Another one Overheats..
 

1997 Mtech auto ti. The car has been running great for the last couple months. I was on my way to work today and out of the blue I get a very strong coolant smell. About 30 seconds later the temp gauge starts to climb fast. I immediately pulled over and shut off the car. Popped the hood and had a lot of steam, i couldn't really tell where it was coming from maybe under the intake? (the radiator still had plently of fluid in it so I let the car cool off and restared it). I noticed 2 strange things #1 i couldn't get any hot air out of the heater. #2 The radiator fan never came on And again the radiator was still full. I drove for another 10 blocks or so before the temp started to rise again and I was forced to stop again before the engine got too hot. So here is my question does this sound like a water pump failure? I've read some of these had plastic impellers that were prone to failure. Or could it be a stuck thermostat.. any other ideas? Thanks

http://www.318ti.org/forum/showthread.php?t=16068

Read it.

:D one of these just popped on my car.

Thanks for the info!
 

Yep you were right. Its the plastic tube under the intake manifold.. I just had all this apart last fall to replace all the hoses and the cam position sensor.. sure wish I had seen this information then!

The rear part went out on my '96 last month and I have to find time to replace the longer (side of the block) part real soon.

What's the life of these plastic parts? I feel I am on borrowed time with my 98 and 184K? I have all the parts, just have to get to it...

the guy at BMW said 150,000 given everything else is in "good" condition .. i wouldnt trust them that long. if you havent changed it or have no idea if it ever has been id def just get it over with. at least youd know your not gonna have that horrible feeling like us who have been driving then BAM ..

^^^

My car has only 59,xxx miles on it, so I'm inclined to believe it's an age thing. My car was built in April of '96, that's about 14 years these plastic parts have been around. Time, usage, and weather have all contributed to their deterioration.

yeah just time... i've only got 92.5k miles on mine and one just popped on me.

I have the stuff to redo the cooling system. Once inspected in my state, I will turn to the cooling job. I sure get that ticking time bomb feeling when driving! Not very comforting...

yeah i hear that .. even if i get my cooling system working normal again im always gonna have that fear with this car. i think regular coolant flushes and proper care should help allot but if you live in a place where it gets really cold in winter and then really hot in summer that contrubutes to the life span.

good luck with everything. your not alone in all this. im going out in the snow to pull everything off again and re-check it all. sucks but i look forward to driving this for a least a couple years. check back and let us know your progress ..