E34/535i/M30 Which Thermostat?

[JMI]

They come in 71, 75, and 80 degrees. I live in Seattle, so year round temp is moderate.
Any ideas which one?

TIA

Jim

[E36 328is]

I live in Seattle also, and just purchased one at the dealer and put it in yesterday. My other car is also a 535i I will check the receipt after work to see if it says on it.

[moroza]

Huh?

[E36 328is]

Actually since yours is a auto and mine is a manual it might be different. I know they use different radiators. I would just call the dealer to see what they recomend. The parts department at BMW of Bellevue is very knowledgable. What was the huh for?

[moroza]

Thermostats come in different...degree ratings? What are those numbers?

[E36 328is]

They are in celcius. 80 C=176 F
71 C=159.8 F
75 C=167 F

[moroza]

Well, yes, I figured those were temperatures. But how's 71 degree thermostat different from an 80?

[boshmark]

opens at 9 degrees less temp!

[E36 328is]

boshmark you hit the nail on the head!

[konarider98]

i was reading somewhere(cant remember now) but BMW techs were drilling something like a 3/32 hole in the thermostats to let coolant go in a little no matter what temp. I'm going to try and find the link...

[konarider98]

Found it! Courtesy of bmwe34.net... guess its just for bleeding better though.

525i - 535i M20 M30 M50:


• When doing the thermostat the arrow on it needs to be pointing straight up and if you want to make the job of bleeding easier drill a 1/16 hole directly through the thermostat where the arrow is located (tricks from BMW tech's) which allows the thermostat the bleed easier. Trick from LINGLE

[splackavellie]

when i changed mine out, i got the 75 degree one. not sure exactly how much regional weather/temp would affect this.

[E36 328is]

Drilling the hole would help for bleeding, it will just cause the engine to warm up slower which won't hurt anything. Something else that helps which I did was not drill the hole and just bleed the car on a steep hill with the front of the car facing up the hill. This causes all of the air pockets to go the the highest point the bleeding screw in the front of the car. This worked for me and I only had to bleed the car once. Just make sure to refill the coolant again after your first test drive every time I have done a thermostat the coolant is low again at the second restart.

[hoboclown918]

RealOEM says this:
<table border="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td id="r10">06</td><td id="r11">THERMOSTAT</td><td id="r10" class="p1">
</td><td id="r11">1</td><td id="r10">
</td><td id="r11">
</td><td id="r10" nowrap="nowrap">11531466174</td><td id="r11" align="right" nowrap="nowrap"> $23.44</td><td id="r10">
</td></tr> <tr><td id="r00">06</td><td id="r01">THERMOSTAT</td><td id="r00" class="p1">80CEL</td><td id="r01">1</td><td id="r00">
</td><td id="r01">
</td><td id="r00" nowrap="nowrap">11531713040</td><td id="r01" align="right" nowrap="nowrap">$23.44</td></tr></tbody></table>
There are two listed, I would guess it is a 80 degree one because of the 80CEL listed. Anyone back me up on this guess...

[tfritz]

people in areas with lower average regional temps go with the higher rated thermostat...
people in areas with higher average regional temps go with the lower rated thermostat...
??? :dunno just an assumption