Where'd the coolant go?

[1jrowner]

Hey guys,

I have a 2003 330 with 21k miles on it. Went to start it to leave work the other day and the radiator light came on. I popped the hood and realized BMW doesn't have a coolant reservior that you can visual inspect. I didn't want to pop open the radiator so I drove it home and watched the temp. It never got hot. Today I checked the radiator by opening the cap and looking inside. Looked pretty dry. It's under warranty but I haven't gotten an apptment yet. There's no coolant puddles where it parks so I'm wondering where the coolant went. Engine is young and in good shape so it seems odd to have this problem. This happen to anyone before? Thoughts?

 

[Zchild]

I had a simular issue with my 2000 BMW. A year after the purchase of my bimmer I came out one morning to find my coolant light was illuminated. I checked under the hood and my coolant level was over a gallon low. I was still under warranty but I opted to pick up some Prestone II and topped it off. I've never had any trouble since then. I now have 176,000 and counting. I did think it strange at the time that a brand new car would need coolant so soon, but I checked for leaks, it was the end of an extremely hot summer so I chocked it up to my air conditioning being used daily with lots of city stop and go driving. Just my two and a half cents worth...
Happy Motoring[driving2]

 

[sly]

The first thing to rule out is a leak. Take it to your Dealer and let them check it out. They'll inject a dye into your coolant and see if they can spot a leak.

 

[330i and like it]

I had the same thing happen on a 2001 with 55K (just out of warranty), I beleive it was a temp control switch that had gone bad.

 

[1jrowner]

Went to the dealership

I went to the dealership and they didn't find a leak. They topped it off with coolant so I'll see what happens going forward. I'm glad I didn't have the leak but it just seamed odd to burn up that coolant. I haven't had that issue with my other cars.

 

[codex57]

Had the same thing happen to my car. When it was pretty new too. Dealer topped it off and problem hasn't been back yet. Dunno where the coolant went. I didn't have any visible leaks either.

 

[CrissXL]

Same problem here (bmw 320d 2002).. i have a big coolant leak.. but dunno where is gone...just diseapear ,after 500 km, i lost 500 ml of coolant.I make any presure test, on cold and warm engine... nothing.No visible leak.Engine never overheating .Many people said is posible to have a crack in a gasket or head-gasket... but oil is clean, antifreeze is clean too.No smoke.. nothing... any ideea?, does somebody repair the "problem" ?