How HOT is your heat?

[Sam Cogley]

My M42 gets bloody hot.

[quikveedb2]

hotter than a monkey's butt...

[billwiththeb]

i have a 325is 87 i have crap heat please help im cold

[nadodude111]

Mine gets burning hot.

sucks they didnt invent auto climate control back that.

It was an option.

[gearheadE30]

Mine used to take awhile to gethot, but it has always been able to cook me out of the car. With the turbo, it gets warm in a minute or so.

[Stanley Rockefeller]

I never use a fan setting higher than 1 unless I'm defogging in winter.

Honestly i think it's being a RWD and the weight of the car that causes it to create so much more heat. Never had this great of heat with my FWD 97 Escort or 03 Focus.

This is something that newer cars cannot beat our e30's for!

Mind you, we pay more at the pumps as a result of this added comfort.

[Ceeker]

heating problem

i have a 325is 87 i have crap heat please help im cold

ok, so this is quite funny actually because I was going to post this as a problem but someone beat me to it:

my thermostat was changed twice thinking it wasn't opening or perhaps stuck open. Then I changed the clutch fan; Still no change.
Today, I changed the heater tap and heater core thinking one or both wasn't working or plugged. bled the system as the car isn't over heating. Still luke warm.
wondering though. I put my hands on all the hoses and the only one with a noticeable difference was the hose going from the thermostat to the lower rad opening. This wasn't nearly as hot as the others. The heater hoses were also very hot.

any ideas?...anyone??

[EN318isPDX]

My heat on my M42 was only meh, after i replaced the radiator it is unbearable to leave the heat on for more than 15s (unless the window is all the way down)

[StereoInstaller1]

any ideas?...anyone??

OK, first off, test your "ball valve" that is on the heater core. Get a test light, you need to make sure that there is power being switched when you turn the temp dial from hot to cold. Mine was stuck, I ended up drilling it out in 20 degree weather just to have heat.

[Hey_You]

Honestly i think it's being a RWD and the weight of the car that causes it to create so much more heat. Never had this great of heat with my FWD 97 Escort or 03 Focus.

It's a Ford, that's why (not a valid statement). Being FWD or RWD has nothing to do with how a heater works.

Back on topic, yeah, my heater rocks, I leave it on a little ways from all the way hot because it gets WAY too warm. Also, usually leave the vents aimed at my face/hands/body off that way I don't get dried into some sort of prune of the human variation.

[Ceeker]

OK, first off, test your "ball valve" that is on the heater core. Get a test light, you need to make sure that there is power being switched when you turn the temp dial from hot to cold. Mine was stuck, I ended up drilling it out in 20 degree weather just to have heat.

the temp switch is working fine. I had more heat just after I replaced the core and tap. but as I got up to speed it began cooling. So it can't be stuck.
I suspect after doing some research there was a SIB from the dealership to install a heater check valve in the engine bay off the heater core line to prevent heater cores from exploding as this was an issue with quite a few e30's back in the day. Bmw didn't want law suites.

64 11 8 391 926 this is the part number for the by-pass valve. Apparently this was a common problem. I think this might be plugged or stuck.

thanks for the info; I am going to bled the system again to make sure I have adequate coolant running into the core.


found this info on another site:

Try checking the thermostat valve between the engine and the firewall. Mine was plugged and not opening all the way which caused me to have symptoms similar to what you are experiencing. This valve will be inline with the heater core inlet hose on the main ports and will have a smaller OD hose coming to it off of the discharge side of the core. The smaller hose is what opens the valve by sensing coolant temperature but if the valve is plugged at that smaller port, the valve will remain closed or partially closed. I simply took it out and put hose barbs in it's place and all my heating issues went away. This could also cause you to have air trapped in the core by not letting full coolant flow thru the core to drive the air out.

I believe this valve was a recall or addition to the vehicle after they were produced. I gather this valve was installed to cut flow to the heater core if the core were to burst in the cabin and prevent scalding of the occupants.

[Huff]

With my old heater core: Barely noticable

With my new heater core: I could melt skin

[ldsbeaker]

HOTHOTHOT! *horn flourish*

I love it. Turn it on, get it on the windshield, and it melts the ice up there, too.

[KillaCams]

the temp switch is working fine. I had more heat just after I replaced the core and tap. but as I got up to speed it began cooling. So it can't be stuck.
I suspect after doing some research there was a SIB from the dealership to install a heater check valve in the engine bay off the heater core line to prevent heater cores from exploding as this was an issue with quite a few e30's back in the day. Bmw didn't want law suites.

64 11 8 391 926 this is the part number for the by-pass valve. Apparently this was a common problem. I think this might be plugged or stuck.

thanks for the info; I am going to bled the system again to make sure I have adequate coolant running into the core.


found this info on another site:

Try checking the thermostat valve between the engine and the firewall. Mine was plugged and not opening all the way which caused me to have symptoms similar to what you are experiencing. This valve will be inline with the heater core inlet hose on the main ports and will have a smaller OD hose coming to it off of the discharge side of the core. The smaller hose is what opens the valve by sensing coolant temperature but if the valve is plugged at that smaller port, the valve will remain closed or partially closed. I simply took it out and put hose barbs in it's place and all my heating issues went away. This could also cause you to have air trapped in the core by not letting full coolant flow thru the core to drive the air out.

I believe this valve was a recall or addition to the vehicle after they were produced. I gather this valve was installed to cut flow to the heater core if the core were to burst in the cabin and prevent scalding of the occupants.

Make sure your hoses are routed into the heater core properly, the hose coming off the back of the head should be feeding the lower heater core pipe. Was having a similar issue, good heat at idle and ice cold heat on the highway. After looking at a buddy's M20 i realized my mistake (hoses on backwards) switched them and no issues since.

[bmwm42]

Effing nice and toasty