HELP! 97 528i overheating

[mzaku]

Hi everyone, this is my first post to the board. Recently I bought my first car, a 97 528i with 211,000kms on it. It's an Aspen silver over Aubergine interior, with 17" type 67 reps. It has facelifted headlights (not depos but not hellas, really nice tho) and celis-style taillight lenses (not the cheap looking kind). I also plastidipped the grille, window trim, and body trim black. I absolutely love the car. it was running great up until mid august, when it first overheated. It went to the shop, they did something or another and when it came back it was still overheating. At the time, I was able to give a little more gas till it past 2500 rpms and itd cool down right away. That meant most of the time going faster than i shoudlve been hehe :D It also meant looking at the temp gauge every few seconds, and dreading red lights, traffic, and dipshit drivers. Any time i came to a stop, I'd have to put the car in neutral and rev to 2500 to cool it down. It went back to the mechanic and they changed the thermostat as well as a coolant bleed and refill, and when it came back it was running fine. Eventually, it started overheating again, and this time wouldnt be solved by revving. It left me stranded every few blocks, and using the REST button i was able to cool it down quicker each time. I checked the coolant next morning, and it was near empty so i refilled it, and later that day i believe it was i checked again and it was empty once more. I took it to the mechanic and he told my dad there's air pockets, that itd need to be bled again and that there might be a head gasket leak. He used some putty thing to fill whatever supposed leak there was as well as bled it, and it's running perfect now. he said it's a temporary fix, and that there might be a head gasket problem in the future. Just today i took it quite far with a lot of stop and go in traffic, and it ran perfect, no movement on the temp gauge at all. When i got home my dad asked me how it was running, and when i told him it was running great he said put it for sale tomorrow and we'll look for a newer one. I'm devestated, this is my first car and i love it to death, I can't imagine selling my baby. Would anybody be able to provide further insight on what could be wrong with it? I'm in the Vancouver Lower Mainland, and am thinking about taking it to German Auto Sports in Surrey for an inspection as a last ditch effort to see if I could keep the car. Thanks very much, Ill try attaching pictures.

TL;DR-

Got 1997 528ia as first car
love it to death
Was running fine
began overheating
changed thermostat, coolant bleed
still overheating, curable by revving past 2500rpms
back to mechanic
overheating again uncurable this time
back to mechanic, coolant bleed plus putty
runs perfect, but presumably only for now
dad wants me to sell it, too attached
last ditch effort to fix?



- - - Updated - - -

http://s1383.photobucket.com/user/Zakee_Usman/library/ heres a link to my photo album of the car. I'll title it- "All i need in this life of sin, is me and my BM <3"

- - - Updated - - -

http://s1383.photobucket.com/user/Zakee_Usman/library/ heres a link to my photo album of the car. I'll title it- "All i need in this life of sin, is me and my BM <3"

[Toushi]

If it really is the head gasket... it would be better to just sell it. That fix is easy 1-2.5k at the mechanic. It's easy to get attached to cars, but really I would be sensible and try to find a newer one.
One thing I would check is the water pump, it might be it..... buuuuuut with it leaking so much and the fact that the mechanic patched up the leak, which I'm guessing would be on the head gasket... that's not a good sign at all. In fact that's dangerous. If it is indeed the head gasket.... I'd get it replaced ASAP, or sell it and have someone else deal with it.

[mzaku]

If you don't mind me asking, what should i check for on the water pump? I'll check the coolant level tomorrow to see if it has gone down, but yeah if it's the head gasket I guess i'll have no choice but to get rid of it. As a 17 year old i dont have the thousands itll take to fix a problem like that. Unless I were to buy the cylinder head plus gasket kit and diy? which im guessing would be a royal pita.

[Jarhed]

If a mechanic tried to take putty to my engine, he would need surgery to remove my foot from his ass.

Replace your cooling system PROPERLY and call it a day.

Radiator
Coolant Reservoir
Water Pump (there is nothing to check. It is likely leaking from the weep hole underneath)
Thermostat
Hoses (Squeeze them, if they are mushy, they are dead)

Or.... sell that car and buy another car full of the same problems. It appears that you might not be financially ready to own an E39. This car will bleed you dry if you don't keep on top of maintenance. My 99 has 281,000+ on it and runs smooth. I parted out my 97 and the M52 Engine was the first to go. That engine will run for another 200k easy.

[cnn]

Do a compression test.

May want to send your oil for analysis for traces of coolant.

If all is well ---> Cooling Overhaul.
Note: BMW reservoir and BMW Fan Blade, otherwise everything below is still up-to-date:

http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/posts/199986

[jstern]

There is a simple test for head gasket failure. It is called a Block Test or Combustion Leak Test

http://www.amazon.com/UVIEW-560000-Combustion-Leak-Tester/dp/B000NPDL76/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1416415438&sr=8-3&keywords=block+test

and involves putting a special blue liquid in a special vessel and suspending this setup in the coolant cap orifice with the engine running. This test looks for exhaust gasses in the coolant. If the exhaust gasses are present in the coolant, the head gasket is leaking and the blue liquid will turn yellow.

Perhaps your German Auto Sport shop is familiar with this test.

If the test is negative, you need to replace your cooling system as CNN and Jarhead have said.

[mzaku]

I'll try doing the compression test, I'm thinking about selling the car and grabbing something cheaper till I can afford to own an e39 again. Itll be sad but it'd all I can do now.