[IceFrog]

Hello everyone. So I live in the midwest where it's been cold as hell this year so far, and the last time I drove my car, about a week ago maybe, a message appeared that said I need to add coolant. What coolant is the right one for my vehicle? 2017 340i xDrive with m sport package. I am also approaching 10k miles since I purchased it, and will be changing my oil soon. What is the recommended oil that I should use? I've heard the BMW long life or something like that is one people use, but I wanted to check here before I went ahead with anything. Thanks for the help.

[Billfitz]

Use standard coolant, there's nothing special about what BMW uses. As for oil, do a search, if you've got a few days to spare wading through it all. Or just use what your manual recommends. It's not about the brand, it's about the rating. For mine it's API SM or better.

[auburnf30x]

Coolant is easy to find, BMW spec is the blue stuff so that's what I use. It's entirely possible you could use other types like Bill said, but they all cost the same anyway.

Oil, yeah, I wouldn't recommend going down that rabbit hole. We all have our particular preferences that we believe are better than everyone else's.

I will make this general recommendation though: If you are going to stick to BMW's 10,000 mile change interval, I would personally recommend using only the exact oil BMW specifies. Typically it can only be bought at a dealer or online, and is fairly pricy. Reason for that is most of us believe that the 10k interval is too long. It certainly is for most off the shelf oils. I personally run 5k intervals, but oil analysis from Blackstone shows I could run it a bit longer.

My personal choices are Pennzoil Platinum Euro 5W-30 (or 0W-30, can't remember exactly) in the wintertime and Castrol Edge Euro 5W-40 in the summer. It isn't necessary to stick with the factory 0W-20 oil weight as that's mostly for better fuel economy numbers. But it won't do any harm, either. I use Mann oil filters.

Best bet is to probably just do some searching on the forum and see what sounds best for you. I'd recommend doing an oil analysis with Blackstone for the first couple of changes and then every other one after that to keep an eye on how things are doing.

[ImBlue]

F30, F31, F32, F33 with production until 31.12.2018 used G48 coolant so that is very likely what is in your 2017.

BMWs with after that date use HT12 coolant which is easier to recycle.

Coolant color is not usually a good gauge of the type of coolant in a car but since your car should still have the factory fill then it is a good indicator. Blue coolant is G48. Magenta/Green coolant is HT12.

According to BMW's service bulletin cars filled with G48 at the factory can be topped up with HT-12, but cars filled HT-12 should not be topped up with G48. My personal suggestion to top up the coolant with the type already in your car with a 50% diluted concentration.

[capt_slow]

I bought a bottle of this stuff from my local auto parts store. It's on BMW's list of approved fluids and pre-diluted 50/50. Save yourself the headache and don't get the concentrated stuff. Ideally you should be diluting the concentrated G48 with DI water, but it's a bitch to find.

https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/c...50?q=G48&pos=1

[jsouth]

Originally Posted by capt_slow

I bought a bottle of this stuff from my local auto parts store. It's on BMW's list of approved fluids and pre-diluted 50/50. Save yourself the headache and don't get the concentrated stuff. Ideally you should be diluting the concentrated G48 with DI water, but it's a bitch to find.

https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/c...50?q=G48&pos=1

My local O'Reilly got the concentrated G48 a few hours after I called about it. Distilled water is available cheaply ($1.50 US or so) at your local grocer.

I use a half gallon or gallon pitcher. Pour a half gallon of the water into the pitcher, then fill the rest of the distilled water container with concentrate. Pour the water from the pitcher into your concentrate bottle. Boom - two gallons of 50/50. I label both bottles "50/50" with a Sharpie so I don't forget later. It's easy with a funnel and the antifreeze never touches your pitcher.

[capt_slow]

Originally Posted by jsouth

My local O'Reilly got the concentrated G48 a few hours after I called about it. Distilled water is available cheaply ($1.50 US or so) at your local grocer.

I was referring to deionized (DI) water. At least in my area, it's very hard to find.

[jsouth]

Originally Posted by IceFrog

Hello everyone. So I live in the midwest where it's been cold as hell this year so far, and the last time I drove my car, about a week ago maybe, a message appeared that said I need to add coolant. What coolant is the right one for my vehicle? 2017 340i xDrive with m sport package. I am also approaching 10k miles since I purchased it, and will be changing my oil soon. What is the recommended oil that I should use? I've heard the BMW long life or something like that is one people use, but I wanted to check here before I went ahead with anything. Thanks for the help.

If your coolant reservoir is at a normal level, and you are getting that message, then your coolant level sensor has failed. That's a common failure point on the F30. Unfortunately, the sensor is built in to the expansion tank (reservoir). It's only about a 45 minute job (really simple), and there is a youtube video.

The expansion tank with new cap can be had on eBay for about $55, or at online parts places for $75, or dealer for $150. You'll need almost a gallon of coolant to replace what you lose in the removal and replacement of the expansion tank.

I did mine earlier this month, after getting the coolant level low message for a couple of years at cold temps. Now I don't get the message no matter the temp.

[jsouth]

Originally Posted by capt_slow

I was referring to deionized (DI) water. At least in my area, it's very hard to find.

My bad. I have always used distilled and most sources say it is just as good as deionized. 50/50 with distilled is certainly a far cry better than the old coolant mix.