m3 gods please help my friend!!!!

[thegoldenpower]

ok im not normally hanging out in this sub-forum because i dont own an M3, but this is for my buddy. sorry if i cover something that is common around here.
1995 M3
he was driving on the freeway and the temp gauge shot to red. after he pulled over he looked at the engine and noticed it had oil on the block. he found that he had busted an oil line. anyway, he said he replaced it but now the car still overheats. there is no longer any visible oil on the engine. he has had a compression check, checked the waterpump, replaced the t-stat, and replaced two temp sensors. we also had a friend take a look at it, who is a mechanic, and he stated the engine is no longer overheating but the temp sensor may be bad. it still smells like its overheating and when the oil cap is removed there is a slight amount of smoke coming out. the oil looks normal and at this point there are no obvious signs that the head gasket is blown. someone please help!!!:help

[MtechnicE36]

Need to bleed the cooling system better

[deilenberger]

If he continued driving on the freeway after it hit red - there is a REALLY good chance he now needs a head-gasket.

He may also need to bleed the cooling system, but the symptoms are of a blown head-gasket now. And repeating the experience of going into the red is just gonna make things worse. One of the symptoms of a bad head gasket IS overheating when everything else is OK.

BTW - what "oil line" was busted? AFAIK - there are no external oil lines on an E36/M3 S50/S52US engine (there was one on the M-Coupe - Z based coupe that is.. loop one in front of the radiator.. but none that I see on the M3..)

[SpeedLi///Mit]

do you mean coolant hose..? heh, if an oil line blew, the engine would be dead long before the temp gauge got to the red. =p

It sounds like you've covered the bases.. only thing I could think is perhaps still air pockets in the system... or if his fans aren't working.. ie if he has electric.. but that wouldn't cause overheating on the freeway.

[BMuu]

probably a coolent hose There isnt any oil lines on our cars, there are some vacume lines that could blow oil out if broken.


If it was a coolent hose it probably needs to be blead better.

If it was hot for more than just a min or so then yes its verry possible he blew the gasket. Though the gasket can usually handle a min or so over overheating but I would not recomend driving it at all like that. Usually it just gives you enough time to pull over.

Search on bleeding the coolent system its very easy to get air bubble in our systems.

[thegoldenpower]

thanks for all the help guys. as far as the oil line is concerned it kinda sounds iffy to me also, so ill have to double check with him on that. now when bleeding the coolant system on an S50 i heard thers only one bleeder valve and its near the t-stat housing. is this correct???
thanks again

[BMuu]

Its Next To The Cap When Filling The Coolent

[BMWRENCH]

BMUU,there are oil lines on an S50 motor.How do you think they operate the vanos actuator?
As far as his o'heat problem,has the car ever had a water pump put in it?The 95s had plastic impellors from the factory and some of them actually did last 100k miles.That is pretty easy to check.Pull the expansion tank cap off and start the engine.If the water pump is ok you'll see a small stream of water entering the expansion tank from the bleed line that runs across the top of the radiator.

[Eric BMW]

Even if the water pump is fine replace it with one that has a metal impellor blade. The plastic ones are about as useful as a shotgun to a pacifist.

[beatniks325]

Even if the water pump is fine replace it with one that has a metal impellor blade. The plastic ones are about as useful as a shotgun to a pacifist.

actually he should grab the newer bmw black composite bladed water pump.