2003 E46 Coolant

[Original Poster]

So my coolant light came meaning I need to get some coolant. I am completely useless with things like this, where can I buy the right stuff online?

I've read it needs to be mixed with distilled water? What sort of ratio and how much overall should I put in?

The car is a 2003 E46 330ci Sport Convertible.

[Mr Ben]

Don't bother going on line.

Drive to nearest BMW garage (unless of course this is totally impractical) and purchase a bottle of coolant for approx £4-6.

Pour straight in.

Job done.

[Original Poster]

Mr Ben said:

Don't bother going on line.

Drive to nearest BMW garage (unless of course this is totally impractical) and purchase a bottle of coolant for approx £4-6.

Pour straight in.

Job done.

Interesting! Does it not need mixing then?

I do have a BMW garage quite close to me actually.

[Fox-]

Its also time to ask where the coolant thats in there went. The car shouldnt lose coolant - there must be a leak or an issue somewhere.

[Original Poster]

I got a bottle from BMW for a tenner, I will keep an eye out on the levels!

[E38Ross]

if you're coolant is at the right level mix the coolant 50/50 with water (distilled or de-ionised if you have any). putting in a litre of concentrate isn't going to hurt though, by any means.

as above....they shouldn't really use any coolant to be honest, just keep an eye on it...and the temp gauge.

[essayer]

Not an auto is it ?

[Original Poster]

essayer said:

Not an auto is it ?

Nope, manual!

[the hack]

essayer said:

Not an auto is it ?

Why do you ask this? I have a E46 320i auto that recently needed a couple of litres of coolant during a service, but there was no obvious sign of where the 'leak' was coming from.

[Patrick Bateman]

I put de-ionised water in mine but the guy I know from BMW that did it says they just use tap water and he'd never heard of using distilled or de-ionised.

I emailed BMW UK about it and they said tap water was fine for topping up, didn't say anything about the whole system though so emailed them again and didn't get a reply.

[E38Ross]

Patrick Bateman said:

I put de-ionised water in mine but the guy I know from BMW that did it says they just use tap water and he'd never heard of using distilled or de-ionised.

I emailed BMW UK about it and they said tap water was fine for topping up, didn't say anything about the whole system though so emailed them again and didn't get a reply.

using tap water is more than fine. i know anti-freeze has some rust inhibitors in it but using de-ionized water should, in theory, make your radiator last a bit longer but it's certainly not a necessity.

[anonymous-user]

I suspect that in a week or so the light will come on again.... It takes about a pint for the warning to come on so that is a relatively large amount to lose.

E46's seem very prone to coolant leaks, infact mine (318 M43 engine) is currenly leaking from the plastic elbow at the back of the block.

I would start my search at the plastic expansion tank and go from there.

Also keep a few litres of coolant in the boot just in case you get stranded somewhere.

I am currently using Poundlands finest coolant at the moment (it's leaking anyway) until I can get around to fitting a new pipe.