator, driver side. Get in car and turn on ignition but do not start car. Put heat on max and fan on minimum. Put your foot down on gas pedal for 10 seconds. Water pump will cycle on and off for about 5 -10 minutes draining block. Replace drain plug and fill with distilled water. Repeat pump purge cycle except this time add water as pump cycles. Repeat process until water is clear, no antifreeze remaining. Fill with 2 liters of BMW antifreeze and then keep refilling during pump cycle with 50/50 mix of antifreeze and distilled water. If you live in a freezing climate I might add 3 liters of antifreeze to start. Take short drive and check coolant level. Refill untill full.

Thank you very much for the details and instructions,

i was also thinking on using the vacuum fill method do you think i can use it after i drain all coolant ( or water from flush cycle) to refill the system?
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      08-17-2016, 05:34 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by saintvilk
Quote:
Originally Posted by Vetracr View Post
I just flushed my 2010 3.0. Drain radiator removing plug on radiator, driver side. Get in car and turn on ignition but do not start car. Put heat on max and fan on minimum. Put your foot down on gas pedal for 10 seconds. Water pump will cycle on and off for about 5 -10 minutes draining block. Replace drain plug and fill with distilled water. Repeat pump purge cycle except this time add water as pump cycles. Repeat process until water is clear, no antifreeze remaining. Fill with 2 liters of BMW antifreeze and then keep refilling during pump cycle with 50/50 mix of antifreeze and distilled water. If you live in a freezing climate I might add 3 liters of antifreeze to start. Take short drive and check coolant level. Refill untill full.

Thank you very much for the details and instructions,

i was also thinking on using the vacuum fill method do you think i can use it after i drain all coolant ( or water from flush cycle) to refill the system?
Santvilk, Vetracr has a 30i. In your 35i you have to remove the intercooler, below the radiator, to access the drain plug. Im also not sure of the wisdom of running the purge while draining the block. You can run the pump dry
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      08-17-2016, 08:11 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jparnes1 View Post
Santvilk, Vetracr has a 30i. In your 35i you have to remove the intercooler, below the radiator, to access the drain plug. Im also not sure of the wisdom of running the purge while draining the block. You can run the pump dry
so in running the coolant pump and draining simultaneously the block isn't a good idea?

in the BMW rheingold instruction they only recommend draining the radiator by detaching the radiator hose

and filling from that point. i guess ill just drain the radiator and keep flushing the block and add coolant from that point on appropriately.

thanks for everything. when i finish the job ill let you guys know, im probably going to do this probably mid September

Last edited by saintvilk; 08-17-2016 at 01:38 PM..
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      08-17-2016, 03:09 PM   #8
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Good luck detaching the lower hose. It's not exactly easily assessable. You'll see what I mean after you remove the splash shield and intercooler. I would drain the radiator by the drain plug then run the pump like you were bleeding the system to get more fluid out (with a trickle charger connected). Trying to do any more will turn this into a major job.
Let me know if you need info about removing the IC or running the pump.
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      08-18-2016, 04:07 PM   #9
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[QUOTE. You can run the pump dry[/QUOTE]

BMW beat you on that one. When pump cycle is initiated the pump runs and shuts off. This cycle is repeated for about 5-10 minutes. Pump never runs long enough to overheat motor
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      08-19-2016, 08:08 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Vetracr View Post
[QUOTE. You can run the pump dry
BMW beat you on that one. When pump cycle is initiated the pump runs and shuts off. This cycle is repeated for about 5-10 minutes. Pump never runs long enough to overheat motor[/QUOTE]

so vec. did you remove the drain plug, drained the radiator, then run the bleed cycle to remove most coolant out the block?
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      08-30-2016, 03:36 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by saintvilk View Post
BMW beat you on that one. When pump cycle is initiated the pump runs and shuts off. This cycle is repeated for about 5-10 minutes. Pump never runs long enough to overheat motor
so vec. did you remove the drain plug, drained the radiator, then run the bleed cycle to remove most coolant out the block?[/QUOTE]

Yes. Thats the procedure I used on the first bleed. On following bleeds I added distilled water and then bled the system to purge old antifreeze.
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      08-30-2016, 03:43 PM   #12
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So Vetracr, after flushing with water , how much coolant were you able to pour in? Total capacity is 10.5 quarts in a factory dry engine. If you didn't drain at least half of that and replace with straight coolant, you'd have less than a 50/50 mixture.
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      08-30-2016, 08:15 PM   #13
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I drained system dry and then added 2 litres of BMW antifreeze. I then added a 50/50 mixture of distilled water and antifreeze. I live in Florida so I don'the need a 50/50 mixture.
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      08-31-2016, 06:31 AM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Vetracr
I drained system dry and then added 2 litres of BMW antifreeze. I then added a 50/50 mixture of distilled water and antifreeze. I live in Florida so I don'the need a 50/50 mixture.
How much of the 50/50? Do you remember?
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      08-31-2016, 07:38 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jparnes1 View Post
How much of the 50/50? Do you remember?
I don't know. I just filled system until it was full.
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      09-19-2016, 09:20 AM   #16
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Thanks you guys for the help,and advice,

JPjames - you were right with the getting to that pipe since i needed to remove the fan it seems to get to it , so instead i just drained the coolant from the radiator and vacuum filled it with the 50/50 bmw blue and distilled water. ( i premixed it). i ran the bleed process to get the old coolant and new to mix since i didnt want to run the pump while there was minmal amount of coolant in the system. after the bleeding process was done i drained and repeated the process 1 more time. it seems like i was able to get most of the old coolant out and replaced it with the new one.
I did use extra coolant but i didnt want to get to that hose which seemed tight to get to.

anyway thanks for the help. and advice again
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      09-19-2016, 09:54 AM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by saintvilk
Thanks you guys for the help,and advice,

JPjames - you were right with the getting to that pipe since i needed to remove the fan it seems to get to it , so instead i just drained the coolant from the radiator and vacuum filled it with the 50/50 bmw blue and distilled water. ( i premixed it). i ran the bleed process to get the old coolant and new to mix since i didnt want to run the pump while there was minmal amount of coolant in the system. after the bleeding process was done i drained and repeated the process 1 more time. it seems like i was able to get most of the old coolant out and replaced it with the new one.
I did use extra coolant but i didnt want to get to that hose which seemed tight to get to.

anyway thanks for the help. and advice again
I don't think you'd run the pump dry if you ran the bleed to drain additional coolant. You'll never get all the old coolant out so there should be some to keep the pump lubricated. But better safe then sorry.
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      10-05-2016, 08:36 AM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lurcher View Post
Measure what comes out - I bet it's only ~6 quarts...
I think jparnes is correct at 10.5. if you do not cycle the pump to drain the block i suspect you will only get 6 so technically both of you are correct.
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      10-05-2016, 10:11 AM   #19
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What he said ^
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      03-06-2022, 07:08 PM   #20
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Just bumping this as the cycle method noted worked great. just drained/filled while doing many other things. I'd highly recommend pulling the fan as well. While doing this job you can clean the back of the radiator, between the rad/condenser, and behind your grilles. I got a TON of crap out of mine. This also gives you much better viewing from underneath while wiggling the intercooler around trying to line things up to bolt in.
Did the cycle method above and got 7qts out. blue coolant/distilled water mix, did the cycling exercise again and added about another 20oz.
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