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Sorry I didn't update on this. So it turns out my car does NOT have a coolant leak even though it would be empty a week after I filled it up repeatedly. It's been good ever since my mechanic topped it up, so I asked him what he did.
Turns out I was filling the coolant wrong.
It's important to first understand that our engines have extremely complicated coolant runs. The coolant branches off in multiple lines and radiators in multiple loops to not only cool the engine but also the turbocharger and the heat exchanger for the cabin heat. If it gets very low it's possible some of those loops are also low and have air in them.
IF you fill the coolant reservoir with the engine cold and off some of those loops will be closed and while you think you've filled the reservoir it'll just disappear into one of the loops which is low and the reservoir will be empty again.
This is what he did (he's a bmw certified mechanic) . He had the engine cold. He opened the tank, then started the engine, turned the heater on Max, then filled the expansion tank to the fill line and waited a few mins for the coolant to circulate and air to bleed from all the different coolant runs. Then he closed the cap and it's been good since.
If your tank is showing full still then you probably don't have anything to worry about, but if you let the coolant drop very low then you can't just top it off with the engine off.
Hope this helps
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