1995 E36 328i Touring : Heater blows cold

[MM16]

Hi......I'v had the valve, thermostat, matrix checked by BMW who told me that all worked ok....and then charged me £100 for the complimentary car wash...the heater still blows cold. I've seen the various post about low coolant and replacing the various components that could be faulty, but with BMW's assurance that all individual parts seem to be working ok, I am at a loss......this week was a cold one and I now know what a cold car in the winter could be like.....any sensible suggestions welcome...I am fairly handy, but no mechanic........thanks in advance for any advice...Mark

[marti5]

Take it back right away and say all does not work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[agtur2001]

Question: Does the air come out COLD or luke warm?

The reason I ask is because my car does the same thing during cold weather. In the summer, the heater air will burn your skin off, but during cold weather... the air is barely warm. My car has had the thermastat, water pump, pully and hoses replaced by the previous owner. The CPU always tells me that I'm low on coolant. However, when I add the 1/2 cup of coolant needed to level off to MAX, the coolant makes its way out the overflow... like if I over filled it!

So... now I have just learned to accept cold air heater and constant coolant message. Pisses my wife off.. but as long as the car runs great and doesn't over heat or have any other issues... I'm good!

[SHAHAB323IS]

is the roller button by the center vents moved to the red, this is what controls the heater valve, if it's to the cold no coolant will flow through your heater core and you will get no heat. If it is, you might have a clog in your heater core that is preventing coolant from flowing through it, that is if all those other parts are functioning correctly FOR SURE.

as for agtur2001 are you properly filling and bleeding the cooling system, just pouring in coolant and going isn't enough, you need to fill overflow tank, unscrew the bleed screw, make sure your heater controls are set to full hot, turn on the engine and rev it to 2500k or so and watch as coolant comes out of the bleed screw you want to keep adding and revving until you see no bubbles come out of the bleed screw then screw the screw back in and drive around, once the engine has cooled makes sure your overflow tank is filled to the cold/kalt level, low coolant messages and no heat is not normal and not something you should have to live with, trust me I did this and ultimately it was one of the main reasons I got rid of my car, If you are not bleeding the system right you could have air trapped in your heater core if you don't have coolant properly flowing through it, you will have no heat despite the other components working properly.

Hopes this helps if you guys have any other questions concerns or if you still have a problem let me know. I battled the issue of no heat and low coolant for two years.

[agtur2001]

Excellent... thanks for the TIP! I will try it this weekend!

[voodoo712]

i have the same trouble with my 328. pisses me off because i got
no heat and its cold as hell outside

[storekeeper]

Thanks will try same for my compact,changed themostat bled system wihile engine idling but didn't try reving engine .Thanks

[95BMW]

Does it come out how if you turn the dial to direct the air to the foot well? to get heat coming from the centre console vents you have to turn the dial to be in between the foot well and centre setting. you'll notice there's blue markings on the dial for it to blow out cold.
I know its pretty simple but i've seen it catch lots of people out when bleeding the cooling system.