was your heater switched to hot when you filled the cooling system? if not then air would have been trapped and you would not have been able to fill it completely. that would account for your first "empty reseviour."

i say always fill the reseviour with the heater set to hot and the front end of the car tilted up a little. that will cause bubbles to migrate towards the highest point; top of the radiator or overflow bottle. this will allow you get a better fill. and first run the car with the cap off to circulate the water.

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'O=00=O'
bmw 2002.
long live the legend