croft-racer Posted November 29, 2011 Report Share Posted November 29, 2011 Hi all, I'm new to this forum but I have had a good look around and found lots of useful info. But I was wondering if anyone could help me? I've just bought a late 2004 320d manual saloon. I've done a few jobs on it so far including a full service and removing the dreaded swirl flaps of course. But I had noticed that the engine wasn't getting up to temperature, i.e. needle straight up. So after some rummaging round on here decided to change the water pump, main engine thermostat and egr thermostat all in one hit. All done no probs on Saturday but it still sits just below normal. This is after a 15 mile commute on a mixture of country roads and a short dual carriageway run. So I decided to look at my engine temperature one morning using the hidden dash functions. The maximum temperature it reaches is about 82-83 but it's mostly around 70-76. The other thing I have noticed is my MPG doesn't get any higher than 36-37 whereas my old M reg Audi 1.9tdi would easily do 45 MPG on the same run and get up to temp a lot quicker and stay there. So I’m at a bit of a loss as to what the problem could be. Also I apologize for the long first post but just wanted to give as much detail as possible in one go. Thanks in advance Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
And617y Posted November 29, 2011 Report Share Posted November 29, 2011 could be something as simple as your coolant is quite abit to strong , takes longer when strong! worth checking bmw recommend should be -30 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
And617y Posted November 29, 2011 Report Share Posted November 29, 2011 (edited) welcome a long to the zone fella Edited November 29, 2011 by And617y Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffThomson Posted November 30, 2011 Report Share Posted November 30, 2011 I'm having similar issues on short journeys. The car will pull completely up to temp on longer runs though and economy on those seems good. I think it's just the time of year and weather, i was having no such problems in summer. C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanielJames Posted November 30, 2011 Report Share Posted November 30, 2011 Mines the same bud, I'm not getting any higher than about 82. Most people will say it's down to the cold weather but surely it should still get up to 90 degrees. I'll keep my eye on the thread to see what you uncover Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
croft-racer Posted December 1, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 1, 2011 Thanks for the welcome guys. Right I have come to the conclusion that my new main themostat is faulty. Being a fool I went for the cheapest one I could find it was only £26 and I've checked everything else including re bleeding the cooling system and checking there wasn't too much antifreeze in there. Also the EGR themostat is a genuine BMW one made by Behr just with the BMW partnumber ground off so I don't suspect that either. So I have ordered a new Behr themostat from my local motorfactors. I wil try and get round to it over the weekend and let every one know how I get on. Cheers Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiksilver_TR Posted December 1, 2011 Report Share Posted December 1, 2011 On my 325 coupe the temperature is barely getting to the first line on my 17mile commute. In traffic in town though it will quite happily sit at half way on gauge (needle up). Mpg isn't greatly (noticeably) reduced for me due to slightly colder running. I've put the lower running temp down to the air temp and the fact that it's not sat still on the commute (motorway). Does take a while for the in-car heater to warm me up though. Lol! Would be interested to see if your new thermostat makes a difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pablo Posted December 2, 2011 Report Share Posted December 2, 2011 manual or auto? does it rise to a sensible value if sitting in traffic? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanielJames Posted December 5, 2011 Report Share Posted December 5, 2011 Thanks for the welcome guys. Right I have come to the conclusion that my new main themostat is faulty. Being a fool I went for the cheapest one I could find it was only £26 and I've checked everything else including re bleeding the cooling system and checking there wasn't too much antifreeze in there. Also the EGR themostat is a genuine BMW one made by Behr just with the BMW partnumber ground off so I don't suspect that either. So I have ordered a new Behr themostat from my local motorfactors. I wil try and get round to it over the weekend and let every one know how I get on. Cheers Chris Should've spoken to Hereford BMW on bimmerforums or BMWLand bud, I got my thermostat from there, £30 delivered for a genuine BMW EGR one or £40 for the main one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mit Posted December 5, 2011 Report Share Posted December 5, 2011 I was going to say your new thermostat is broken but it seems you already decided that yourself Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
croft-racer Posted December 5, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2011 Been busy decorating and laying carpet all weekend so I didn't get round to fitting it yesterday, so I'm going to fit it tomorrow. Quicksilver, I'm pretty sure your car should get up to temprature quicker than that I had a 3.2 litre jaguar xj6 before I bought this car and that used to warm up to full temp in about 5-6 miles in cooler weather than were getting now so and the heater would melt you in about 2-3 miles so i'm pretty sure your thermostat is knackered. Pablo, It's manual and I dont really do a lot of standing in traffic so I can't comment on that. The other thing I have checked id the flaps on the back of the radiator and even when its up at 80 ish degrees they are still shut so its still trying to warm itself up. DanielJ, I'll try and remember next time I need some bits to have a look on there cheers. Mit yeah it was the only thing I could think of. Cheers Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiksilver_TR Posted December 5, 2011 Report Share Posted December 5, 2011 Quicksilver, I'm pretty sure your car should get up to temprature quicker than that I had a 3.2 litre jaguar xj6 before I bought this car and that used to warm up to full temp in about 5-6 miles in cooler weather than were getting now so and the heater would melt you in about 2-3 miles so i'm pretty sure your thermostat is knackered. Yeah mine is knakered following a good motorway run to London and Back on Sunday. (about 250miles total) Engine temp was all good when in the city as it was stop start, but as soon as we hit the motorway the temp crashed back into the blue. Im ordering a new thermostat and housing as we speak. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
croft-racer Posted December 5, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2011 Just been browsing round Real OEM and noticed what looks like an auxillary heater for the air con/heating system, if this was shot do you think it would affect the cooling system getting up to temprature? Just a thought. Cheers Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cf_corp Posted December 6, 2011 Report Share Posted December 6, 2011 Ive got a similar problem with my 320d. Ive put it into diagnostics mode to day and took it for a 20+ minute drive with the car in diagnostic mode giving me a live read out of the engine/coolant temp. outside air temp reported at +6c. all i could get out of mine was 50-58c. i could get the temp up to about 60-64c if i booted it up a steep hill when the car was under load but it would drop back down to aprox. 56c the car doesnt even heat up passed the first quarter line on my temp gauge only if im loading the engine it will just go over the first quarter and drop off when the engine was unloaded. do you guys think its time to change the thermostat? also really hard to get good mpg 50+ is only achievable going down hill and im really struggling to get 45-46mpg. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
croft-racer Posted December 8, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 8, 2011 Right I finally got round to fitting another thermostat, a genuine BMW one and all is well now. The temp sits nicely at about 88-90 degrees now which is perfect. Just need to fill her up tomorrow and do a brim to brim test to see how much my fuel economy improves. Hope this helps others who are having similar issues especially with the weather being colder now. cf_corp this sounds like mine did before I changed both thermostats but as far as I recall yours only has the main thermostat and not the EGR one like mine. Changing the main thermostat should sort your problem out and while your in there I would change the water pump as well I did. Mine had a plastic impeller which I've had fail on two different E34 520i's I had in the past. Cheers Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rd320d Posted December 8, 2011 Report Share Posted December 8, 2011 Right I finally got round to fitting another thermostat, a genuine BMW one and all is well now. The temp sits nicely at about 88-90 degrees now which is perfect. Just need to fill her up tomorrow and do a brim to brim test to see how much my fuel economy improves. Hope this helps others who are having similar issues especially with the weather being colder now. cf_corp this sounds like mine did before I changed both thermostats but as far as I recall yours only has the main thermostat and not the EGR one like mine. Changing the main thermostat should sort your problem out and while your in there I would change the water pump as well I did. Mine had a plastic impeller which I've had fail on two different E34 520i's I had in the past. Cheers Chris Was it the BEHR type thermostat you fitted the second time??Iv'e just fitted on to mine and am still having issues,Im wondering whether the water pump could have failed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiksilver_TR Posted December 12, 2011 Report Share Posted December 12, 2011 (edited) I changed my thermostat and refreshed the coolant on Saturday too and all is now nice and warm. Such an easy job to do as well. Edited December 12, 2011 by Quiksilver_TR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suhail97 Posted December 12, 2011 Report Share Posted December 12, 2011 (edited) I replaced my thermostat last week - did nothing for my MPG though Edited December 12, 2011 by suhail97 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teej Posted March 12, 2013 Report Share Posted March 12, 2013 hi guys ive just bought a 320cd 2004 and mines the same (only gets up to the first bar) ! which thermostat is it and where is it located? i'm not a novice but far from a mechanic, although i've done the swirl flaps without any problems, any pics / advice would be greatly appreciated!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave65 Posted March 12, 2013 Report Share Posted March 12, 2013 you need to replace both thermostats to be sure as they can both cause low temps, don't buy cheap stats, only buy bmw genuine ones as you only want to do the job once. very easy job on a 320d as there is lots of room on the front of the engine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan1292 Posted March 4, 2014 Report Share Posted March 4, 2014 How many thermostats does a 320TD compact have? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharlE46 Posted March 4, 2014 Report Share Posted March 4, 2014 (edited) How many thermostats does a 320TD compact have? Will depend on the year, engines that have eu3 emissions control only have the main thermostat, eu4 emissions have two, the main and one on the egr cooler. Eu4 came in on the E46 320d saloon/tourer nov/dec 2003 so would imagine it would be similar for the compact. **edit** put your vin into www.realoem.com and you can search for part No's and see if yours does indeed have one or two (it'll list parts on your car) Edited March 4, 2014 by CharlE46 Pauly123 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
