temp gauge reads below hanlway when warm

[FiveSpeedSquirrel]

I just bought an E30 and the coolant temp gauge reads a bit lower than it should, after the car warms up it hovers around the hashmark that's one notch before the halfway point. It's around 30% or so of the full needle range.

I have searched and can't find anything relating to this. I would think that if my thermostat was stuck open, it would stay much colder. The gauge isn't bouncing or working intermittently, so it's not a loose ground nut in the cluster.

Is it possible the previous owner installed a lower-than-stock thermostat? If so, how easy is it to get to the thermostat on these cars?

[nando]

that's normal

[e30s52]

its not that hard. but sounds like its fine to me. mine all ways ran right around thier. the only time i got it to move is when i did a burn out

[FiveSpeedSquirrel]

yeah the heater blows nice hot air when the car is warmed up, so I figured everything is fine, just wanted to make sure.