Which Anti Freeze?

[gaz1234]

Sigh.
So popped into Halfrauds to have a look at some cheap anti-freeze for the arrow. The guy there pointed me in the right direction and said 'do you know which one you need?', i replied 'which one', 'yes, there are two types for different cars'.
So there is the blue type and red type. For different years blue up to 98, red 98 onwards.
He said i would need the red for both cars, but i know the arrow (nissan) has blue, at which point s=he said 'stick with that one'..

So whats the score?

Surely they are all the same? Its for the nissan and bmw..

Thanks

PS - cheapest place to buy is?

[nice1two]

My old BMW ran on green I think. Not sure about the Nissan

[Jimmyarm]

What they had out of the factory and what they have in them now can be two different things

Always use the same type as is in the system, mixing them can cause issues.

(green = blue)

[gaz1234]

cant see the colour of the bmw, the primera has green/blue

[Mroad]

Don't just go by the colours as they can vary, you just need to know whether it was standard Glycol antifreeze (usually blue or green) or newer OAT antifreeze (Organic Acid Technology, usually red/orange).
If you completely flush the system you can probably use OAT fluid but check with the manufacturer.

[E30M3SE]

BMW coolant is blue.

[gaz1234]

so the labelling/info is wrong?!

[E30M3SE]

Whenever I've bought BMW coolant it's always been blue, I've never been asked, "what colour you running?" by the guys in the parts dept. and I don't think they've always asked what car it's for.

Maybe some newer BMW cars/BINI's run the red/pink OAT type coolant, don't know what BMW you're running and how old it is.

Speak to your local BMW parts dept.and see what they recommend for your car. I wouldn't go on what the chap in Halfords has told you.

Edited by E30M3SE on Tuesday 10th September 20:58

[Toaster Pilot]

Always use what is in there at the moment and never mix them. As said someone could've changed it at some point from the factory stuff.