BMW E36 Forum

Hiya you not having much luck are you,I used to be a ford mechanic from the 70's up to when they started with the Mondeo's, and I did get the same problem on odd occasions, what I did to get round that ,was to back fill the system, IE; I would undo a heater hose and connect my garden hose to it and fill the rad that way, stopping at the correct level, as you have already put your anti freeze in, I would suggest you drain some out via maybe the bottom rad hose save it of coarse, refit bottom hose then backfill to just before water appears in header tank, then top up with the water you drained out. bit of messing about but that should clear any stubborn air locks. If it was ok before you drained it completely then it must only be an air lock. Did you cure your mis fire?

Cheers ron i will attempt that. I have booked my car in now so a pro can deal with it .

Mechanic says water pumps gone so hopefully that's it.

I know exactly what's going on with it. Your mechanic's right about the water pump.
A very similar situation happend to my E36. It would shake at idle, because of lack of compression somewhere.
It would also feel like I'm driving on 4-5 cylinders too. For me, there was a leak in my cooling system -- at the nipple where the overflow tank connects to the overflow hose.
Once I fixed it, my compression came back and it felt like 6 cylinders again.
This is also the cure for a lot of overheating problems.
As far as I know, E36's cooling system and engine both must have solid compression, especially in the radiator.
This is what a lot of people miss, and it could save a lot of damage.
1.) Fill radiator normally (overflow tank for mine) & undo bleed screw.
2.) Fill it to the max and let it come out of the bleed screw hole.
3.) Keep pouring water in until there are no bubbles popping out of the bleed screw hole (this can take up to 5 minutes)
4.) close the bleed screw shut and close coolant tank top, with water at the rim.
5.) You unscrew the top radiator hose going into the cylinder and pour your mixture of coolant/water in there, until it can't go down any more.

You then connect that back in place, and there you have it - full compression. Your E36 will feel much stronger after you do this and overheating should cease.

Just make sure you don't have leak some where though, it will waste a lot of coolant $$$.

Also, have your thermostat checked. Mine BUSTED INTO PIECES!
Mine's in the shop getting a water pump change right now too. Let's see what happens to our E36's

Hope you get it sorted , put the out come on here if you would, I for one would be interested, as know doubt others would too.

Well here we are again. New water pump, coolant flush ,coolant change, plus pressure test, and new viscous fan coupling = NO MORE ENGINE SHAKES. The cars performance is much better and i have a new sports filter. Happy days!!

Thats great news hope you can enjoy your car now at last, Must say cant see the shakes having anything to do with the stat , but you had a new viscous coupling, I would lean towards that being out of balance somehow and was the cause of the shakes, I will always bare that in mind now as a possible problem also surprised the stat was faulty as you said it only over heated AFTER you drained down. Anyway its of no consequence now,your car is fine your a happy bunny and that's all that matters enjoy.


PS . Sorry for some mad reason I thought you was talking about the stat must be reading what I want to read in my old age lol, normally the pump would leak when it packs up so still find it strange to be a cause of your engine to vibrate/shake, but suppose that and the fan together if the bearings were shot could cause vibration any how its fixed so no worries now , been interesting to know how you've gotten on with it. good luck from now on

You too Ron. Do you have photos of your car??

No haven't any photos as yet but will put some on if I can find out how Ill ask my son to do it for me, no he dont know either ive asked how on general discussion.