Heh, no system to drain. When I got the paperwork, they replaced a half dozen parts. Radiator, all the hoses, etc. Doubt that would have been a cheap fix.

edit: Just looked up the cost of parts and the parts alone would have been $550 not including the dealership markup. 2 hours of labor. Would have been around a $1k fix.

Well every grocery store and many gas stations do carry distilled. That being said, I would say that left in the system, a different coolant additive package could be much more damaging than some trace minerals in water since the concentrations would be much higher 50% vs a percent or less.

I do however agree that there needs to be a water-coolant mixture in the cooling system at all times. No one has suggested that running the engine low on coolant leading to overheating would be preferable to using a non-oem coolant.

Also, once your repair is finished, you may want to make sure they used all new BMW coolant and didn't reuse the coolant in the system.:thumbup:

They fixed it while I waited. It is all new parts with true and blue OEM coolant :)

coolant leak
 

question i have antifreeze dripping from the front of the x5, in small amount each bay,....whats the problem my garage said it was the water pump, but i dont think he's correct, the x5 runs fine heating is good only the dripping.can you help

Wow, I'm experiencing coolant leaks as well. Started about 3 weeks ago and I started using Prestone Pre-Mixed. Almost finished the bottle today. I definitely see some fluid coming from the bottom of the car when I parked in my garage. Really haven't got a chance to look at it further. I had no idea that you shouldn't use anything other than BMW coolant. This sucks! My CPO expired 2 months ago. I had to pay 25% of the cost for my condenser/evaporator fix last month. Wonder if this has anything to do with the problem I'm seeing now with the coolant. Lights come on about every 3 days now.

With having to fill it every 3 days, you have a serious leak. Granted that I went through a full bottle in a day, but that was because of a cracked radiator, so when it had some pressure behind it, the fluid just flew out of the system. You though, have a serious leak somewhere. Definitely take it to an indy shop or you dealer if you think that they'll give you a discount because of how recently your CPO expired.

The mechanic says it is a leaking water pump, but you believe he is incorrect because......??????

What is the basis for rejecting his diagnosis?

Could you possibly be thinking "A Pump, pumps...and if the car runs OK and the heat works the pump must be pumping and therefore the mechanic is wrong"???

If they had to get into the radiator when working on the AC stuff, they could have inadvertently damaged the parts....but fat chance they will admit this.

If it was leaking immediately after the last repair this will be important to establish with them.

The AC repair was a little over a month ago. I don't know if they will admit any wrongdoing. It's in the shop now. I'm crossing my fingers.

Good luck man