I was driving my 2011 535i and a notice popped up saying the car was overheating and I should drive moderately. The temperature gauge was to the left of 12 o'clock so since I was less than a half mile from home, I continued on my way home. I was stopped at a light and when I tried drive, the car wouldn't go past 20mph and the notification changed from the car is overheating to the car has overheated and I needed to pull over, let the engine cool and call roadside assistance. The car is now at the dealership but they won't be able to get to it for a couple of days. In the meantime I'm trying to figure out what it could be. The temperature gauge never went to the right of 12 o'clock and there was no smoke and the car has not been leaking anything (onto the ground), and I hadn't received any other indicators of low coolant or low engine oil or anything else. Any ideas???
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Sorry, the title should read "deceleration" and not "decleration"
Exact thing happened today with my 2011 535i GT !
Did you have any luck determining what it was and how to fix it?
Thanks!
You do understand the temperature gauge in the instrument cluster is an oil temperature gauge right?
The engine coolant temperature is not readily accessible to the vehicle operator unless you unlock the BC menu, and the two do not directly correlate.
When it said the car was overheating that was your que to pull off the road and shut off the engine.
Continued driving can and will do damage to the engine at that point.
In all likelihood either the electric water pump or the thermostat went out.
Tenured Automotive Service Professional - Avid BMW Enthusiast
2012 535i M sport
My car did the same thing yesterday. I'm new to this forum, and I'm hope I'm posting in correct place. We were in traffic ,stopped for 40-50 mins , with the AC on high. After I got the overheat pull over warning, I pulled over and let it cool for an hour. I checked the coolant level and it wasn't low , was at the correct level.. I also turned the AC off, started the car , then turned AC on. I was told if my fan didn't come on when AC was started , it may be the fan.. The fan did seem to work properly, so at this point I have no idea why it overheated .... Any help would be appreciated
Last edited by Brother007; 07-10-2016 at 04:14 PM. Reason: left out info
The biggest and silent killer of a modern car is the coolant temperature sensor/fan switch which tells the fan when to start to maintain an optimal temperature range. Since the sensor provides an increased resistance to the feedback circuit when engine coolant temperature increases, and when passed a threshold (say >300 ohm) the circuit breaks and the fan turned on. A drifting of such a designed change would never be told nor monitored by any warning system. What is worse is that the 2008 model of BMW 528i is not equipped with a dashboard temperature indicator! My solution to that is to monitor the engine temperature in real-time often and replace the switch whenever there is a delay in turning on the fan.
Last edited by keweizhao; 10-10-2016 at 02:58 PM.
You'd check the performance of the coolant temperature sensor to see if the coolant temperature is at its optimal range of 86-97 degrees C during highway driving as well as in idling (mimicking the stop-n-go heavy traffic which is often causes engine overheat). If the fan won't turn on after more than 10 min at >104 degrees C, immediately change with a new one. This single device has been neglected by professional technicians and drivers, and is a silent killer of cars.
Sounds like electric water pump failed
exact thing happend to me this morning on the way to work. Car has had a hose leak for 2 days and I've been feeling it up constantly until my appointment with the shop.
Today going to work I got the warning lights, and had to pull over after the last warning as the car took all power away and could barely accelerate.
I let it cool off and starting adding water to try to get it to the nearest shop.
Everytime I atempted to get it started I would get a message that the car was too hot.
Finally after 1 hour of waiting it would still not start, this time I got a "low battery voltage" message. tried jump starting and NOTHing, totally dead, no starter or engine noise. Car had window/lock power, but nothing from Engine.
Near by shop installed a new battery, and NOTHING. It is like if someting has it electornically locked where it does not allow it to start or even turn over. They could not even get the car unlocked out of Parking Gear.
I had it towed to a trusted BMW shop, is there any chance the motor is locked and completely screwed?
I shutt it off within 2 minutes of the last warning light, oil temp gage went to the 3/4 positon.
Any ideas?
2013 535i x drive .....Same thing happened to me, but it was random. I pulled over, turned off the engine. Waited a couple minutes and it ran fine with no warning for 30 more miles. There was not enough time for things to have cooled down form a real "boil over" Pulled the water pump and thermostat and am awaiting Fed Ex to arrive with my new parts. Can anyone tell me where the "Coolant Temp Sensor" is located please?
I have a 2010 X3 with only 70k miles on it. Was driving on highway yesterday and it started losing power and then wouldn’t go at all. Pulled off to the side, and the thermostat was cranked all the way to the right i. e. HOT! Turned the car off, panicked, called because I thought I would need a tow, but the engine was not hot, nor any smoke or anything. I waited about 15 minutes, started the car and thermostats back to normal. Drove the car with no issues, about 4 more miles. Today was told I needed a whole new engine and that it would cost 9-14k. Ain’t happenin’. In reading some of the posts here, it seems BMW has a ‘smart sensor’ to shut car down before you destroy the engine by the vehicle overheating. Going to try the water pump, thermostat route. Anything beyond that and I’m buying a freakin Kia. Seriously, no car with that kinda mileage should need a new engine. If it does, will never purchase another BMW.
Just had the same thing and got the water pump replaced and now all good@!
Mine is doing something similar 528 2011 it says engine overheat before it reaches the middle of the gauge on the freeway car runs good on the street it overheats already changed the radiator the thermostat and a used water pump no luck any suggestions?
I had the same thing it was the water pump $1200 if you have a shop do it
ASE and BMW Master Certified Technician
OMG...the oil temp gauge and coolant gauge is really stumping some owners. Its easy to tell the difference...if it is an oil temp gauge...the icon is an old fashioned "oil tin" with a thermometer sticking out of it. If it is a coolant guage...the icon is a couple of wavy lines (representing water?) with a thermometer sticking out.
It would behoove owners to know beforehand what that gauge on the far right is.
{OIL TEMP GAUGE}
{COOLANT TEMP GAUGE}
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2015 650ix GC (Moonstone/Cohiba Brown) <<~>> 2014 X5 50i (Space Gray/Mocha)
BMW puts in a oil temp gauge but no cold temp brilliant, a Chevy truck has all the gauges plus trans temp
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