Hey all... so I'm having an issue here. I just picked up some coolant from the dealership (Product sheet No 325.5... Part # BQ 1 03 0005) and need to top off my coolant in our C250. The stuff I bought is red but the stuff in the reservoir right now is blue. When I talked to the guy in the service department he said "Definitely do not mix the two when adding, do a whole coolant flush"... however I went to ask the Parts department if they just had the blue stuff and they said it was phased out and it's okay to mix the two. Getting conflicting info from the dealership. Please help

 

I actually haven't heard of a new fluid and just bought fluid like a month ago that was still blue? Can you check with another dealer to confirm?

 

Hey Samaritrey, really appreciate you getting back to me. I live out here in AZ, I bought the stuff from the Scottsdale location and all they had was the red/pink stuff (btw, I'm assuming they come concentrated? The parts guy said it was, so I diluted it 50/50 with distilled water)... took your advice and called the Chandler location and they said they use the Amber colored stuff? So far I've talked to 3 parts guys from 2 different dealerships and they've all told me that all coolants basically use the same formula and are okay to mix as long as its OEM... talked to one service guy who told me not to :-\ I was only about an inch below the black bar so I went ahead and mixed it anyway. Do you think I'm okay or should I do a coolant flush soon... the car only has about 43000 miles on it. Thanks again for your help, I can never seem to get a straight answer from any of these guys.

 

Very strange will have to research this more when i have time as they must have just changed over in the last few weeks or my dealers are just slow at updating.
If it is the same formula just dyed a different color it should be fine maybe someone knows whats going on will inform us.

 

Awesome, thanks again for your help. From what I've been reading on this forum it seems that the blue stuff is what they use in Germany & South Africa. May be mistaken, but that was posted from Glyn M Ruck (Like yourself, he seems to be pretty active on these forums) here:

https://mbworld.org/forums/c-class-w...ml#post4984353

 

Very interesting, especially the conflicting colors at the different dealerships. If you can afford to do it, just do a coolant flush and put in all new stuff with the same color. I know with some cars like Audi's, mixing coolant can cause major issues, but I assume you're alright if the dealerships are saying you are fine. In this case, what I would do, is just do a flush and get all of the same type of coolant in.\

-Luccia

 

Glyn is god when it comes to fluids and stuff like this i asked him to help us out.
As for mixing if you only put a splash in it is probably okay but I am a cautious person and would consider a full change just to be safe but lets see what Glyn says

 

Wow, what is this red stuff you speak of?

MB in Canada has only sold 2 types of coolant for all of their modern cars. I have personally purchased both.

BQ-1-03-0002 - based on G05 formula. Colour is "straw" (I think of it as similar to a lighter beer). I bought my jug around 2012. Discontinued.
BQ-1-03-0004 - based on G48 formula. Colour is blue - looks like Powerade. The dealers in Canada only sell this one now. This is 100% compatible and mixable with the G05, both according to my dealer and to the Star magazine article I read. In other words, even if your car has the old stuff, you can pour the new stuff right in. As of March 2015, this is the only coolant MB sells for the car.

 

Benz & coolants. The 0005 is the latest version of their longlife spec. Colour seems to be market dependent. They are all fungible & miscible & can be mixed.

 

Yee gads, my car came with blue, then went to Xerex G05 after it was generally assumed to be the same stuff in the MB bottle, and thats yellow. Flushed every 50K miles.

Couple years later after I bought my car they came out with the 155K mile stuff that supposedly almost never needs to be replaced.

Red? I thought that was the universal color for the ATF so people don't get confused on which is which?

 

Good to Know thanks guys