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      11-23-2018, 08:43 AM   #1
cgnpower
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Multiple Warning Sensors

Hello all, I have a 2016 340i SA in the USA, in North Carolina. It's got roughly 40k miles (I drive a LOT!) Our winters are somewhat mild, staying sunny and around 50* most of the daytime and nighttime drops below freezing. I keep mine in the garage so the temps only drop to 50* in there at night. I drove up to Ohio a few days ago for holiday in winter, and the temps are much more frigid: snow and well below freezing at night. I'm staying with family my car is outside in the driveway overnight for the week. Well, a few days into my trip I went out and started my car early AM, temps were around 24* and two sensors went off: a Drivetrain Malfunction (engine light came on) as well as Low Coolant level. Checked the coolant and it's full and tight, no leaks, etc. Car idles smoothly, but I am concerned about these warning indicators. Could this be a result of the change to cold weather, my car not being used to that climate? Or is this more serious? Any insights are appreciated.
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      11-23-2018, 09:27 AM   #2
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I am in North Texas and recently had our first hard freeze of the season. I had the same coolant error. I was running a few errands and after my second stop the error went away.

The coolant level as OK. Although my coolant looked clear and not blue. I am going to drain and replace next free afternoon. I was thinking that perhaps my issue was some frozen water that interfered with the system. If there was ice the volume would be the same but may have kept the sensor from reading?

I have a 2014 with just under 47k miles. I am the second owner and have the full history on the car.
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      11-23-2018, 10:38 AM   #3
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Don't drain and replace coolant unless it needs it. That you can determine with a $3 tester. Water and anti-freeze don't separate.
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      11-23-2018, 03:03 PM   #4
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If your coolant has frozen then I’d get that sorted as soon as possible as it can wreck the engine.
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      11-24-2018, 09:22 AM   #5
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Update

Thanks for the info, now I'm only getting the Drivetrain Malfunction warning on startup. Car idles fine. The warning goes off but then I'll scroll to vehicle info and check control and it reads all systems ok. The check engine light was staying illuminated yesterday but this morning only the Drivetrain Malfunction was tripped. Wondering if this is a faulty sensor? Anyone had something similar? Just want to be sure before I'm good before I make the 450 mile trip home.
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      11-24-2018, 10:16 AM   #6
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The only way to identify what's tripping the warning is with a diagnostic tool. Many codes will initially trip as a false positive, and remain there until cleared with a tool capable of doing that. This is why I carry my Foxwell NT510 on board:
http://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho...2#post23288222
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      11-24-2018, 11:54 AM   #7
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If they clear after cycling the "key" and don't come back, I wouldn't worry about it. Every thing in the car runs on the CAN bus, and sometimes a bad data packet will toss false positive errors that get cleared when turning off the car.
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      11-28-2018, 11:44 PM   #8
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Tester was $4 at local auto parts joint.

Tested 147F hot side and 0F cold side of the tester.

What I thought was frozen water was a calcium buildup in the expansion tank. Likely the previous owner or someone added tap instead of distilled water?

I had to add 40 ounces of distilled water to bring the level to just under the MAX fill line. Makes sense that I was getting the warning. The tank was discolored at the same level so when I last looked it appeared OK.

I will be doing a coolant flush this weekend.
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      11-29-2018, 07:04 AM   #9
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That's pretty bad, it should go to -20F. Calcium indicates tap water.
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      11-30-2018, 09:40 AM   #10
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Hey everyone, just wanted to update on my Drivetrain Malfunction warning. Additionally the check engine light would come on as well. Sometimes when I'd simply restart the car the error messages would disappear. Took it into the dealer and they said it was a software issue. They updated the software (took about 3 hours) and now the car is operating no problems. Seems to have a little more power after the update as well. Is this typical after a software refresh?
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      11-30-2018, 02:59 PM   #11
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My guess is that your feeling of increased power is actually the remapping of the tranny shift points. It may shift a little earlier and feel peppier.

Adding 40 oz. of water was not a good idea. That resulted in dilution of the antifreeze. I'd ask the dealer to check the cooling system, including the antifreeze freezing point. There is BMW procedure for changing the antifreeze that looked pretty involved to me. You have to make sure no air pockets are created.
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      12-09-2018, 08:54 PM   #12
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Coolant changed. Very simple job. I flushed the system two times with distilled water only and then replaced with the blue BMW coolant/distilled water. I removed the expansion tank and cleaned it out.
There was just a small amount of gunky sediment in the expansion tank that was washed out with a garden hose. I did notice some chalky film on the inside of the hoses when I first drained the coolant.
After the second flush, the water just looked like water with little chalky particulate. I supposed I shouldn't say flush as that's not accurate as I drained and filled the system twice only running distilled water.
The purging process is easy. As the car ran the purge process, takes about 15 minutes, I cleaned up and put the tools away. Went for a 30-minute ride afterward -- no leaks, no messages, and the heater works like a champ!
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