Any DIY on coolant flush for S63
 

Hey guys I'm new to the X5 M world. I wrench on my own cars all the time, however the X5M has a radically seemingly more complicated cooling system. I was wondering if there were any diy guides for flushing the coolant? I have a new to me 2011 X5M with 41K miles and given its age, I'd like to perform a coolant flush. I just want to know where to drain the two cooling systems, and the refill procedure. I'd rather not spend $150 + coolant at my indy to do the job, when usually its pretty simple to drain and refill.

Many views but no response? I've purchased the X5M service manual to help tackle this. I guess I'll write a DIY myself. The real issue for me is this car has 2 separate cooling systems.

Coolant system is flushed from passenger side underneath the radiator.

There is not a drain plug but rather a coolant line at the bottom, just unplug and it will drain.

Refill through the reservoir on the drivers side.

Bleeding procedure is to simply leave the cap open and let the engine get up to temp for a bit.

Second system is run only for the intercoolers and is filled via the passenger side through the smaller reservoir -

Thanks! It was this secondary cooling system I was most concerned with. I ended up having the dealer do it for me for $129. Not as cheap as I could have done the entire system but hey its done. I couldn't find an e-bay shop manual for the X5 M. I was familiar with the process on the 4.8i that I had before as I did the drain several times as various components in the cooling system crapped out.

I did mine since I got a hairline crack in the expansion tank. I drained mine via the plug on the passenger side bottom of the radiator. I also removed the drivers side fender liner to drain from the intercooler and aux pump. From there I blew out the lines with compressed air since I switched to Evans coolant. Bleeding is done via turning on the ignition and flooring the gas pedal for 10+ seconds until the pumps turn on.

Thanks!

I like your garage with a TV and it looks like heat/ac. Man I'd kill for some AC here in Houston during the summer in my garage. Even just cleaning my car means I'm soaked after about 20 mins.

So you bled both systems, cool. Why the switch to Evans?

P.S. don't be surprised if your heat stops working correctly. When I swapped coolant that was enough to cause the X5 4.8i heater control valve to stop opening and giving heat on the passenger side.

Thanks :-) The TV was an $80 Craigslist find 4 years ago that had a very common Samsung issue where it wouldn't turn on due to the blue resistors had overheated and popped. $5 and some soldering later and now I've got something to view PDF's, watch YouTube videos or read forum write ups while working. It's been invaluable vs using my phone while trying to work.

Oddly the prior home owners had converted the garage into a living space...carpet, trim, paint and all. I've since turned it back into a garage. Funny enough I completely ignored the vent on the ceiling until one winter and felt a breeze on head. Someone had stuffed insulation into it, I removed it and I've got full flow! I used to live in Virginia Beach and DC/Alexandria so I know your pain :-)

I switched to Evans since BMW's are notorious for breaking their cheap plastic cooling systems. Evans is waterless, so there's zero pressure. I switched my old E53 and decided I'd do the same on my E70 as well.

coolant bleed
 

Second system is run only for the intercoolers and is filled via the passenger side through the smaller reservoir -[/QUOTE]

Hey guys, was just curious. Where is that second system that is filled via the passenger side located? Thanks the feedback.