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Originally Posted by BillionPa
Do you think that might have something to do with the fact that it's readily available on the open market for half of what they charge for the G48? Do you really believe that little bit of nitrate is going to kill your engine. Did these cars come with G-48 from new? Did it even exist back then? I know my 535i has never used it & it's still running great with no cooling system problems.
aha!
there's the rub!
somebody pinpointed the difference. if they made it nitrate free, that's as big a difference to me as the g05 having phosphates as pH controls (which it doesn't, of course). those pH differences are BIG stuff, only through good engineering are they able to keep the pH's that close on the g48 without the use of the common buffers like PO4s or NO3s. i have prestone all-makes in there right now, but once i reattach the heater core to my coolant system and replace all of my hoses, maybe take the rad out and reverse flush- i'll try to go blue again. the fords in my fleet that spring leaks will still get g-05, its still better than green. curious thing about g-05. around 1999/1998 or so, when our taurus was made, the antifreeze in it was an orange color, but was not dexcool--the dealership told us this, and not to put dexcool in it. the instruction manual said not to use green coolant in our car, and that you should only use gold or orange colored coolant, whatever color the car was equipped with. come to find out later that the orange was the first attempt at g-05--after the dealership replaced a transmission under warranty and flushed the car with green coolant :(
original poster: if you can't find bmw coolant at a price you are willing to pay, and you only need a partial refill, just get some prestone all-makes antifreeze (IIRC, bill was the first one to suggest doing this) and use it until your next flush, then use das blau if you want. don't bother mixing the g-05, too much work for too little, since you'd have to go out of your way anyways.
thanks for all the help guys - this forum is great. I managed to locate a dealer in the city who sold g48 for 25 canadian a gallon - which is a bearable price for me, roughly what I would pay to order from bavauto. It was difficult to find, but I am glad I have that source now.
Side note - while I was there the parts guy and I were talking, and he ended up telling me that they don't even use distilled water in their service department for mixing with the coolant!
the dealership here in my town charges $24.98 plus tax USD, so you are getting a deal if you are getting it for $25 canadian.
I'm pretty happy - it's way better than the $40 I was quoted elsewhere!
What about flushing the whole system for Evans NPG+ coolant?
http://www.evanscooling.com/main25.htm