JHZR2
Staff member
wavinwayne-one back at you!
My 91 E30 BMW 318i needs a ew heater valve. The heat doesnt come up unless it is full hot, and at that point, I sometimes get a very slight scent of coolant. OK, whatever, the car is 16 years old, has 110k miles on it and rubber orings and whatnot get old.
So, I took it to a very good BMW only shop near me. Ive never been there before for service, but since Im new in the area, I have to try someone, and I got a VERY good feeling in talking to this guy.
Today he called me regarding my choice in coolants. He said that despite the fact that I requested the blue G-48 BMW coolant, that in my system, since the water pump components and other things were not plastic (plastic water pump impellers have been troublesome in some newer BMWs), that he has found that in the older models, one might as well save the $10 per gallon of coolant and run either G-05 or an 'all makes and models' coolant.
So... this is a chance to run G05, which is very similar to G48, in my car. He said that he has had nothing but success using non-BMW coolant in the older cars, and it is only the newer ones tht have more plastic parts where he has seen an incompatibility issue and would use G-48 only.
Should I do this? Zerex G-05 coolant instead of BMW G-48? Im always a proponent of factory fluids for ATF and coolant, but given my analysis of the spec sheet, everything is VERY close, except color. In fact, G-05 seems to protect better in some cases of corrosion.
Should I go for G-05 like he reccomends? Or stick with Blue???
Thanks!
JMH
My 91 E30 BMW 318i needs a ew heater valve. The heat doesnt come up unless it is full hot, and at that point, I sometimes get a very slight scent of coolant. OK, whatever, the car is 16 years old, has 110k miles on it and rubber orings and whatnot get old.
So, I took it to a very good BMW only shop near me. Ive never been there before for service, but since Im new in the area, I have to try someone, and I got a VERY good feeling in talking to this guy.
Today he called me regarding my choice in coolants. He said that despite the fact that I requested the blue G-48 BMW coolant, that in my system, since the water pump components and other things were not plastic (plastic water pump impellers have been troublesome in some newer BMWs), that he has found that in the older models, one might as well save the $10 per gallon of coolant and run either G-05 or an 'all makes and models' coolant.
So... this is a chance to run G05, which is very similar to G48, in my car. He said that he has had nothing but success using non-BMW coolant in the older cars, and it is only the newer ones tht have more plastic parts where he has seen an incompatibility issue and would use G-48 only.
Should I do this? Zerex G-05 coolant instead of BMW G-48? Im always a proponent of factory fluids for ATF and coolant, but given my analysis of the spec sheet, everything is VERY close, except color. In fact, G-05 seems to protect better in some cases of corrosion.
Should I go for G-05 like he reccomends? Or stick with Blue???
Thanks!
JMH