Problem with thermostat maybe ?

[e36TiMMo!]

Hiya folks, i'm new to the Bmw e36 forum and i have recently baught an incredibly clean 1998 R reg E36 316i and i am having trouble with keeping the vehical at running tempreture, if i dont constantly have the heating on it will slowely begin to over heat, thats fine wilst winter is here but during the summer months, who wants to have the heating permantly on eh!

Hoping anyone would be able to help me with solutions as to how to fix this, as i have fallen in love with driving this car.

Cheers in advance.

Respectivly E36TiMMo!

[96_323]

Has any of the cooling system been replaced?
They are very fickle on e36s as BMW used plastic parts where they should of used something a bit better known for heat tolerance like metal!!
If your cruising along the motorway with the heating off does it still overheat?
And do you need the temperature turned up full or do you need the temperature and the fans turned up full to keep the temp down?

[e36TiMMo!]

I do believe i have fixed it mate, replaced thermostat, and a couple of pipes that needed replacing bled and changed radiator water and coolant, only now i seem to have gained another problem, my car doesnt seem to get to running tempreture atal enless i am at a stand still idle'ing, it doesnt get hot, is this an issue or am i ok ?

Respectivly e36Timmo!

[96_323]

Did you drain the cooling system properly or did you just undo the pipe and let the water drain out?
There is a small bolt on the driver side of the engine block that is there for draining the system, rinse several liters of water through and then fill with a coolant water mix of about 60/40 to water. It sounds like you have a large air block in the cooling system somewhere. Your going to have to get back out and bleed it longer. Open the bleed nipple and give the car some slight revs to get the water pump working. Keep doing this for a good while, but keep your eye on the coolant level, dont let it drop to low!