Thermostat Gauge Inconsistent

[recorder]

wondering if anyone can help me out. i have a 2000 528/5 with
104k and the past week the thermostat gauge has been going to
red in under a minute from a cold start. first time i shut off the engine
quickly and waited 10 minutes and it did not happen again. i thought
maybe a quirk in the computer system (it's cold in my locale about -15
at night). all was fine until 6 days later it did it again. so i took the same
steps as before and once again it's "fixed". now, last night it does it again
but this time i shut off the car then drove again except the thermostat gauge
was quick to go red and the engine light came on. i got it home and this
morning the engine light is still on. this car has been fully serviced since i
bought it 2 years ago. what is the problem? serious? thanks.

[Dirty_Tool]

There is no way the car could be actually oveheating in under 1 min form a cold start especially in your climate. This would lead me to believe you do in fact have an electrical prolblem with either the instrument cluster itself or the coolant temperature sensor on the engine. I recommend taking it to a shop to have it looked at unless you feel you can do it yourself, in that case get a manual and start checking that circuit for faults.
Good luck,
DT

[recorder]

Much appreciated help. From my experience with overheating cars I didn't think
this was possible either. It's on it's way to the shop as I write. Again, thanks...

[billB]

Try to let other members know what causes/fixes were to this problem
regards
billb