Hi from UK.


You people on NAM have always been the 'first to get there' with MINI enhancements (eg thermostat fix/oil solenoid wicking etc) and with respect to that has anyone done an F56 MCS coolant flush? (I've always been a fan of d-i-y with my R56 MCS, look to NAM first and recognise that no motor fluids are 'for life'...)


We're getting to the Gen3 time when someone MUST have done a total coolant flush without recourse to expensive vacuum methods/kit? I understand that the thermostat is within a bottom radiator hose and there isn't a bleed screw ?


I'm about to join the F56 MCS ranks and I'm concerned... Perhaps the new engine is self-venting and you can only change the rad/exp tank fluid a number of times in front of the 'stat - thus hoping to eventually dilute/replace the old fluid trapped behind it?


Thanks in anticipation of any reply

 

Would not consider doing a flush myself. To difficult to capture and recycle the old coolant.

I know I didn't address your question, sorry.

 

Here some info on the cooling system for the F56+

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...diag-help.html

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...eze-level.html

The older TIS link does not work.

 

Hello All,

looks like the only video for replacing the coolant on F series, is this one


But do you really need to remove the fan to drain the coolant.

Does anyone have the the step by step procedure?

Thanks

 

I just went through most of the procedure in that video as part of replacing my oil filter housing, which failed and developed a coolant leak. It pretty effectively matches the BMW-specified procedure.

If you don't remove the fan, getting to the quick connect for the radiator hose at the LF of the vehicle is probably impossible. Even with the fan out it was doable in straightforward fashion, but not exactly fun reconnecting the hose without feeling like I was forcing things.

That said, getting the fan out is not hard at all. You have to lever a couple of clips as shown in the vid (2:56 time mark) and then you lift the fan shroud vertically. The biggest thing in your way is going to be the upper radiator hose, which you can push out of the way but is an incremental process when trying to use both hands to lift the fan shroud out.

2 big things:

(1) the fan shroud is NOT heavy, and putting it back isn't difficult either. Just be slow and methodical, if you rush you might ding the radiator fins during reinstall, but you get the idea.

(2) even with all this step by step, there is still plenty of coolant left behind in the engine block and the oil filter housing/oil cooler. Even in the factory instructions for coolant draining, I haven't seen anything on how to get all that out of there -- no reference to a lower engine block plug, for example.

FWIW, a well-regarded shop near me (independent, founded by someone with 10 years BMW service experience prior to opening their own shop) just today told me that the whole flush-out thing has largely gone by the wayside (in favor of "lifetime" cough cough coolant, and top-ups, and "drain"+refill). My feelings are mixed on all that, but it certainly would explain why I can't find a get-all-the-coolant-out-for-real procedure either.

Hope this info is useful, at least.

 

Thanks a lot for your reply, and very useful.

so an option to the Flush-Out could be, that i repeat the procedure 2/3 times in short time? basically like the ATF "refreshing", has you can drain only 3qts of ATF Fluid.

Does make sense what I say?

 

I get what you're saying. In theory it could work. With anything less than 3 times I'm not sure how good it would be at getting contaminants out of the system, but the concept is nevertheless sound. It would at least serve to get "most" old coolant out.

Some caveats:

- Because there is no coolant drain at the bottom of the engine, you'd have to drain what you can, refill, drain again.

- Refilling without a vacuum device (what BMW instructs to do) requires multiple bleeding cycles. You have to refill to the max, then bleed, then you'll come back and find that coolant is below the minimum, and then you'll have to repeat.

- For the Cooper S there are 2 separate bleeding procedures and BOTH have to be executed -- the second is specifically for the auxiliary coolant pump. So you would have to do *both* of them multiple times. In my case it took 4 separate fill-bleed cycles to get the coolant to proper level.

- One bleeding procedure requires running the engine, and the other requires having the car on but engine off and doing some other stuff. You can't (or at least shouldn't) do either with the engine bay partially assembled -- so to do these 3+ drain cycles you're looking at doing [disassemble - drain - reassemble - bleed/fill 3-4x] each time.

- Because of the engine-running procedure in particular, you have to wait for the car to cool down before you can recheck the coolant level / determine the coolant level.

In short, the alternative to an actual flush is a bit of a time project. Maybe it's worth finding a shop that will do an actual flush anyway.

 

I did last week-end and 3 Liters / quarters have been drained. Refilled and and looks all ok.

In next oil change maybe, I will drain again and "Re-Fresh" other 3 liters. Car is 57.000mls

Thanks for your suggestions and procedures.