My R56 Cooper S - coolant at min mark after 12000 miles...

[Leicesterdave]

... only 16 months old and 12000 miles is this normal? Never had to top up coolant in any car I've owned for a lot more miles than this.

[Leicesterdave]

anyone?!

[G-Lader]

Doesn't sound right, maybe there's a small leak somewhere. Or has it overheated at any point?

[Mardybum]

After 12000 miles, I personally wouldn't be bothered.

[hornetrider]

Seeing as it's under warranty just take it in for a check over

[Leicesterdave]

I mean it leads a fairly hard life in stop/start traffic and with air con on all day everyday but still!

[bazking69]

Cars don't use coolant. They lose it. Top it up, keep an eye on it and mention it at the next service unless it gets more frequent.

[MK4 Slowride]

Leicesterdave said:

I mean it leads a fairly hard life in stop/start traffic and with air con on all day everyday but still!

Why would you need to air-con all day everyday? It'll cost you more in the long run as you only really need the snowflake light on to cool the car down. Having it on in the winter is silly.

Get some top up coolant from halfords and be done with it.

[lance1a]

You want to make sure you do it properly on R56 as they had a system designed to be scavenged by machine.

Here's a link to the top up method.
https://wiki.bentleypublishers.com/display/tech/Ho...

[JackDaniels]

MK4 Slowride said:

Leicesterdave said:

I mean it leads a fairly hard life in stop/start traffic and with air con on all day everyday but still!

Why would you need to air-con all day everyday? It'll cost you more in the long run as you only really need the snowflake light on to cool the car down. Having it on in the winter is silly.

Get some top up coolant from halfords and be done with it.

Its not silly having it on all year round, you can turn on the a/c with heat and use it to de mist the car much quicker (on recirculate setting), plus if you don't use it for months the seals can dry out and leak meaning you will need it re gassing every year.

[MK4 Slowride]

JackDaniels said:

MK4 Slowride said:

Leicesterdave said:

I mean it leads a fairly hard life in stop/start traffic and with air con on all day everyday but still!

Why would you need to air-con all day everyday? It'll cost you more in the long run as you only really need the snowflake light on to cool the car down. Having it on in the winter is silly.

Get some top up coolant from halfords and be done with it.

Its not silly having it on all year round, you can turn on the a/c with heat and use it to de mist the car much quicker (on recirculate setting), plus if you don't use it for months the seals can dry out and leak meaning you will need it re gassing every year.

Fury muff, your money.

[acf8181]

JackDaniels said:

MK4 Slowride said:

Leicesterdave said:

I mean it leads a fairly hard life in stop/start traffic and with air con on all day everyday but still!

Why would you need to air-con all day everyday? It'll cost you more in the long run as you only really need the snowflake light on to cool the car down. Having it on in the winter is silly.

Get some top up coolant from halfords and be done with it.

Its not silly having it on all year round, you can turn on the a/c with heat and use it to de mist the car much quicker (on recirculate setting), plus if you don't use it for months the seals can dry out and leak meaning you will need it re gassing every year.

it also still conditions the air even on hot setting

[Riff Raff]

acf8181 said:

JackDaniels said:

MK4 Slowride said:

Leicesterdave said:

I mean it leads a fairly hard life in stop/start traffic and with air con on all day everyday but still!

Why would you need to air-con all day everyday? It'll cost you more in the long run as you only really need the snowflake light on to cool the car down. Having it on in the winter is silly.

Get some top up coolant from halfords and be done with it.

Its not silly having it on all year round, you can turn on the a/c with heat and use it to de mist the car much quicker (on recirculate setting), plus if you don't use it for months the seals can dry out and leak meaning you will need it re gassing every year.

it also still conditions the air even on hot setting

Yup, no steamy windows. I thought I'd save some money by not having the aircon on all the time - all I managed to do was fk up the seals. I spent more money having that sorted than I ever would have saved in extra petrol. YMMV.

Also, for the OP, I've had a couple of cars where the coolant sat all the time at the minimum mark when cold. If you topped them up, they just chucked all the extra out the breather when hot, and went back to the minimum mark. I wouldn't worry about it, but I'd keep my eye on it and mention at the next service. As others said.

[Dr Derek Doctors]

So top it up then? Duuuuh!

[bazking69]

MK4 Slowride said:

Leicesterdave said:

Get some top up coolant from halfords and be done with it.

Stay away from Halfords and get the proper stuff from your local BMW dealer.

[morgrp]

If they have changed the coolant on a service (unlikely at that mileage) they might have refilled it and then the coolant level has dropped as the system bleeds off some air - quite common to top it up the next day after it has been changed on most cars

Edited by morgrp on Sunday 26th September 20:44

[busta]

So it's lost about 250ml of water in just 16 months? If it's using that much coolant I'd replace the water jackets and get the head skimmed as a precaution.











Or just top it up with some tap water.

[Leicesterdave]

Thanks all- but no firm answers on how much coolant cars can get through- some say all ok no panic, some say no way it shouldn't have happened. I guess the dealer will say all is ok too!!

[Riff Raff]

Leicesterdave said:

Thanks all- but no firm answers on how much coolant cars can get through- some say all ok no panic, some say no way it shouldn't have happened. I guess the dealer will say all is ok too!!

Look. Get a felt marker pen. Draw a line where the coolant is now. Drive it around for a week. If it goes down take it to the main stealer. If it stays where it is, don't worry. Be happy.

[Leicesterdave]

Well I asked the tech guy at MINI to have a look and he seem to think all was ok! I'll top it up and keep an eye on it though. On the plus side any probs he told me to bring it straight back. Free 1500ml of BMW's coolant too which I thought was nice!