I need to top off my anti freeze in my Mini. Can I use a Prestone or Xerox brand in my vehicle or should I use strickly BMW/Mini brand anti freeze?

 

You should probaby stick with BMW/Mini, dont want to mix wrong coolant.

 

The manual states you should use extended life non phospate non silica formulation. Ive not seen any thing to suggest that there is otherwise any thing special about MINI brand. To double check you could e mail ask mini. It would be of great help to know this just in case one of us springs a leak hundreds of miiles form the nearest mini dealer.

Peak and Havoline have extended life coolant, The colors of the coolants dont match the MINI blue. But then again the MINI blue soon turns brown for many of us

 

I think I read somewhere the Havoline and BMW are the same???

 

I just paid $20 for a gallon of BMW antifreeze opened it up and the inner seal showed that it is made by Zerex. I checked with the Zerox homepage (it's a Valvoline company) and they even mentioned that they make antifreeze for BMW.

 

>>The manual states you should use extended life non phospate non silica formulation. Ive not seen any thing to suggest that there is otherwise any thing special about MINI brand. To double check you could e mail ask mini. It would be of great help to know this just in case one of us springs a leak hundreds of miiles form the nearest mini dealer.
>>
>>Peak and Havoline have extended life coolant, The colors of the coolants dont match the MINI blue. But then again the MINI blue soon turns brown for many of us

Check out this Zerex brand which contains no phospate and no silica.

http://www.valvoline.com/pages/produ...asp?product=11

 

Ive done more research and written to ask mini


the requirements are non amino non nitrate extended life coolant


MINI states any brand which meet this criteria is ok


the two i have found so far that meet this are

ZEREX EXTREME LIFE ANTIFREEZE ( NOT ZEREX EXTENDED LIFE;NOT ZEREX MAX LIFE)

HAVOLINE EXTENDED LIFE

 

>>Ive done more research and written to ask mini
>>
>>
>>the requirements are non amino non nitrate extended life coolant
>>
>>
>>MINI states any brand which meet this criteria is ok
>>
>>
>>the two i have found so far that meet this are
>>
>>ZEREX EXTREME LIFE ANTIFREEZE ( NOT ZEREX EXTENDED LIFE;NOT ZEREX MAX LIFE)
>>
>>HAVOLINE EXTENDED LIFE

Regular Prestone not good ? I just topped off with some light green fluid from Prestone that I have had for about a year........oops ? Please advise if you know it is harmful or not........thanks........I could not see any reference to non amino or non nitrate on the bottle when I checked.........do you know what harm it would bring if it is not the right type......I added about a half a quart......Thanks to any responses on this......

 

Ive been looking into this for some time but don't have absolute answers.

Most of what I read states that mixing these kinds of antifreeze, while not recommended, is not harmful to the system but may reduce the anticorrosion properties of the mixture.

European and Japanese manufactures believe that with prolonged use, under certain cicumstances, silica and phosphates (which may be present in most US conventional antifreeze including conventional prestone) may be harmful. But USA manufactures apparently do not agree and feel that the anti corrosion properties of these substances are important.


I really dont think from what I've read you have done any harm.

I think if you wish to follow manufactures recommendation exactly, the two products I've listed above are the only one that I've found so far that meet it.

 

Ive done more research (FAR TOO MUCH TIME ON MY HANDS)

AND

1 Chevrons DEX_COOL also meeets MINI specs

2. There are at least some harmful antifreeze brand
interactions

from penray technologies http://www.penray.com web site

IN NO CASE SHOULD ORGANIC ACID OR AMINE COOLANTS BE MIXED WITH AMERICAN NITRITED ANTIFREEZES OR SCAs. ENGINE DAMAGE AND/OR CARCINOGENIC CHEMICAL FORMATION MAY RESULT.


andrew- I dont know enough about the composition of
MINI antifreeze and Prestone product to know for sure if there could be a compatibility issue, although I doubt it. You could try checking with Prestone. Ill keep trying to get more info.

 

>> I need to top off my anti freeze in my Mini. Can I use a Prestone or Xerox brand in my vehicle or should I use strickly BMW/Mini brand anti freeze?

Yes, definitely use Xerox for a good copy of any brand of antifreeze.

 

I know for a fact that BMW/Mini uses a Xerox brand of antifreeze because when I opened my gallon of dealer bought BMW/Mini brand antifreeze the little round safety seal said "Zerox" on it.

 

problem is that zerex makes at least 7 different type of antifreeze in the us and more worldwide.

the only zerex brand i think is compatible is Extreme Life


I am also not sure that all BMW coolant is MINI compatible. Some dealers have told me this, but thev've also told me a lot of things which turned out not to be true.I haven't seen it in writting.

 

My dealer told me that BMW antifreeze is used in all Minis. I kept the bill of sale just in case.