coolant or water
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Herbert
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Coolant should not be quite low unless there is a minor leak which you are unware of. Adding water will do and do it first thing in the morning when the engine is cold. If you need to top up water frequently, suggest you send car for check up.
champion
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As mentioned by the members here, water/coolant does not requires top up. If you do, it could be some unseen leakage, i had the same problem and found some minor crack on my radiator and got it replace.
If in doubt, perform a pressure test on ur radiator, should be able to find the culprit.
If in doubt, perform a pressure test on ur radiator, should be able to find the culprit.
Rastabimmer
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How abaout ONLY using water?? Some of 'kaki lama' bmw just using water & no more coolant...
astroboy
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Okay! Back to Automotive Coolant 101.. 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coolant
Fact 1: Coolant is just a heat transfer medium in general and can be in either gas or liquid form. When in liquid form, the most common is WATER..
Fact 2: Liquid coolant (water) is usually used with additives, like corrosion inhibitors and antifreezes. Antifreeze, a solution of a suitable organic chemical (most often ethylene glycol, diethylene glycol, or propylene glycol) in water, is used when the water-based coolant has to withstand temperatures below 0 °C (not applicable here ), or when its boiling point has to be raised above 100 deg Celsius.
If u only use water as coolant, can! But,
1. your boiling point is limited to 100 deg Celsius (H2O boiling point). What is boiling point? Boiling point is when an object evaporates. So your water coolant level drop very fast compare to another car that use "coolant" (with additives) as coolant (higher boiling point).
2. Anti corrosion/rust additive is often used. So if you use pure water, your cooling system will suffer corrosion or rust issue.
3. Lubrication additive is also used to lubricate your water pump. So using pure water, your water pump won't last as long as another car that uses "coolant" as coolant.
4. The above mentioned additives wear out through time and therefore, you will still end up with H2O through time. Therefore, periodic replacement is necessary to benefit from fresh additives.
Did I confuse u?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coolant
Fact 1: Coolant is just a heat transfer medium in general and can be in either gas or liquid form. When in liquid form, the most common is WATER..
Fact 2: Liquid coolant (water
) is usually used with additives, like corrosion inhibitors and antifreezes. Antifreeze, a solution of a suitable organic chemical (most often ethylene glycol, diethylene glycol, or propylene glycol) in water, is used when the water-based coolant has to withstand temperatures below 0 °C (not applicable here ), or when its boiling point has to be raised above 100 deg Celsius.If u only use water as coolant, can! But,
1. your boiling point is limited to 100 deg Celsius (H2O boiling point). What is boiling point? Boiling point is when an object evaporates. So your water coolant level drop very fast compare to another car that use "coolant" (with additives) as coolant (higher boiling point).
2. Anti corrosion/rust additive is often used. So if you use pure water, your cooling system will suffer corrosion or rust issue.
3. Lubrication additive is also used to lubricate your water pump. So using pure water, your water pump won't last as long as another car that uses "coolant" as coolant.
4. The above mentioned additives wear out through time and therefore, you will still end up with H2O through time. Therefore, periodic replacement is necessary to benefit from fresh additives.
Did I confuse u?
All the kaki lama...being well..."Kaki Lamas" doesn't realised the disadvantages of using only water alone. Will cause corrosion to engine parts like water jackets and valves guides in the long run. Use original BMW coolant + distilled water 50:50 ratio and your engine will thank you.
