Heater broken?

[sKunkman]

My heater doesn't work well. It blows semi-warm air even with the engine fully warmed up. It's getting warm now so its not a serious problem, but it definitely could use some fixing.
2 Questions:

1) is it the heater core, and if so, how much and how easy to fix it?
2) if its not the heater core, is it the thermostat? I can pretty much replace that myself or get a friend to help me.

[1996 328ti]

I know this has been discussed but I am having a hard time finding the thread myself.

Possible problems from easiest to hardest.
Air in system. Bleed the radiator.
Bad bypass valve located near the firewall, engine side.
Loose cable to the temp control. You would need to remove the glovebox and knee bolster to get in there.

If you temp gauge is in the middle I doubt if it is a bad thermostat.
Haven't read that much about heater cores going.

bypass valve and air is pretty common.

[sKunkman]

cool :) any idea on price and ease of fixing? I can do stuff as long as its not too electrical, or doesn't require removing any engine parts.

[bucksworld]

I know this has been discussed but I am having a hard time finding the thread myself.

Possible problems from easiest to hardest.
Air in system. Bleed the radiator.
Bad bypass valve located near the firewall, engine side.
Loose cable to the temp control. You would need to remove the glovebox and knee bolster to get in there.

If you temp gauge is in the middle I doubt if it is a bad thermostat.
Haven't read that much about heater cores going.

bypass valve and air is pretty common.

Any pic of the heater bypass valve? or any diy stuff on the bypass valve m42 95?

[RaveX]

I know this has been discussed but I am having a hard time finding the thread myself.

I think the thread you're looking for is this one: http://www.318ti.org/forum/showthread.php?t=2273

At least, that's the thread that solved this problem for me a couple weeks ago.