Dashboard Square with Liquid Flowing WARNING ?? 2003 325xi

Take some time and read through EVERY page please and save it for your records.

http://linquist.net/system/files/E462003i_0.pdf

Originally Posted by delmarco

try this

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Dashboard+Squar...BMW+2003+325xi

Haha+1

yes...your head gasket can crap out and then you might as well consider the car total because thats a big job....aka expensive.

Originally Posted by NYCsFinestE46

I just put basically 350-400$ into the tints/caliper painting being done.. my dad would kill me if I took it to his shop (he's a mechanic) and asked him to take a look. He would be pissed that within 4 days I paid that much money and now something happened to the car... so my question is, if I ignore the coolant light, could something bad happen? or is it not that big of a deal?

And lets say I do take it to him, how much, estimate, would it be to fix any coolant problems?


BTW I did a search, and found nothing useful.

If you think you're going to get killed after spending $400, then you're a dead man

You're going to need quite a bit more at 100K+, even if you do it yourself.

Originally Posted by NYCsFinestE46

I add antifreeze if the coolant level is below, correct?

No, you add coolant, which is a 50/50 mix of antifreeze and distilled water.

For the love of your car, please tell your dad the light is on. he will be more pissed when you fvck something up because you were trying to hide it and didn't know what you were doing.

Originally Posted by lcoleman

For the love of your car, please tell your dad the light is on. he will be more pissed when you fvck something up because you were trying to hide it and didn't know what you were doing.

Sad to say but I agree (not saying the OP is some teenager, etc), it's just that a lot of members on this forum are teenagers and they think they can let certain maintenance items pass them by. That is the wrong mentality with these cars, you let something slide for too long and it will be a lot worse in the long run.

alright, thanks everyone for the links, help and opinions. apprecaite it.. ill let you guys know how it ends up.

Frankly, I am shocked. Tints and caliper paint are usually the first things to fail on these cars.

+1 to the adding coolant. I had that light come on, 6 months ago. Topped it off and haven't had another issue.

Originally Posted by TX78666

Frankly, I am shocked. Tints and caliper paint are usually the first things to fail on these cars.

Oh man, yer killing me! That's great.

Originally Posted by TX78666

+1 to the adding coolant. I had that light come on, 6 months ago. Topped it off and haven't had another issue.

Yep. No need to over blow this whole thing. Topping off the coolant might take care of everything and then the OP can step back and prioritize things that may need to be done to his car.

Sheesh, sometimes people seem to just have to go overboard.

Serious question, OP. How old are you? We need to know so we can better explain things about these cars to you. I've learned a great deal about the E46 in the year I've owned it, but even since I was 12, I knew what a "low coolant" light was.

Originally Posted by SPDSKTR

Serious question, OP. How old are you? We need to know so we can better explain things about these cars to you. I've learned a great deal about the E46 in the year I've owned it, but even since I was 12, I knew what a "low coolant" light was.

i'm a college student.

To the OP, I feel your concern.....we've all been there and had news we did not want to share. At the end of the day he is your dad and will get over it.

My advice, DON'T keep driving and DON'T ignore the light. The engine in your car has an aluminum block and head. Even a little bit overheated will warp the two and make your engine one very expensive boat anchor.

I'd rather tell my dad I need help on a ~$300 issue (coolant leak) than a ~$4000 issue (new motor due to ignoring this issue)

Old cars use to run for a while when there were problems. New cars, not so much. They are very sensitive.

Is this real......
Low coolant light... hmmmmmmm... ADD COOLANT.
novel concept.

Add a 50/50 mix of bmw coolant ($20) and distilled water until the float is at its proper level, cold.
The fill cap is in the front of the engine bay by the grille.

After this just keep an eye on your cooling system and if your car ever goes into the red pull over immediately
Also, keep an eye on the level as there could be a leak which may have led to this in the first place.

Originally Posted by golf_234

Is this real......
Low coolant light... hmmmmmmm... ADD COOLANT.
novel concept.

Add a 50/50 mix of bmw coolant ($20) and distilled water until the float is at its proper level, cold.
The fill cap is in the front of the engine bay by the grille.

After this just keep an eye on your cooling system and if your car ever goes into the red pull over immediately
Also, keep an eye on the level as there could be a leak which may have led to this in the first place.

^^^^^ This.

The sky is NOT falling.

Originally Posted by Solidjake

That is the wrong mentality with these cars, you let something slide for too long and it will be a lot worse in the long run.

Correct. Contrary to my better knowledge, I ignored my OFHG far too long, and got to a point where I couldn't drive the car for more than 50mi without needing to add oil. And an equivalent of BP oil spill part 2 in my driveway.

At least the pressure washer will get some exercise....

Originally Posted by NYCsFinestE46

i'm a college student.

I don't even...

But seriously... order the coolant system overhaul kit from Tischer (http://www.trademotion.com/partlocat...catalogid=4462) so you can have everything fixed at once. You only need the transmission thermostat if you have an automatic. If you drive a manual, don't worry about it.

Thanks everyone, I went to BMW Service today and they topped up the Coolant for me, free of charge.
They told me if I want to bring it in tomorrow for a fee of $140 they will check if theirs any leaks, thermo problems, etc.

I'm just going to bring it to my dads shop and ask him to have a look at the coolant, if theirs any leaks or if it was just low on antifreeze.

Thank you everyone, btw when I left the BMW Service center the car started to run better after they filled the car with coolant, it was a smoother ride and the rpm increase felt right with my force on the pedal (not that i pressed hard or anything)

Originally Posted by NYCsFinestE46

Thanks everyone, I went to BMW Service today and they topped up the Coolant for me, free of charge.
They told me if I want to bring it in tomorrow for a fee of $140 they will check if theirs any leaks, thermo problems, etc.

I'm just going to bring it to my dads shop and ask him to have a look at the coolant, if theirs any leaks or if it was just low on antifreeze.

Thank you everyone, btw when I left the BMW Service center the car started to run better after they filled the car with coolant, it was a smoother ride and the rpm increase felt right with my force on the pedal (not that i pressed hard or anything)

I've been saying what your Dad has evidently said to you a lot here. Since you went to BMW and not your Dad, I think you were trying to avoid facing him to tell him something is wrong with your car.

No one has said that the cost of overlooking this system has been a new engine for a number here...head gasket only for others. It's expensive.

All we know is you had low coolant. It might be natural seeping because you haven't looked at the coolant level, though if you've only had it four days and it's low now, I'm sure you or your Dad checked the coolant level when you bought it, right?

You need to monitor the level closely in the a.m. when it's cold and on level ground. You need to look for leaks; some are fine to live with, others not at all.

You could be fine; you could be an accident waiting to happen. See your Dad tomorrow; don't drive unless you absolutely have to until you know what's going on. BMW may have 'fixed' it by adding coolant, but maybe it didn't.

Spend the night searching thread titles with 'cooling' in them...read DIYs, so you can impress your Dad with what you've learned. Don't stop reading until you don't have a clue!

See Bimmersgarage's diy vids...if you're in college, you're old enough for them. He has an odd way of using naked women to illustrate common cooling system issues. Quite the show!

Originally Posted by dmax

I've been saying what your Dad has evidently said to you a lot here. Since you went to BMW and not your Dad, I think you were trying to avoid facing him to tell him something is wrong with your car.

No one has said that the cost of overlooking this system has been a new engine for a number here...head gasket only for others. It's expensive.

All we know is you had low coolant. It might be natural seeping because you haven't looked at the coolant level, though if you've only had it four days and it's low now, I'm sure you or your Dad checked the coolant level when you bought it, right?

You need to monitor the level closely in the a.m. when it's cold and on level ground. You need to look for leaks; some are fine to live with, others not at all.

You could be fine; you could be an accident waiting to happen. See your Dad tomorrow; don't drive unless you absolutely have to until you know what's going on. BMW may have 'fixed' it by adding coolant, but maybe it didn't.

Spend the night searching thread titles with 'cooling' in them...read DIYs, so you can impress your Dad with what you've learned. Don't stop reading until you don't have a clue!

See Bimmersgarage's diy vids...if you're in college, you're old enough for them. He has an odd way of using naked women to illustrate common cooling system issues. Quite the show!

Thank you ! =) good advice and will do

...and I'm serious about the driving. Although you could be fine doing that, you could be very unfine. It's not worth the risk. Pay attention to the temp gauge...

If it ever does begin to overheat, pull over, turn key to pos 2, heater on highest temp, fan on max speed, three red dots...to help pull some of the heat out of the engine...the heater core is a second radiator...it'll help a little bit to mitigate any damage that might otherwise be caused from overheating.

You're far safer thinking it's more risky to drive than thinking it's fine because some here have said it's fine. I don't know that we know enough to guess; thus, if you're going to err, do so on the side of caution--which side doesn't have a $1000+ repair ticket!