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Every dealer I ask tells me lifetime on coolant. Once I get to 4 years I will try to do it.
It cant be rocket science. Drop hoses drain everywhere you can, fill warm up and burp using the hoses.
We did it on the LT and yes sometimes we would trap some air but it would come out burping it. No different then a car to do IMHO.
I see no need for any vacuum or pressure devices other then to run you into the dealer to lighten your wallet.
I just checked mine and it was all but 4 oz down. It was at the min line and I filled it to the max line.
I bought a gallon at a BMW car dealer. I mix 50-50 distilled and anti freeze. I mixed 4 and 4 so saved the 4 oz mix in a water bottle to have it.
Again they say lifetime but I am always suspicious of "lifetime" stuff.
I'm going to drain the system conventionally and refill with the vacuum (Mityvac).
I'm going to drain the system conventionally and refill with the vacuum (Mityvac). Also described this way in my BMW service cd.
One big reason to make my own... the "regular type of vacuum fillers won't fit (or easily fit) on the radiator neck without taking off the body work. The one I'm making will easily fit by only removing the radiator access cover.
The BMW instructions recommend a -.8 bar vacuum. The Mityvac easily meets this requirement.
Sorry I didn't get back to the forum sooner but I was in the garage - changed the oil and coolant, flushed the brake fluid F & R, and dropped the final drive. I should get the moly powder (cost 9 bucks) tomorrow to make my moly paste to coat the splines and will change rear gear lube.
The vacuum refiller I made worked like a charm. I'll take a pic of it (it's not pretty! LOL) but it's too late for a video. Sorry.
I used my hand pump Mityvac, a soft rubber stopper #6 size, a few hoses, and an old CO2 kegerator distribution manifold I had from when I was a homebrewer. Just stuff I had laying around. I was able to refill without removing anybody work other than the access door.
The BMW cd manual calls for minimum -.8 bar (-24 inHg) vacuum. The hand pump pulled about -28 to -29 inHG. Before opening the coolant line to fill, I let the apparatus sit for about 15 minutes to see if it held vacuum. No problem.
I'ts surprising to see how little fluid actually drains out from the rads and head. There is only about 1.5 l of coolant in the entire circuit according to the manual.
So barely a "wethead".
1. Drain the cooling system as described in the service manual.
2. Close the left valve. ...
A step by step description of your process would be most helpful to folks on this forum. Thanks in advance!