MY engine is overheating

[eugenemm]

hello , I have a 2000 323 CI and an engine problem, i took to a local mecanic a month ago,the he said that the radiator ,thermosts and clutch fun were bad . then after replacing them he went totest drive it again on the freeway ,and still it overheats.can anyone know wha's the issue?koz i remember about a month before ,the radiator light came on and I added some universal coolant from the gas station.Do you think that's what caused this whole mess. the mecanic calls and says that he still can't find the real cause of the excessive heat a month after up now> Any ideas?

[warcraftjjs]

how many miles are on the car? and it is probly the water pump. There is a little water fin type gear in it that fails and can cause the over heating.

[eugenemm]

HEY my car has 95k on it. The mecanic called me today and found the water pump was leaking. now i am gonna wait and see what he tells me again. its strange koz this is going tobe a second water pump put in this car.

[mtccl]

Did you use a rebuilt pump (or remanufactured pump)??

Not uncommon for rebuilt water pumps to fail if you used a rebuilt. A new one is more expensive, but they almost always pay for themselves in the long run. Rebuilt ones tend to have shafts and bearing out of alignment and they just wear out faster.

[sprintman]

If you spent time on the big BMW forums you would know that the E46 cooling system is the weakest part of the vehicle and cooling sys maintenance is required at 5yrs of age and every 5yrs after that. Minimum replacement of expansion tank, top hose, and thermostat.

[marti5]

Its also the weakest point on the E38 variant and also a lot of the E39 variants, found out its something to do with BMW recycling policy !! ...Like the new F01 is nearly 100% made from recycled materials.

[prowler]

How long is a reasonable useful life on an e46 expansion tank? I has mine replace about 8 months ago and now I'm seeing leakage in the same general area. Could the air bleed screw fail/leak? I have coolant leaking around the top of the tank, rinsed it off last night and it shows signs of coolant around the top lip/seal area of the tank, including in the center of the air bleed screw. I suspect/HOPE that it's the air bleed screw, however I'm not sure. Additionally, my low coolant light went on yesterday morning and I added coolant. Last evening, I noticed cooland on the surface of the street and in and around the expansion box. Additionally, does anyone have a link that shows me the correct procedure to remove/replace the expansion tank and how to correctly bleed the air in the system by using the air bleed screw. Thanks for your help! Sorry, I accidentally posted this after reading the thread. I wasn't trying to change the focus of the original post/thread...