Antifreeze type?

[jmec]

There's a number of antifreeze options available. What type is best for a 325i. Thanks in advance.

[biffer]

I run modern pink stuff (5-year) in mine with no problems.
I made sure i flushed all the old blue 3-year stuff out properly first.

[boiliebasher]

Agreed. I personally don't think it would make much odds which one you use, just as long as you don't mix them up.

[reggid]

just buy the BMW stuff

[AuroraMagic]

The BMW E30 Bentley's manual recommends (in summary) :
Use only BMW approved phosphate-free anti-freeze .
Usign phosphates can harm the cooling system (and may void arranty).

[30316]

I would personally steer clear of OAT antifreeze and stick with the blue stuff. I did use the pink stuff some 12 years ago but the next 5 years that it stayed there I could smell inside the car when the heater was used a slight whiff of antifreeze. When I went back to blue stuff the smell disappeared!

A couple of years later I suffered water mixing into oil and turned out to be head gasket. The head was found to be ok during pressure testing. I have an M10 engine which generally should not have head gasket issue.

Last month I had a cam belt changed on an E36 with m40 at a BMW dealer and the dealer used the blue stuff for antifreeze. So I would go by what BMW use to avoid possible future issues.

[tha881]

I used Fuchs Fricofin Esk, its phosphate free and the correct blue which bmw recommends

[mickes]

Yes I definitely agree with not using oat and sticking with the blue. I used the oat in my E36 compact and couldn't make out why I kept getting a leak from the seal on the elbow at the back of the cylinder head,turns out that it is not kind to certain types of seals which I found out after searching the internet. I always use triple qx blue for both my E30 & E36. Don't have any more problems.