no coolant temperature gauge?

[boostm3]

Im reading the owners manual and cant find any reference to a coolant temparature gauge; just a warning light if it gets too hot.. Without a guage, we have no way to do anything about it before it overheats.

Am I missing something, or does the car really not have these?

[DWRAT]

not sure what car your talking about but the 2011 135i has a oil temp gauge if that helps?

[N55 Power]

He is most likely talking about the water/coolant temp which would be pumped through the block and cycled through the radiator. and no, not to my knowledge does the 135i have a water temp.

[boostm3]

The reason I posted this question is that, in my M3, in order to make room for the intercooler, we had to remove the electric aux fan that aids the air conditioner... The result is that, if there is an accident on the highway and we have to stop for more than about 10 minutes in the summer time, the coolant temp needle starts to climb.. If I didnt have this gauge which warns me to turn the ac off until we start moving again, Id have been in big trouble... I cant fathom why they omitted it... Unless the warning light comes on BEFORE the coolant is boiling, to me, its a big problem.. I dont intend to mod the car such that this becomes a requisite, it just irks me that my '99, antique by today's standards, shows more info than today's car in any area.

[Dackelone]

The 135i's and every other N55 (or N54) motor has an ELECTRIC WATER PUMP. With an electric water pump the ecu controls the water flow. BMW opted for no coolant gauge bc the gauge needle would move around too much - for the average driver. And so not to confuse the average driver, BMW decided not to provide an coolant gauge.

We all just wait until we see the oil temp gauge start to come up to temp, before we start to hammer it!

Btw... the only other car I have seen without a coolant gauge is VW new Beetle. There you get NOTHING! Just a blue light when you first start the engine. AFter the engine is warm that blue light goes out.

[boostm3]

Originally Posted by Dackelone

The 135i's and every other N55 (or N54) motor has an ELECTRIC WATER PUMP. With an electric water pump the ecu controls the water flow. BMW opted for no coolant gauge bc the gauge needle would move around too much - for the average driver. And so not to confuse the average driver, BMW decided not to provide an coolant gauge.

We all just wait until we see the oil temp gauge start to come up to temp, before we start to hammer it!

Btw... the only other car I have seen without a coolant gauge is VW new Beetle. There you get NOTHING! Just a blue light when you first start the engine. AFter the engine is warm that blue light goes out.

Ahhh, the water pump! On the E36s, just about all owners lose our impellors in short order rendering the pump useless.... We had a bunch of common maladies on those cars: Shock towers that would crack requiring welded in shock tower tops which BMW actually produced it was such a frequent problem; manny trannnies where the system would lose the 5th gear gate in less than 50k miles (huge thread on this in bimmerforums), radiators where the necks frequently crack, computer module for the ac system that fries a capacitor in under 85k miles (~$800 to replace, else go online and find the capacitor that always fails and replace it, which I did!), stock shocks which fail under 30k miles, infernally leaky valve cover gasket, and on and on it goes.

I trust weaknesses such as these have been improved in subsequent models!

[nordique14]

Originally Posted by boostm3

Ahhh, the water pump! On the E36s, just about all owners lose our impellors in short order rendering the pump useless.... We had a bunch of common maladies on those cars: Shock towers that would crack requiring welded in shock tower tops which BMW actually produced it was such a frequent problem; manny trannnies where the system would lose the 5th gear gate in less than 50k miles (huge thread on this in bimmerforums), radiators where the necks frequently crack, computer module for the ac system that fries a capacitor in under 85k miles (~$800 to replace, else go online and find the capacitor that always fails and replace it, which I did!), stock shocks which fail under 30k miles, infernally leaky valve cover gasket, and on and on it goes.

I trust weaknesses such as these have been improved in subsequent models!

I had the majority of the problems you list on my E36 (along with a few you did not list). And it only had 60k miles when I sold it!

The E82/E88 has its own set of problems and most cars are still have les than 30k miles on them. The HPFP are constant issue. They even extended the warranty on those to 10y/100k. The tail light gaskets on early models are causing the tail lights to fail. A couple of people have reported deformed shock towers. Various squeaks and rattles. The first gen Comfort Access has had bugs for a few people. Some radios have died or had static issues. Rear shock mounts have not been a issue but they look just a bad as the E36/E46. Just wait until these cars accumulate a few more miles so we can really see how they will hold up.

[john08135i]

If you use your easter egg and get in the hidden menu you can view it live while your driving.
During HOT days or when i was towing i would always go in that menu and watch it.

[boostm3]

Originally Posted by nordique14

I had the majority of the problems you list on my E36 (along with a few you did not list). And it only had 60k miles when I sold it!

The E82/E88 has its own set of problems and most cars are still have les than 30k miles on them. The HPFP are constant issue. They even extended the warranty on those to 10y/100k. The tail light gaskets on early models are causing the tail lights to fail. A couple of people have reported deformed shock towers. Various squeaks and rattles. The first gen Comfort Access has had bugs for a few people. Some radios have died or had static issues. Rear shock mounts have not been a issue but they look just a bad as the E36/E46. Just wait until these cars accumulate a few more miles so we can really see how they will hold up.

Ouch..but havent the hpfp issues been alleviated with the intro of the N55? Arent the tail light gaskets no longer an issue also? But hearing Anything remotely related to shock tower failure, an integral structural part no doubt, doesnt thrill! I still have my M3.. Latest thing dying is the AC compressor; it still works but there is a bearing in the compressor clutch which, when I first heard it, I thought my valves were in trouble; that unmistakable marbles_in_a_can sound... Someone told me to spray a stream of WD-40 into the bearing area next to the belt, and lo and behold, it shuts it up.. for a few wks... then it always comes back. Car has 81k mi on it; I want to sell it before more things start happening, although I feel like Ive replaced most parts already!

Now Im trying to make a decision for either a GTI or a 135i.. Price difference, similarly equipped, is about $7k. I really wanted a 135i, but the GTI has a whole history of reliability, magazine awards, etc, etc, plus owners seem to absolutely love them for fun, utility, practicality, etc, etc. But I crave the power the 135i offers, and Ive kind of learned to love its quirky looks. Every day Im reversing my decision... This is a tough one!!

>>If you use your easter egg and get in the hidden menu you can view it live while your driving.
During HOT days or when i was towing i would always go in that menu and watch it.<<

easter egg = remote device? What's the menu entry procedure?

[Dackelone]

Originally Posted by boostm3

Now Im trying to make a decision for either a GTI or a 135i.. Price difference, similarly equipped, is about $7k. I really wanted a 135i, but the GTI has a whole history of reliability, magazine awards, etc, etc, plus owners seem to absolutely love them for fun, utility, practicality, etc, etc. But I crave the power the 135i offers, and Ive kind of learned to love its quirky looks. Every day Im reversing my decision... This is a tough one!!

HAHAH!!! IF you think VW (VAG) product is more reliable than a BMW you are sadly missinformed. Do a search and you will see. I use to work at a VW dealership and VW would ship us dead cars. Sometimes they wouldn't even run. Could not believe their attitude for building cars. Basically build it and let the dealer fix it for the customer. IF all else fails they will buy back the car! Hah! I still like VAG stuff.... there is just no way I would buy one ever again. No thanks.

[GaryS]

I have a $160 ScanGauge on my steering column that shows water temp and some other stuff like IAT. For a lot more money, the Performance steering wheel also shows water temp and some other stuff.

[IDBMW]

On my 2000 330Ci which had no coolant temperature gauge, the coolant temperature light came on once. I drove about 1 mile to the next freeway exit and turned it off. When I opened the hood the radiator was not steaming and did not seem excessively hot. Turns out my water pump failed. Had it fixed at the dealer and no issues after that. I believe the light comes on way before the engine is damaged. Our cars also have a low coolant warning light. So if the failure mode is leaking or somehow the coolant goes low you will know from the low coolant warning light. Sure it would be nice to have the gauge but I think the average driver does not or would not monitor the gauge, that’s why cars with temperature gauges still have overtrump lights. Correct me if I am wrong but the BT scanner has a coolant temperature readout.

[BrokenVert]

I think the better question is why doesn't an FI car have a boost guage

[Dackelone]

Originally Posted by BrokenVert

I think the better question is why doesn't an FI car have a boost guage

[jkp1187]

Originally Posted by boostm3

Im reading the owners manual and cant find any reference to a coolant temparature gauge; just a warning light if it gets too hot.. Without a guage, we have no way to do anything about it before it overheats.

Am I missing something, or does the car really not have these?

Consider getting a Scangauge - plugs into the OBD-II port and provides water temp, volts, and other data. Can program it to indicate boost as well (although not as accurate as a true vacuum gauge.)

[boostm3]

Originally Posted by Dackelone

HAHAH!!! IF you think VW (VAG) product is more reliable than a BMW you are sadly missinformed. Do a search and you will see. I use to work at a VW dealership and VW would ship us dead cars. Sometimes they wouldn't even run. Could not believe their attitude for building cars. Basically build it and let the dealer fix it for the customer. IF all else fails they will buy back the car! Hah! I still like VAG stuff.... there is just no way I would buy one ever again. No thanks.

When looking at data representing thousands of owners' experiences (consumer reports, for instance), all the reliability statistics Ive read indicate the GTI is more reliable than the 135i, your experience with vw notwithstanding..

[imported_mega]

dummy light only, oil temp is a million times better than the buffered water temp gauges bmw has been using for the past two decades, those are basically dummy lights too

[Cuz5150]

one thing that i do miss when i get in to the 135i is all the guages that it does not have. Volt/water temp/boost////

[JHZR2]

LOTS of new cars do not have a temp gauge. The blue light to indicate cold (we do not have this, but a nissan I drive did, and it is a nice idea) and the red light to indicate hot may be just as good as a damped gauge.... but a real temp gauge is a nice thing to have.

Oil temperature is more important for knowing when it is OK to go full boost/full power. It is a lagging indicator of water temp, but more important in regular ops then water!

Scangauge is nice, but if there is an easter egg to see it, all the better! The only issue with not having a real one right there is that it may take a bit longer to recognize that something is not right... Having an easter egg readout that you have to access is not reliable, though if I knew I was going through severe conditions, Imight put it on to show consistently.

The 135 is no modified M3... it is designed to sit in traffic in the heat with the AC on for the most part. Keep the PM up and it should be OK to you. Though fundamentally you are correct - you may not know until it is too late. Hopefully the logic sets up to put the warning on at a sufficiently low temperature... I wonder if it could be programmed to come on at a lower temp in some of these "tunes"?

[Dackelone]

Originally Posted by maxnix

VW and Audi are just not reliable, expensive to repair, and use even more overpriced parts than BMW.

If you want reliability and affordability, look at Japan and Korea, first, then the USA (Mexico and Canada included).

I agree with the above statement 100%.

IF VAG (VW/Audi) cars are doing better than BMW's... than why are VW suppliers rating VW the worse to deal with? VW has become the Walmart is price fixing for parts and suppilers. They hate doing bisiness with VW but they HAVE TO in order to stay alive in the market place.

What I have always liked about BMW is that they put a few more euros into designing a part then VW does. Even when just a few more euro cents would make a repair job so much eaiser... VW will not spend the money. BMW does.

In my e36 I replaced my water pump and it was so easy. MUCH easier than in my old VW Golf. Same thing goes for window regulators, it was really easy in my BMW compared to my VW. VW pop revits their ring gears in place bc it is faster and cheaper. BMW welds their ring gears in place. Things like this the average customer will never see.... but it makes a difference to how the car will perform down the road.

[JHZR2]

well those things you mention may be easier/harder because of engine alignment (think 90 degrees from a BMW to a VW due to RWD vs FWD), and cost savings (think cost of a golf vs even a stripped 1er. Some of it is due to mechanical realities of the car layout, some due to cost-savings for a price point.

[RPM90]

Originally Posted by BrokenVert

I think the better question is why doesn't an FI car have a boost guage

Man I'm old. When I first read that I thought, "FI - fuel injection".
I'm slow and getting slower.