Which is a BETTER Coolant? Amsoil or Redline?

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Ibrahim

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Friends,

I am crushed between these two products, I am unable to make my mind, just wondering if anyone has any first hand experience or any experience at all to advice me, that be much appreciated.

I am planning on doing a Coolant flush and fresh refill in my BMW 328is (w/full M pkg)

Amsoil Propylene Glycol Antifreeze and Engine Coolant
Meets Following Specs
• ASTM D6210
• ASTM D3306
• ASTM D4985-98
• ASTM D6210-98

http://www.amsoil.com/storefront/ant.aspx


Red Line SuperCool with WaterWetter®
Meets Following Specs
• ASTM D2570
• ASTM D1384

http://www.redlineoil.com/product.aspx?pid=117&pcid=10


They booth seems to meet different specs?

I like to have a coolant which would not only "last longer" but also "perform well" in notorious BMW radiators!

Please Help!
 
Given the choice between the two, I'd use the Amsoil instead of the RedLine hands down.

In my 40+ years of racing, auto-xing, and just driving Corvettes on the street with aluminum and copper radiators, I've found that WaterWetter works best with pure, distilled water in the cooling system. Adding WaterWetter to a fresh anti-freeze/water mixture is a waste of time and money IMHO. (The fresh anti-freeze already has the ingredients to perform the lauded tasks of the WaterWetter. However, there are plenty of advocates for the other side that like to spend money for peace of mind and "added" protection
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I don't know what the history the "notorious BMW radiators" brings to this conservation, but I can tell you from experience that most, if not all, of the problems I've seen fixing customer cooling systems has been neglect, e.g., not ensuring the proper fit of the radiator/recovery tank cap allowing air into the system during cool down, running the coolant's protection properties into the ground before changing it out, replacing lost coolant with tap water (especially with high mineral count well water), not inspecting/replacing coolant hoses, etc.

Given the strength of protection that the Amsoil antifreeze offers, I would go with it after replacing all the cooling system's old hoses, clamps, and inspecting the water pump and thermostat. YMMV.

Good Luck!
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I'd probably put whatever BMW specified back into it. But to answer your question, I think you're looking at two very different products. AMSOIL's is an actual antifreeze while Red Line's appears to be a premix of distilled water and WaterWetter. For a daily driver in Canada, I don't think there is even a choice: you have to run an antifreeze.

I am sure someone will chime in if I am wrong about what the Red Line product is.

robert
 
From http://www.pelicanparts.com/bmw/techarticles/E36-Coolant_Flush/E36-Coolant-Flush.htm:
Quote:
BMW has issued a 1991 technical bulletin, 17 01 88(1743), which details problems with what is known as silicate gel precipitation in engines. This is the 'green goo' (yes, it actually says that in the BMW Tech bulletin - gotta love those German translators) that results as a consequence of an antifreeze over-concentration in the coolant, combined with hard water, and the phospates commonly used in many antifreezes. BMW factory antifreeze has been formulated to prevent this problem of silicate drop-out without any coolant performance loss. This antifreeze contains no nitrites and no phosphates.

Amsoil specifies that their coolant is free of silicates and phosphates; no word on nitrites, which I understand is important for the protection of magnesium components that are exposed to coolant (the product page page doesn't say anything about compatibility with magnesium either).

Red Line makes no such specifications at all, at least on their website.

Either of those products still might be okay (although I'd bet on the Amsoil before the Red Line). Unfortunately, though, there's no way to tell from the information available.

I'd stick with the OEM stuff if I were you.
 
THANKS ALL, for the comments so far!

I was more inclined towards Amsoil's this particular anti-freeze, because of its ability to last 750K km under normal service, and it meeting more specs than Red Line, not that I know what any of those specs mean or stand for?!?

All in all I would be needing about 11 Liters of coolant, would anyone know how much does BMW stealership charges for OEM coolant?

If I go with the OEM coolant, I know it is the safest way to go forward but I would not be able to extend my coolant change interval to the duration suggested by Amsoil...and I suspect just like everything else it may cost me more to by OEM coolant....

I wonder if any has used or is using Red Line or Amsoil anti freeze in their BMW or any Euro car...

And yes, Red Line's stuff does looks like Distilled Water + WaterWetter!

At the moment I am still leaning towards Amsoil, but would have to do a cost comparison with OEM!

Thank you
 
If the specs are irrelevant to your application, it doesn't matter if the coolant meets 2 or 200. You should find out what the specs mean before you place any value in them.

On the topic of service life, here's what Amsoil's website says:
Quote:
It can be used for seven years or 250,000 miles in passenger cars, light-duty trucks, vans and recreational vehicles. It lasts seven years or 750,000 miles in over-the-road diesel trucks.

So, in cars, it "can be used for" 7 years or 250,000 miles (400,000 km), not 750,000 km.

However, keep in mind that service life depends on a lot of things, not just the coolant. Don't take a blanket statement on Amsoil's website as gospel, and certainly don't take it as a factor in your decision until you know for sure that the coolant is formulated correctly for your application.

Find the right type of coolant first. Then decide on your service intervals.
 
Oh thanks for correcting me d00df00d, and your input is greatly appreciated!

Btw you drive an M3, what coolant do you have in your car currently?

I was at the Walmart earlier today and their they had one coolant which indicated that it met the requirement of Euro cars...

anyone knows anything about it?
 
Well I wish someone else would chime in and confirm or refute what I'm saying, but I'm happy to help either way.
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I'm using BMW coolant in a 50/50 mix. I have heard that there are some aftermarket alternatives but I'm not sure; some people like G-05 but apparently it is formulated slightly differently. Wish I could be more helpful than that.
 
The Red Line is a race-day coolant that has cooling, corrosion and lubricating qualities that are better than pure water, the Amsoil is an antifreeze.

RL Super Cool is not for you.
 
About the only thing I can say is that Amsoil recommends it for this application. There are instances where there is a "no product recommended".

The ASTM numbers ..two are diesel spec's (one of the intended markets) and at first appear either redundant or in conflict. It's a low silicate fluid that needs silicates added at the initial fill for those requiring that spec AF ..the other is that it's a low silicate AF for those OEM's that require a low silicate AF.

The other two ...I thought there was some physical spec to it, but my memory's foggy at the moment. Like so much corrosion after blahblah.

I like PG coolants. I orginally thought that this was rebadged Evans, except that Evans doesn't off a product like this. Both of their products are waterless. One can tolerate residual water and the other, having no corrosion inhibitors, cannot. There's no water mix at all.
 
Definitely recommend the Amsoil of the 2. I like to see an antifreeze at least claim to meet ASTM D4340, corrosion protection of aluminum while hot, though. I believe BMW coolant is G48, silicate and 2EHA and no borates or nitites. I think the Amsoil coolant will work OK.
 
Originally Posted By: martinq
Perhaps a better answer is, why not Evans NPG+?


I have their water pump on my car, and was all set to pull the trigger on the NPG+, but I was a little wary of just how long it would last in my system with the requisite VERY low pressure cap. Hence, the cost of changing it every 2 years or so was the deal breaker. (That stuff is $$$$$$$$$$$$$!!)
 
Originally Posted By: dailydriver
I have their water pump on my car, and was all set to pull the trigger on the NPG+, but I was a little wary of just how long it would last in my system with the requisite VERY low pressure cap. Hence, the cost of changing it every 2 years or so was the deal breaker. (That stuff is $$$$$$$$$$$$$!!)


I don't think it's any more expensive than the Amsoil stuff, but you do not get to dilute it with cheap water either.

There is no deal breaker with NPG+. You clean out and dry the system then fill with coolant. Get a low pressure cap if you can and keep tabs on it (like any coolant). Then after after 5 or 10 years you can test the coolant to see how it's doing.

The no/low-pressure, no-changing and proper cooling (no boiling) is where are the savings are. Read the info on their website where this is all fairly well explained.

More performance, less money, less risk.
 
I don't know too much about this Evans coolant but I don't see how straight anti-freeze can cool well. Seems you would need and upgraded cooling system and even then you'd have combustion chamber hot spots. I'm also skeptical about the lifetime fill claim. If that were possible automakers would be all over it, but none are.
 
I can't say which is better and I don't own a BMW.

I've got an '02 Cadillac Deville. About a year or so ago I did a waterpump on the car and completely flushed the system out with clean distilled water.

I wasn't having any issues with Dexcool at all but I switched to the Amsoil coolant. It's been working very well for me. No issues at all. I wouldn't hesitate to give it a shot in your BMW if it was my car.
 
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