E39 523i se, heater problem ???

[rxkevco]

As above, i have a 523i se auto, and the heater seems to take an age to get up to decent warmimg temp, i mean like 10 mins or more.
Are there any known probs with heaters in the E39s ??? only had it a few weeks and its been bugging me,, its cold over here in north yorkshire !!!

[fastshivy]

Geeezzz I am worrying about my AC here in Florida.
Two things to check
1) Make sure it has the right thermostat in the engine. Is the Temp gauge reading about 1/2 way up? No temp gauge then use an infrared thermometer or a meat thermometer in the radiator ..should be about 190F. Just make sure the engine is warming up and someone hasn't pulled the thermostat out.

2) Find the heater control valve and make sure it is flowing a good supply of coolant in to the heater core (on the Firewall) and back out unobstructed. You will have to pull a heater hose to check this. If you can't find the control valve look for some hoses that are about 5/8 of an inch and trace them from the front of the engine (usually around the water pump) to the control valve then on to the heater core then out of the core back... in to the valve It is really just a loop ...coolant in coolant out Wax on Wax off....You can also go to a parts site to identify components. Good Luck!