BIM530I

Hey guys,

This is my first post and I hope someone can help me out.

A lot of the time, I get responses like "it's very simple, you just need to bleed it correctly".

Here is my situation:

I have a 2006 530i with automatic transmission and sports package. The car has 59,000 miles and I am the original owner(rarely drove the car harshly). I took it to a few mechanics (non BMW specialists)to get it a coolant flush. They tell me I don't need it for at least another 20,000 miles. Some even recommneded that I take it to the dealer because if it is not done right, I could be facing a lot of headache. My car does not have any heating problems (crossing fingers) and I prefer to just do this as a preventive maintenance.

Because I already have 2 gallons of BMW coolants and 2 gallons of distilled water in my garage(two months now), I hope someone here could provide so light on the following questions:

1. My car comes with a electric pump for bleeding. Since that process will take about 12 mintues, do I need to connect a charger to the power posts in my engine compartement or will my battery be enough to supply electricity to do the job?

2. What "specific" tool do I need open the engine block plug? Do I need specialty tool and what size wrench or socket would I need for this?

If you can provide personal experiences on the subject car or links to the procedures, I would greatly appreciate it!

Thank you in advance for any help.

Have a great day!

seatac

I don't know what is the right way to DIY, but I did my over the weekend. I went to dealership pickup 1gal coolant, accident ran into mechanic guy, I ask him; he said just mix this with 50% water (which I have 2 gal total).

Just drain coolant and refill (no need to flush unless coolant come out radiator dark and dirty). He told me if dark and dirty, fill-up enough and have vehicle to dealership they will flush it completely ($$$$). If it come out clear yellow/blue or clear blue which good. Just drain as much I as can then refill follow electronic bleed procedure. No need to to take out engine block plug since it pain in the a***s...

How I do it:
1. jack up the car level enough, and make sure safe to get under car
2. get 2ft long 3/8 clear plastic hose, connect it to peacock radiator drain plug. this will avoid mess on your floor.
3. open RED drain plug by hand, coolant start drip slowly out, then open the cap. walk away few minute then come back.
4. to ensure, I turn on bleed system let it push out little more (close the cap this time), let it run about 1 or 2 min. to safe battery juice make sure headlight auto (OFF) and door closed, radio mute.
5. I able to get out about 1-1/3 gal which about 65-70%, the rest I am sure sitting in engine block.
6. close the drain plug, just torque by hand if you can, since it's piece of plastic, don't break it.
7. refill up to MAX level close the cap then run bleed procedure, repeat this step 2 or 3 time until level stay at MAX. My battery able to handle without connect to power supply.
8. take the car out for few miles or at least bring the car to normal temperature then check any leak. I able to check the coolant temperature it around 95(c)/200(f).

since 1Gal cost around $30, I will do it every 30 miles now on or every time I do brake bleed, so I don't have to deal with flush entire system. why wait 100miles.

crewzer

I did mine this way, more or less. The radiator drain petcock is a large thumb wheel, so you may be able to loosen/tighten it by hand. Alternately, you an use a 1/4" stubby flatblade screwdriver, IIRC.

I did the 12-minute bleed process twice on my recent drain, flush, & fill. No prolem with the battery.

HTH,
Jim / crewzer

BIM530I

Although, I posted that almost a year ago, I finally did it last month. My car had 64,000 miles and I got about 1 1/2 gallon from the radiator. I could not find a midget to crawl under the car to find the engine block drain plug, so I left it alone.

The coolant came out with a clear brownish/light blue-ish color. I still have one gallon of coolant left and will do another flush after my long trip back from Las Vegas. Hopefully, the long drive will mix the old coolant with the new coolant good enough for me to flush it again for a better clean.

By the way, this is the power supply I bought for the job; and it's only $15 after the $25 rebate: http://pepboyscircular.zt02.net/zeta.../pageNo=5;cs=D
Someone should go pick one up before the the deal expires.

Anways, wishing everyone Happy Holidays!