Heating and temp problem....BMW 316i.

sar050680

Hello and good evening all, just bought a '97 BMW 316i Compact, and I have a question for anyone who knows a thing or two about cars.

To get to the point, my heater warms only to lukewarm after about 10-15 mins of running and then goes cold again, and the temp gauge goes straight to half way and after 10-15 mins goes to about 3/4 of the way up. The seller told me they over filled the coolant, I wonder if this is the problem??? Or maybe the thermostat?

Can anyone offer any advice? I would be forever grateful.

TIA Paul.

Paradigm

Sounds like an air lock in the cooling system?

tomstickland

They have a bleed screw on top of the radiator.

sar050680

Thanks guys, gonna get the Haynes manual today and have a look for the problem, cheers.

matty538

Sounds like an airlock or a thermostat sticking open to me, the needle on BMWs is weighted so it takes a significant temp increase to move it off center

sar050680

Thanks for your help guys, I am thinking of changing the thermostat, but am wondering about the air lock too.

Oh the joys of motoring eh....

Thanks again, Paul.