Engine keeps running hot

My engine on my 96 328is keeps running hot while I drive, but it cools once I kill the engine...I have no idea what can be causing this please spread some knowledge to a new BMW owner

Will


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We need a lot more info to be able to help effectively. How long have you had the car? When was the cooling system refreshed if it has been? And do you have leaks, noises (gurgling). condition of your oil, mileage on the car...etc.

It's had 157k no leaks, and I'm not really sure if the cooling system has been refreshed. I'm actually in the process of ordering a whole new cooling system and new drive belts as we speak


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But I changed the oil on it myself and it look ok nothing was in the oil or pan. And I've had it for about a month now


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So there is no milk like quality to your oil then? That's good. Fantastic on the cooling system. Bimmerworld has a terrific kit with almost everything for $300 that is upgradable. Make sure you get a water pump with a steel impeller. Turner also offers an excellent kit. Let us know if you need any advice on selecting one. More than likely its time for you system to be redone. It's the Achilles heel of the E36.


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This is my first BMW I'm just going through the process of elimination without having to kill my pocket


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Check out the stickies at the top of the forum. They're an amazing reference. We are really particular about grammar here too, meaning if grammar is bad, people tend to skip the posts. Also www.pelicanparts.com and www.bimmerdiy.com have great DIYs. You'll also want to bookmark www.realoem.com it has all the diagrams for these cars. The Bentley manual is indispensable, the link is at the top in the stickies for a free downloadable one. Good luck and welcome to the fest. Keep up posted!


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Originally Posted by Willbristol17

My engine on my 96 328is keeps running hot while I drive, but it cools once I kill the engine...I have no idea what can be causing this please spread some knowledge to a new BMW owner

Will


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These engines don't tolerate being overheated. If by running hot you mean the temperature gauge is going all the way to the right and the red overheat light is coming on, you should stop driving it until you find and fix the problem. Otherwise you risk a damaged head gasket and/or warped-cracked cylinder head.
If the temperature gauge is going to the 12 o'clock position, that's the normal running temp.

Yea my roommate complained about the same symptoms, with about as much detail. "Dude, this car runs so Focking hot."


It's an engine that burns fuel. It gets hot. If it's getting TOO hot, it's a problem. If it isn't getting hot enough, it's a problem. Be more descriptive.

I don't drive it at all I'm replacing to cooling system as we speak and if that doesn't fix the issue it's just my head gasket and I already ordered that just in case it isn't the cooling system


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You don't have to guess if it's a blown head gasket. Is the engine consuming coolant? If not then it's unlikely you have a head gasket issue that's causing your overheat. If you are consuming coolant, do a compression test to see what the compression is in each of your cylinders. If you've got a head gasket breach into a cylinder it will show as low compression and you may be seeing whitish vapor in your exhaust even after the engine and exhaust system are warmed up. You can also do a pressure test on your cooling system. You should be able to pressurize it and it should hold that pressure. If you've got a cooling circuit to oil circuit head gasket breach then you'll have chocolate milk looking oil.
So, don't just guess at what's wrong and throw parts at it. As has been said here by others in this forum "guessing gets expensive very quickly"!