X5 35d Coolant Change DIY (Short Guide)

[Mr.47]

This is a short guide to changing coolant in a F15 X5 35d (not the same for 50i or 35i), using BMW way, which i found it was more complicated that it suppose to be, I'll probally do this again in spring but in a more simplified fashion in that i'll probally do a longer guide.

Per BMW recommendations, coolant has a "Lifetime" service life, but do some research on G48 coolant (ie BMW Blue coolant) and they have a service life of 150,000 miles or 8 yrs.

But given how many components that relies on coolant (especially on 35d and 50i) its a safe practice to change your coolant at half of the recommended interval ie 75k miles or 4 yrs.

My 14 x5 35d is at 63k miles and almost 4 yrs old when i did this so its pretty close for what, I propose is due, for a coolant change.

(Disclaimer this is a non-professional guide, I'm not responsible to damage or injuries or death, perform/use at your on risk)

Things you'll Need

*At least 2 gallons of BMW blue Coolant 50/50 mix
*Air compressor (at least 5 gallon tank) for coolant vacuum tool
*1x 90* Bend PVC pipe

Special tool
Coolant vacuum tool, this tool refills coolant, using vacuum, with little to no air in cooling system system, it also check for leaks. See vid link


Video link for tool how to use

1. Remove the air intake snorkel, 4 clips holding in front


1a. There's a coolant hose attache at the rear (to air filter) check and remove


2. Remove the front fresh air intake trim cover 2 8mm bolts on each side


2a Lift up and Slide back to remove watch the clips at the front take care not to break them


3. Remove the stiffing cross bar 4x 13mm bolts, These are torque to yield bolts its recommend to replace them after removal!


3a. Watch the wires and the hood release cable that are attached on to the stiffening cross bar.



4. Remove the 2x A/C Line Mounts, the line can be pop out of its holder just use care not to break the holders,




4a. To slide them off use screwdriver to spread the pins apart


5. Remove the lower splash guard (lower cover) 12-14 8mm bolts,


6. Remove the Coolant hose that is attached to the bottom of the radiator fan, there's 2 spots (green circle) redline show's where the bypass coolant line goes



6a. Here's the radiator bypass hose attached to the radiator fan



7. Remove electrical fan plug 2 squeeze clips on each side and pull up




8. Remove the fan...Now this part is really hard to explain because there are so many things in the way, tight fit and multiple clips. But its actually very easy to unmounted (compared to other cars that I've worked on) from its bracket

*Red arrow is the bottom guide tabs nothing fancy they help slide in and holds the bottom part of the fan.
*Orange arrow is one of the upper mount it hinged so you can fold it in and clear the upper radiator hose. You must fold that in before removal of fan
*Green arrow fixed upper mount



*On each side of the radiator there's a simple mount locking clip, its easy to release just push in (on both sides) and pull up on the fan and it come off the mount

*L Driver side (arrow shows location, push in to release)


*R Passenger side (arrow shows location, push in to release)


9. Here comes the pain in the PITA part, sliding out the radiator fan. On the E70 it was very easy however with the F15 the A/C hose is in the way it obstruct the back part of the fan, the big upper hose is very stiff and the lower hose is very flexible just, trick is to slowly pull up and move the A/C hose away take care not to damage it. Also check it if pulling on a any other hose. It took me 10 mins of wresling to get it out!



10. Now that the fan is out of the way there's a small bypass hose (L driver side) that BMW says to remove in order to drain the system, and its the lowest part of the system too.



10a. Its clipped on with a small U clip use a pick tool to remove it, take care not to loose it...It will go flying when I tried to remove it.



11. Place a bucket below and have your 90* PVC hose at ready, and remove the hose and place the PVC hose on it so the coolant will not go everywhere, remove the coolant reservoir cap and have a beer or 2 because its going be a slow drain, take 20 mins to completely drain the system



11a. Tip you can use compressed air and your hand apply some air pressure in the reservoir to accelerate the draining time.

12. Once draining is done reinstall coolant bypass hose



13. Install the Coolant vacuum fill tool to the reservoir. Reservoir uses 40mm Rubber adapter

Click Here to see video on how to use tool



14. According to ISTA/D, you'll need to vacuum the system to -0.8 atm (atmosphere) and system must hold vacuum for 2 mins, must not drop below -0.7 atm After you system held vacuum with out loss Have your coolant ready and fill her up (see vid on how to use tool) my car took a total of 7.7 Liters




15. Now that the cooling system is filled reinstall everything in reverse order, Installing the fan is probally the most difficult part!

15a. The Stiffening cross bar must have new bolts due to torque to yield.

The Torque specs are followed.
Stage 1 10nm (~87 inch/pound)
Stage 2 90* Angle




16. Now go for a drive and use the access menu or an OBD II gauge to watch the coolant temperature, check coolant level for next 1-2 weeks.

[mikeson]

Thank you for very good information and detailed pictures.

[happydude]

Originally Posted by Mr.47

This is a short guide to changing coolant in a F15 X5 35d (not the same for 50i or 35i), using BMW way, which i found it was more complicated that it suppose to be, I'll probally do this again in spring but in a more simplified fashion in that i'll probally do a longer guide.

Per BMW recommendations, coolant has a "Lifetime" service life, but do some research on G48 coolant (ie BMW Blue coolant) and they have a service life of 150,000 miles or 8 yrs.

But given how many components that relies on coolant (especially on 35d and 50i) its a safe practice to change your coolant at half of the recommended interval ie 75k miles or 4 yrs.

My 14 x5 35d is at 63k miles and almost 4 yrs old when i did this so its pretty close for what, I propose is due, for a coolant change.

(Disclaimer this is a non-professional guide, I'm not responsible to damage or injuries or death, perform/use at your on risk)

Things you'll Need

*At least 2 gallons of BMW blue Coolant 50/50 mix
*Air compressor (at least 5 gallon tank) for coolant vacuum tool
*1x 90* Bend PVC pipe

Special tool
Coolant vacuum tool, this tool refills coolant, using vacuum, with little to no air in cooling system system, it also check for leaks. See vid link


Video link for tool how to use

1. Remove the air intake snorkel, 4 clips holding in front


1a. There's a coolant hose attache at the rear (to air filter) check and remove


2. Remove the front fresh air intake trim cover 2 8mm bolts on each side


2a Lift up and Slide back to remove watch the clips at the front take care not to break them


3. Remove the stiffing cross bar 4x 13mm bolts, These are torque to yield bolts its recommend to replace them after removal!


3a. Watch the wires and the hood release cable that are attached on to the stiffening cross bar.



4. Remove the 2x A/C Line Mounts, the line can be pop out of its holder just use care not to break the holders,




4a. To slide them off use screwdriver to spread the pins apart


5. Remove the lower splash guard (lower cover) 12-14 8mm bolts,


6. Remove the Coolant hose that is attached to the bottom of the radiator fan, there's 2 spots (green circle) redline show's where the bypass coolant line goes



6a. Here's the radiator bypass hose attached to the radiator fan



7. Remove electrical fan plug 2 squeeze clips on each side and pull up




8. Remove the fan...Now this part is really hard to explain because there are so many things in the way, tight fit and multiple clips. But its actually very easy to unmounted (compared to other cars that I've worked on) from its bracket

*Red arrow is the bottom guide tabs nothing fancy they help slide in and holds the bottom part of the fan.
*Orange arrow is one of the upper mount it hinged so you can fold it in and clear the upper radiator hose. You must fold that in before removal of fan
*Green arrow fixed upper mount



*On each side of the radiator there's a simple mount locking clip, its easy to release just push in (on both sides) and pull up on the fan and it come off the mount

*L Driver side (arrow shows location, push in to release)


*R Passenger side (arrow shows location, push in to release)


9. Here comes the pain in the PITA part, sliding out the radiator fan. On the E70 it was very easy however with the F15 the A/C hose is in the way it obstruct the back part of the fan, the big upper hose is very stiff and the lower hose is very flexible just, trick is to slowly pull up and move the A/C hose away take care not to damage it. Also check it if pulling on a any other hose. It took me 10 mins of wresling to get it out!



10. Now that the fan is out of the way there's a small bypass hose (L driver side) that BMW says to remove in order to drain the system, and its the lowest part of the system too.



10a. Its clipped on with a small U clip use a pick tool to remove it, take care not to loose it...It will go flying when I tried to remove it.



11. Place a bucket below and have your 90* PVC hose at ready, and remove the hose and place the PVC hose on it so the coolant will not go everywhere, remove the coolant reservoir cap and have a beer or 2 because its going be a slow drain, take 20 mins to completely drain the system



11a. Tip you can use compressed air and your hand apply some air pressure in the reservoir to accelerate the draining time.

12. Once draining is done reinstall coolant bypass hose



13. Install the Coolant vacuum fill tool to the reservoir. Reservoir uses 40mm Rubber adapter

Click Here to see video on how to use tool



14. According to ISTA/D, you'll need to vacuum the system to -0.8 atm (atmosphere) and system must hold vacuum for 2 mins, must not drop below -0.7 atm After you system held vacuum with out loss Have your coolant ready and fill her up (see vid on how to use tool) my car took a total of 7.7 Liters




15. Now that the cooling system is filled reinstall everything in reverse order, Installing the fan is probally the most difficult part!

15a. The Stiffening cross bar must have new bolts due to torque to yield.

The Torque specs are followed.
Stage 1 10nm (~87 inch/pound)
Stage 2 90* Angle




16. Now go for a drive and use the access menu or an OBD II gauge to watch the coolant temperature, check coolant level for next 1-2 weeks.

What size pvc elbow did you buy? Also were you able to come up with a simplified procedure? I was considering replacing my drive belt while the fan cowl was out as NewTIS says I need to remove the fan cowl for the drive belt job.

[ponytuning]

This is a REALLY complicated procedure compared to what I found for the 50i / N63 engine, there's only one hose to disconnect from the radiator on these cars: https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/f...eck/1VnXhWsfEx

[endo_r1]

Thanks @Mr.47 for the write up. Planning on doing this soon. 4 years, 87,000km and iDrive just told me to refill coolant so just gonna replace it.

[vetaldj]

Thank you for great DIY!

I wonder, in the first post it was something about simplified way to do it. I need to change a coolant and debating to take another part of my car off (first was intake, to replace a coolant connector that it split in the half under the intake) or let someone to do it...

[svho]

If I am doing the serpentine belt and AC belts, do I need to unhooked any coolant line and go from under like per your instructions? SUV is 2009 X5 (E70).

[Variante Alta]

Great write up OP, many thanks. My 2015 35d just got another new EGR cooler - anyone know if replacing the coolant is part of that procedure? Mine was leaking so I’ve topped up coolant for the last year on a regular basis so much of my fluid is relatively new but this is a good thing to keep up to date. I’m at 162,000 kms.

[JamesInSJ]

Originally Posted by Variante Alta

Great write up OP, many thanks. My 2015 35d just got another new EGR cooler - anyone know if replacing the coolant is part of that procedure? Mine was leaking so I’ve topped up coolant for the last year on a regular basis so much of my fluid is relatively new but this is a good thing to keep up to date. I’m at 162,000 kms.

My EGR replacement work order doesn't show a unit of coolant, so I would say "no." There is a coolant hose replacement there so there probably is some coolant lost, and they just topped it off like any other fluid they top off for free whenever services are being done (at least at my local dealer).

[johnerg]

Many thanks for the instructions!! I just did this on my 2015 xdrive35d. It took me about 3 hours but I am glad it is done.