Over the counter anti freeze?

[1823alex]

Personally on my Dad's 2003 525i and my 2003 530i we've always just used Prestone from Autozone or Advance Auto 50/50 premixed. Never had any issues yet.

[BimmrMeUpSnotty]

You can use the normal green crap, just don’t mix it with the blue or pink stuff, to switch back to the BMW stuff, completely flush out the whole system first.

[CPHES]

The most important rule in a pinch - never mix with DEXCOOL - it makes mud when mixed with blue or green. I also stay away from the Asian stuff ( pink and blue ). I just buy a gallon a year for the bmw and mini. I also have Toyota and GMC, so I have to keep my flavors straight.

[Jason5driver]

NAPA sells zerex cheap. G05 (clear) or G48 (blue) should both be acceptable

Can you mix this with the BMW coolant ?

[1823alex]

You can use the normal green crap, just don’t mix it with the blue or pink stuff, to switch back to the BMW stuff, completely flush out the whole system first.

Ya I always use the same green prestone stuff and if I ever do switch to BMW coolant or whatever other color I'll be sure to do a full flush so it doesn't intermingle.

[DennisG01]

Back in the day... yes, you would never mix types or colors. But things have changed. The Prestone I mentioned early in this thread can be mixed with any type of coolant. I just picked up a gallon today and it now says "any type/any color", not just "European". NAPA also has their own coolant that can be mixed with anything. I forgot, in my first post, that I've also used the NAPA stuff. I got my product mixed up in my first post - it's the NAPA stuff that my Indy has been using.

[CPHES]

Hmmm. I’ve read that, and I’m not that trusting....

[BimmrMeUpSnotty]

Lol, sure, go ahead, mix some Dexcool in there and get back to us after you clean out the ensuing sludge....

[DennisG01]

I would never put Dexcool in my BMW, so that's sort of a moot point.

Hmmm. I’ve read that, and I’m not that trusting....

As I mentioned, I've used either BMW coolant (may not have mentioned that part) or the Prestone/NAPA "all around" stuff since 2002 and over 100K miles. Regardless of what you "want" to believe, real world use trumps a feeling. Especially long term use in many, many cars.

Note... I'm not saying don't use BMW coolant or another brand - just that there are options and the Prestone/NAPA all-around stuff does work as intended.

[CPHES]

Ok - I’m glad your experiences have been good. I’ve seen the results of mixing, and I don’t want to take that chance, you can, if you want, but the warning not to mix Dexcool is reasonable. Considering what the parts for a v12, or even the Mini cost, I’m not going going to take that chance. If I am stuck far from home, I’d likely take my chances with universal, but purge and flush at the first chance.

[DennisG01]

Ok - I’m glad your experiences have been good. I’ve seen the results of mixing, and I don’t want to take that chance, you can, if you want, but the warning not to mix Dexcool is reasonable. Considering what the parts for a v12, or even the Mini cost, I’m not going going to take that chance. If I am stuck far from home, I’d likely take my chances with universal, but purge and flush at the first chance.

Yes, the results have been good. System is clean - last time it was drained and flushed the coolant still looked good. BUT... I am not "taking a chance". There's others in this thread doing the same thing, and as I mentioned (maybe you missed this part), I've had this car for over 100K doing it this way. Plus my Indy uses it in all of his cars that he sells or services. I'm not trying to convince anyone to actually use it - never was - but I am absolutely NOT "taking a chance". This is tried and proven many, many times over. Not sure why we're bringing up V12's or a Mini here, but parts for ANY car are not cheap.

I agree, though - you wouldn't want to mix "specific" types of coolant with each other. But the stuff I'm referring to is UNIVERSAL - it is designed to be mixed with a specific type of coolant.

The problem with with making statements like "saying I'm taking a chance", though, is that's how stereotypes get perpetuated and then someone reads this thread and "believes" it... then passes that info along to someone else... who passes it along to someone else. And in the end, the information is entirely false and not based on any fact. It's based on a "feeling" or "what feels right to us". And, certainly, if someone wants to use the BMW coolant because they feel better about it - go for it. It's not like it's bad coolant - it's good stuff. But that doesn't mean that other types are bad, either.

That's really my only point here - there are other options. Whether someone wants to pursue those options, or not, is totally their call and I would never try to convince them otherwise. But at the same time, I don't think we should knock other ideas, just because it doesn't say BMW on the label or because we don't have all the facts.

[CPHES]

Only reason v12 and mini came up, because these are my use cases. Hey Corolla parts are cheap, and I don’t have the same kind of relationship with that car, but I want it to get me home.

[DennisG01]

Only reason v12 and mini came up, because these are my use cases. Hey Corolla parts are cheap, and I don’t have the same kind of relationship with that car, but I want it to get me home.

But we still don't want to have replace parts if we don't have to! "Cheap" is still more expensive than not having to replace anything, at all!

[BimmerBreaker]

Can you mix this with the BMW coolant ?

FWIW, in reply to you and the above posts... Zerex is specifically designed to be friendly with all coolants (I wouldnt mix ANYTHING with Dexcool, but even that it should be ok with) including BMW blue or anything green. That is why we use it, we never know what customers had in their before and not everyone wants to pay for a coolant flush when they just need to be topped up a bit.

We also run 40/60 for most people out here. My own cars ill go as low as 30/70 but never lower

[geargrinder]

LOL. Coolant Threads are the new Oil Threads.

Used to be using the OEM's coolants was dealer-gougery.

If you did your research you'd find out which Pentosin product matched your BMW/VAG factory juice but it was hard to find Pento on the shelves.

Now you can get it on the shelves at Napas and all kinda places, kinda makes it no reason not to use it unless your car is completely empty/clean and you really really are a cheapassmotherbanger. Also it seems like the dealers have brought their prices down when faced with market realities so indeed its not quite so brutal to buy it with the factory label on it anymore...

[Joe///540i]

Yeah, I guess I could have googled the make-up of BMW coolant as I didn't have an old bottle to read from and then found an A/M solution. It must not be that well known though because it took a week for you and a few others to mention the Pento. In terms of price - I got the real stuff from BavAuto for $22 bucks which make two gallons, so $11 bucks a gallon ain't too shabby.

[DennisG01]

I don't think we're on par with those "which oil is best" threads... which always give me a chuckle. As if there actually is a "best" oil I think this thread just took a nice turn to acknowledge that there are options, that's all. In the end, everyone does what they feel is best for them. And I certainly wouldn't knock anyone for doing that - that's the nice thing about having choices.

For what it's worth, I don't use the universal coolant to save a few bucks - it's not about the money. When you spread out the savings over 5+ years, it's pretty much null. I'm just not a fan of my particular local dealer - have tried to pull the wool over my eyes one too many times. There's a much better dealer - but they're almost an hour away. I wasn't aware that Pentosin was available locally. Truthfully, though... personally I probably still won't use it since the good 'ol universal has been working so well.

[BimmrMeUpSnotty]

Jeezuz..... $22 for the Pentosin coolant, that’s pretty much the same price for the stuff from BMW..... You muddercluckers crack me up.....

[BimmerBreaker]

Yeah, I guess I could have googled the make-up of BMW coolant as I didn't have an old bottle to read from and then found an A/M solution. It must not be that well known though because it took a week for you and a few others to mention the Pento. In terms of price - I got the real stuff from BavAuto for $22 bucks which make two gallons, so $11 bucks a gallon ain't too shabby.

Dealers will usually charge less for that stuff. When you buy it online, free shipping or not, shipping is factored in

And gg, BMW stuff is great but if a previous owner put green in, it may not be worth a full cooling system flush just to return to blue. Thats why Zerex, which mixes with anything, is a good option as well. Cheap at NAPA too

[StephenVA]

Wait wait, I like the PINK color!!!

Guys(muddercluckers)
use the BMW stuff that has gotten you down the path to over 100K. If you wonder off the tested and no issues path, you are on your own. We are not talking a high $$ investment here. Buy a few gals and keep them on hand for you bi-annual flush and when you have a cooling system refresh or failure (whichever came first)

[geargrinder]

Dealers will usually charge less for that stuff. When you buy it online, free shipping or not, shipping is factored in

I'm not so sure. Like I said above, it does seem like dealer price came down on consumables some years back when the dealers realized they were just straight up losing out on fluid profits because of outrageous prices, so I'm not saying its out of the question, but, the online vendors buy in bulk from the BMW "Wholesale Dealers", and they very well may get a much cheaper price than some actual small town BMW dealer does. Plus the small time dealer is the very one voted most likely to still be overcharging for fluids... too many reports that individual dealers still charge a lot for stuff like that... Meanwhile my local dealer is "just OK" on price to begin with but then offers a BMWCCA discount and if you get that its pretty reasonable way to get instant gratification...

So... I think the rule of thumb is "depends on your dealer, shop around and see..." For some guys dealer might be surprisingly the right choice, for others, online... Honestly I think I have 2 bottles in my garage and one was dealer sourced and one like FCP or something I think.

And gg, BMW stuff is great but if a previous owner put green in, it may not be worth a full cooling system flush just to return to blue. Thats why Zerex, which mixes with anything, is a good option as well. Cheap at NAPA too

Don't disagree. I'm not a complete coolant Nazi. Depends on the car too. My buds sad high miles beater Dinan 530i has green stuff in it. He's never got the money to fix significant things he should, and its always trickling coolant here and there, so the last thing that I'm gonna tell him should be a priority is going the extra mile for factory coolant. If you got the cheap green stuff now, and its leakin' out all the time, and the car is a daily bomber... then sure whatever...

On the other hand if you got a nice car and want to keep it nice, the factory coolant is good stuff, and you can probably get it at pretty affordable price if you shop around and explore the options (pentosin etc.)

[teflonjones]

Wow it's funny how many people still cling to old information, theories that have no evidence to back them up, things that people who have no idea what they're talking about have told them, wrong info they find on the internet, and yada yada da.

Antifreeze used to be all a green or yellow color, and had a lifespan of about 3-5 years or 30-50k miles (whichever came first, and it depended on the particular car, amount of coolant it held, and other factors). The lifespan was directly due to the amount and type of additives in the antifreeze, which are silicates, borates and phosphates. Newer antifreeze (new as of 20+ years ago, and usually orange or pink) is often referred to as "lifetime" with no limits given as to how many years or miles they last, but they actually do have a lifespan of about 10 years or 100k miles. Again, whichever comes first, and again, the lifespan is directly driven by how long it can be used before the corrosion inhibitors are used up to a point where they're not effective enough.

The older green/yellow stuff can be used in any vehicle, any year (up to a point - I have no idea what a Ford Model T uses for example). The orange/pink stuff can only be used in newer vehicles designed for it. It will harm the coolant system of older vehicles because the additives will corrode seals, pipes, and other parts not designed for the organic acids it contains. Any vehicle that can use the orange/pink stuff can use the green/yellow, and they can be mixed without any issues. Both should always be mixed 50/50 with distilled water (NOT tap water or regular bottled water - you must buy "distilled" water!). No vehicle brands, models, etc sold in the last 20+ years will suffer damage from running any coolant. You don't need to buy it from the dealer or use only their specific kind. Prestone or any other brand will work just fine.

Dexcool is a GM product that has a long history of corrosion issues ever since it came out. It is NOT the same as other orange/pink products and you should stay away from it unless you like causing corrosion issues in your cooling system.

[makenzie71]

You guys are all doing it wrong. I’ve been running straight rain water in everything for years and never had a problem.

[philly98540]

Evans

[StephenVA]

you guys are all doing it wrong. I’ve been running straight rain water in everything for years and never had a problem.

you b the man!

Q: was the funnel and line to the rain barrel mounted on the roof or attached to the house down spout?