rcn

Ok, I need some experts here... A couple weeks ago I had a long drive ahead of me and so I checked some of my fluids, one being the coolant. It was under the 'min' line and so I had a knee-jerk reaction and added some Valvoline Zerex. 12 oz to be exact. I then took my car in about a week later for it's 30k service.

Last night I was reading around and I started reading stuff about only using G12 coolant. Here is a good summation if any of you aren't familiar with what I'm talking about:
<a href="http://www.eskimo.com/~dalus/bmw/all/misc/all_antifreeze_info.html">clicky</a>
Now here's the issue: the bottle of Zerex (not extreme) says "antifreeze coolant for all metals, including aluminum." I understand that regular coolants with phosphates will corrode VW/Audi engines, because "Phosphates corrode aluminum (all VW heads) through an electrochemical
reaction with the cast iron block" (from that link).

Here are my questions:
1. Did the 30,000 service do a flush? In this case, I don't have to worry, because the service was after I added. The fluid looks very pink now, but in the service summary, it just says "topped all fluids" in one of the sections.
2. Does anyone know about the Zerex product? In the ingredients, it lists "Dipotassium PHOSPHATE" but also "Corrosion Inhibitors."
3. If I have to flush, where should I go? I'm in Santa Monica if anyone can give specifics.

Thanks for the help! MORAL for all of us: don't do things like this until you read the manual/use <a href="http://search.audiworld.com/">this</a>.

ThirdEye

If you are really worried it isn't hard to flush the coolant, email me if you have any q's

Raoul

I doubt the dealer ever changes your coolant during 'free' service period.