E46 Cooling issues

[HighFrequency 0]

Hi there guys,

About 2 months back I managed to get myself a 2000 e46 318i and up until recently it's been wonderful. But Last week I happened to be driving along the motorway and noticed my radiator water level indicator had come on. ( at this point I don't know how long it had been on for) I figured I'd be okay with getting it to where I was going 2 mins away and investigate but just as I pulled up to where I was going, the temprature shot right up. So I immediately turned it off and let it cool down.

Naturally it was very hot and looking further it looks like it had pretty much drained completely! So I wait a while and eventually put some water in hoping to find a leak but no success. I was able to get it home and it's been sitting cool ever since. I have noticed though that if I've been driving if for a while (10mins or more) then I get the water level indicatior pop up again. This seems to happen more so on the motorway and when I'm going through 50km zones it seems to go away. Does anyone know what is causing this? It seems to be running very hot almost all the time (though the temp gauge is sitting right in the middle). The hot radiator pipe is always incrediby hot and even the cool pipe leading to the engine is warm to hot most times.

I plan on taking it to the mechanic on Monday but does anyone know what could be causing this?

Edited March 23, 2013 by HighFrequency

[allan 295]

You are wise in getting it to a mechanic if nothing is obvious. It could be a number of things water pump fault, thermostat jammed shut, sensor in the bottom hose faulty, air bubble in the system moved let your mechanic check it out and save you a whole lot of stress.

[Jono51 57]

oliver do not drive it

needs to be checked, can check it over for you

coolant pressure test for leaks etc

Edited March 24, 2013 by JKSE