M42club.com - Home of the BMW E30/E36 318i/iS
DISCUSSION => General Topics => Topic started by: ///m42 sport on April 19, 2013, 08:09:20 PM
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just wondering why it takes forever for the m42 to warmup. Sucks in cold weather
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Thermostat stuck open?
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I'd check the rad cap first. It needs to hold 30psi (2bar) for several minutes. That's twice what older cars need. If you're losing pressure the car will heat up slowly and may tend to overheat.
I have a similar problem, it can take ten solid minutes or so for mine to put out heat and even longer to get to the middle of the gauge. Meanwhile, our minivan is warm practically at the bottom of my street - every other car seems much faster.
I installed a higher-temp thermostat to solve the problem but it made no difference. I'd figure it warm up faster, if anything. But it doesn't.
I'm wondering if my water pump is doing its job...or if the radiator is plugged...or the system isn't holding pressure. It's all old and tired, hard to say. If I explore the problem any further I'll definitely post my findings.