How hot do you get?

[funcrew]

Never budges off 1/4 gauge, even in stopped traffic in Las Vegas at 115F. Bone stock 325i with new fan clutch, water pump, and thermostat.

[LJ851]

always at 1/2 give or take 1 needle width in either direction for the last 100,000 miles.

[Cletonius]

Mine seems to get pretty warm (as in the upper half all the time and sometimes even the upper 3/4) but I'm not sure the cooling system is completely burped yet. I had left the clutch fan off for a few days while I figured a way to get a proper sized spanner on the nut and it actually seemed to run colder w/o the fan. Never left the half mark.

How old is the clutch? Did you do the newspaper test?
Are you sure the fanblades are on the clutch the right way? My uncle told me one time a car came into his shop that would sit stationary and not overheat, run normal temps when moving, but overheat when creeping in traffic. Turns out someone had wired the efan (no mech fan either) backwards so at low speeds it would create an air cushion at the front of the car and no air would move through the radiator. He said he figured it out when by chance the fan came on and blew a workorder out of his hand.

[Sagaris]

For all you guys that are proud that your temperature never gets close to 1/2, change your thermostat to one that is stock spec and enjoy the power that comes from running a car at the correct temperature. The hotter your engine runs, the more efficient it is.

[kid325e]

Mine is almost always right at the 1/2 mark. If I drive hard and then wait at a stop light it might creep up half a needle width or so, but I've never seen it any hotter than that.

Me too, and I know for sure my fan clutch is on it's way out.

[NC325iC]

1/4 mark, rarely above that, in which case the electric fan kicks on and brings it back. with my new IE all alum radiator it rarely needs the fan to kick on.

[boxen]

I just went through my cooling system last weekend, and replaced the water pump, thermostat, and fan clutch.

Before this, my car ran rock-solid at halfway, but crept up past there if I was stopped, or in slow traffic.

Now, the gauge reads maybe a needle's width below the 1/4 mark with ambient temps of around 60 F. This seems too cool to be normal to me, and it's vaguely worrisome since I intend to drive it during the winter when it'll be far below freezing.
Anyone have any input?