I recently purchased a 1997 BMW & have been stranded on roadside EVERYDAY due to it Overheating... Mechanic has done a lot of work but it STILL OVERHEATS ... No matter what!!! Has ANYONE EXPERIENCED THIS PROBLEM ? And if so .... Do you have ANY SIGGESTIONS??! I LOVE THIS CAR AND DON'T WANNA "Throw the towel" in yet.... But being Stranded with a 6 yr old in this Blazing Heat is getting OLD!!! Please help!!!! Thank You!!

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Tom answered 9 months ago

BMW's do have cooling issues if not taken care of. It is always suggested if there is a leak in a BMW and or the car overheats, is to replace the whole cooling system and not just pieces as the other parts are close to failure. So parts like the hoses, coolant, thermostat, and cooling resevior all at the same time. I suspect your mechanic only replaced one part and others are failing. I'd try a dedicated local BMW shop to correct your issue. You will get over the hump, so be paitient.

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Robert answered 9 months ago

Tom is pointing you in the right direction there. You obviously having issues with the cooling system not just the drive belts. On e36 cooling system problems were quite common and as tom said you need to do the whole cooling system not just pick at it. The common issues are the water pump impellars are made of plastic and will break off causing no coolant flow and the vehicle will overheat. Other are the thermostat being stuck closed (replace plastic thermostat housing with metal one to prevent future break downs when doing thermostat), radiator blocked, fan clutch leaked out all its fluid, electric front fan seized and worst of all head gasket. Of course if the coolant system is leaking then you will need to repair the leak, all I have mentioned above would not leak coolant. Also if you have had cooling system work done make sure the mechanic bleed the system right, air bubbles can cause the vehicle to overheat as well. Hope this helps and dont lose hope it can be fixed.

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DEANK413 answered 9 months ago

My '97 528i had 153000 miles when I replaced thermostat and flushed system. That did take care of the overheating but the beginning of a head gasket became apparent. If more developed that could cause overheating! I got rid of my car. Dean

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Js08016 answered 9 months ago

My nephew had a '98 328i. The small hose that goes to the radiator from the plastic surge tank was not secured properly causing it to rub on the a/c compressor pulley. And yes, there is a special procedure for re-filling a BMWs cooling system. Be sure to take it to a shop that specializes in imports!!

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Desmond answered 9 months ago

How long can you drive before it overheats? My 92 325i was overheating a year a go and it was caused by the impeller shattering in the water pump. It would overheat within 2km of driving.