Antifreeze/Coolant

[silky_green]

After reading through all the threads on antifreeze/coolant, I'm still confused about which brand of antifreeze to top my Mini Cooper if I can't get to a MINI or BMW Dealer. I called a dealer and they told me that any would do the trick and for me to ask the auto parts store for a brand. My local AutoZone didn't have anything on the MINI so the MINI service technician suggested using what's recommended for the BMW. Does anyone have any experience with this or suggestions as to which brand of off-the-shelf antifreeze would work well on the Mini? Is there an on-line store that sells Mini Antifreeze? Thanks!

[stryder]

You can get MINI parts from classic MINI through www.driveclassic.com (they sell at a discount) so that's one option for online stuff..

As far as normal store brands, there was a thread on it, let me see if I can dig it up...

[stryder]

Ok, a quick search for antifreeze brought up this thread: http://www.mini2.com/forum/maintenance-mini-care/28446-what-type-antifreeze-can-used-mini.html

Which gives several options in the extended life area, most easily Prestone Extended Life should be reasonably easy to find.

[Goonery]

Your owners manual should tell you the the right spec, I hav'nt a USA one handy here, but it should be plain enough. Any reputable parts store should stock a suitable brand

[markjenn]

I don't think there is anything special about the Mini AF - just straight ethylene glycol. It's not Dexcool or one of the environmentally-friendly ones. For a top off, you can put any reputable brand in of standard green AF in there - standard Prestone, for example, should be fine.

If you change it, then you have a consideration of whether to go with a Dexcool or another formulation, and if you did do this, you'd want to do a very complete flush, but for top off, just use std. ethylete glycol.

- Mark

[stryder]

Uhh, if you read that thread, it seems like all the info says its pretty close to Dexcool, and is environmentally friendly, lacking Nitrates and Amines, according to MINIUSA...

[markjenn]

I think this is misinformation. If Mini was using Dexcool, I'm virtually certain they'd say something to this effect in the owner's manual since Dexcool AF should never be mixed with conventional ethylene glycol AF. All the manual says is to use a "high-quality AF with corrosion resistance" - that's it.

I think the problem is that someone called Mini and got some yahoo that said Mini used Halvoline AF. This got translated to Texaco and since Texaco makes a Dexcool, it became Dexcool. The discussion of nitrates and amines is just the standard "don't use an AF with a lot of additives" nonsense.

If someone has hard info that the Mni uses Dexcool, I'll stand corrected, but it just doesn't make any sense that this would be some hidden thing that you'd have to find in an obscure thread in Mini2. And I know of no other BMW that uses Dexcool.

- Mark

[AlanB]

I just bought some official MINI Antifreeze during my trip to the dealer. It was different from the BMW Coolant! (Maybe in label only?) They said DO NOT use the pink stuff that GM directs people to use in their cars. It can coagulate in the MINI.

[markjenn]

Color these days is not much of an indicator of AF chemistry. It used to be that standard ethylene glycol was green and the new long-life Dexcool stuff was either yellow or pink, but now many of the car mfgs have started putting dyes in their AF - I think it is to sow confusion and to get people to purchase their overpriced stuff.

Could you look on the bottle of the official Mini stuff and list the ingredients?

- Mark

[AlanB]

The label doesn't have a lot on it to decipher. (I have a chemistry background, too!) Just says ( . . . very high standards and requirements set by MINI to protect the engine against freezing, boilover, corrosion and excessive silicate gel precipitation. This ethylene glycol based antifreeze contains no nitrites or phosphates . . ) Made for BMW of North America.

[markjenn]

I think the key thing in the Dexcool stuff is the addition of an something like disodium sebacate which makes it an OAT (Organic Acid Technology?) formuation - its just a different corrosion resistance package and is ethylene glycol otherwise.

This document has some good info on Dexcool:

http://www.penray.com/bulletins/dexcool.htm

Again, if the Mini stuff was truly Dexcool, I think they'd recommend Dexcool. And other BMWs use a standard EG formulation - I have heard it is Zerex G-48 and there is a pretty good data sheet off this page for this AF:

https://www.valvoline-technology.com...Zerex?ReadForm

Again, I'm virtually certain this isn't Dexcool, so I think one can safely use any good quality off-the-shelf AF (e.g., Prestone yellow jug) in their Mini.

Having said all this, I am probably going to do a complete flush and conversion to Dexcool formulation when my Mini is out of warranty - like synthetic oil, I'm a believer that, when properly flushed, Dexcool/OAT's are better antifreezes.

Cheers,

- Mark