[lsutiger]

Just got home from about a 10 minute drive. Nothing too harsh. Parked and turned off car and noticed some sound I've never noticed before from the engine compartment. Popped hood and notice the coolant boiling in the clear reservoir. Is that normal? I didn't get any sort of temp warning while driving.

2014 335i.

Thanks.

[tturedraider]

No, not normal.

[JJS]

After 10 mins, my engine oil is barely at operating temperature. Something is not right.

[TheHitchhiker]

Your fan may be dead. Pretty common with M Sports. My fan failed after 4 days of delivery at around 200 miles. And no it's not normal at all.

[Mattjkilo]

You sure it was boiling?

Potentially the coolant bubbling as it settles and fills air gaps. It has every chance of being bad though so keep an eye out.

[oceanview]

Originally Posted by lsutiger

Just got home from about a 10 minute drive. Nothing too harsh. Parked and turned off car and noticed some sound I've never noticed before from the engine compartment. Popped hood and notice the coolant boiling in the clear reservoir. Is that normal? I didn't get any sort of temp warning while driving.
2014 335i.
Thanks.

Not normal. Don't run the engine anymore and don't drive! (maybe 5 min. drive to the shop is fine.)

It could be that you don't get a warning right away. If the cooling System has a leak, for exemple because the reservoir lid is leaking, the coolant starts to boil around 100 Degrees Celsius. If the System has no leak, coolant can reach higher temp than 100 deg. C. (that's why it is a closed under pressure system).
The coolant temperature sensor would therefore only react at about 110 deg C. and switch on the coolant warning (I don't know the exact temp. for the 335i)
But if there is leak, coolant will start boiling at 100 deg C (on sea level). and it will further heat up and once it reaches about 110 deg C. you will get the warning.

That's why you can also easily get a low coolant level warning before getting a high temp warning. So you also want to react immediatelly on a low coolant level warning and check what's wrong.

Originally Posted by JJS

After 10 mins, my engine oil is barely at operating temperature. Something is not right.

When driving in cold weather, and in normal RPM (about 2000-3000) it can take longer to heat up to "normal" oil temp. I have about 20 min to drive to the Office and it never get's to more than 80 degrees Celsius. If I drive to our other Office, which is about 40 minutes drive, then the oil is on temp. (Outside temp around 5 degrees Celsius)

[doug piston]

Are you sure it was boiling and not burping up an air bubble? It's a pressurized system and unless you have leak/hole I am highly doubting it will boil.

[lsutiger]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

I called my service department and like you said Doug, they doubted it was boiling and if it was low on coolant it may bubble in the reservoir. Told me to check the coolant level and add some water if needed. I checked and it was about 3 or 4 inches below the cold max level. I brought it up to max and took it for a spirited drive only about a block away from the dealer in case I had a problem. Ran it hard and then stopped at a gas station and popped the hood. No "boiling" or "gurgling" or whatever was happening before.

Now my only concern is why I'm I having to add water after only 2 months and 2,000 miles? Never noticed any leaking. Plus I never got a low coolant warning.

I'm going to pay close attention to it the next several weeks.

[ADM]

Up front disclaimer, as I am not sure if what happened to me may apply to your situation:
Had a similar issue (Temp Gauge heading to red country fast from normal center location) this summer on my 2003 330i. Pulled over and looked, didn't see anything abnormal. Shut the engine off, Restarted and the temp gauge reset to normal.

A few days later, the same thing happened. Waited a while and then tried to restart. Same thing, as the gauge returned to the center. However, this time I was a bit more nervous & brought it straight (flashers turned on incase I needed to pull off the road immediately to avoid seizing the engine) to my mechanic who was only a mile away. The gauge never rose!

Bottom line was a crack in the overflow container. According to the mechanic, this was not "unheard of", in fact the local BMW dealer (source of his parts) seemed to be experiencing a run on the part as well. BTW- Never saw any leaks or stains on my driveway. Since then, nooooooooo more issues.

[lsutiger]

Originally Posted by ADM

Up front disclaimer, as I am not sure if what happened to me may apply to your situation:
Had a similar issue (Temp Gauge heading to red country fast from normal center location) this summer on my 2003 330i. Pulled over and looked, didn't see anything abnormal. Shut the engine off, Restarted and the temp gauge reset to normal.

A few days later, the same thing happened. Waited a while and then tried to restart. Same thing, as the gauge returned to the center. However, this time I was a bit more nervous & brought it straight (flashers turned on incase I needed to pull off the road immediately to avoid seizing the engine) to my mechanic who was only a mile away. The gauge never rose!

Bottom line was a crack in the overflow container. According to the mechanic, this was not "unheard of", in fact the local BMW dealer (source of his parts) seemed to be experiencing a run on the part as well. BTW- Never saw any leaks or stains on my driveway. Since then, nooooooooo more issues.

Thanks. I'll keep that in mind and monitor things close.

[Pungschter]

I've been to the dealer four times to get my coolant topped off. Got warning light and when I checked the fluid was low or reservoir was empty. Had it in the shop and they did a pressure check and could find nothing. It's going back in the shop next week since it's still loosing coolant. No leaks are evident. Coolant gauge never got passed mid-point. Car has 2,200 miles.

[oceanview]

That's what mechanics are here for. With the right tools it's normally easy to find out the cause of coolant loss.
Put pressure on the coolant System, see if pressure stays, if not, search for leak point.
Check engine oil if there is coolant in it (oil turns to white sump.)
Check coolant if there is exhaust gas in it.

Nothing spectacular at all, just normal problem analysis. Many possible causes, just need to find the one causing the problem on your car...

[doug piston]

Originally Posted by lsutiger

Thanks for the replies everyone.

I called my service department and like you said Doug, they doubted it was boiling and if it was low on coolant it may bubble in the reservoir. Told me to check the coolant level and add some water if needed. I checked and it was about 3 or 4 inches below the cold max level. I brought it up to max and took it for a spirited drive only about a block away from the dealer in case I had a problem. Ran it hard and then stopped at a gas station and popped the hood. No "boiling" or "gurgling" or whatever was happening before.

Now my only concern is why I'm I having to add water after only 2 months and 2,000 miles? Never noticed any leaking. Plus I never got a low coolant warning.

I'm going to pay close attention to it the next several weeks.

Could be many different things. Maybe it just wasn't filled correctly at the factory and missed during the PDI. Overall coolant level dropping is not something that is unheard of and does happen from time to time.

I wouldn't lose any sleep about it yet but if it does happen again have the dealer take a look. It's what warranties are for.

[GhazaliGTE]

Along the same lines, my car was on and I was vacuuming after a wash when I saw coolant underneath the car. I popped the hood and found that the coolant reservoir bleed valve (it's a little rubber stopper-looking thing on the top of the reservoir next to the lid, may not be a bleed valve lol) started spraying out coolant like a volcano sprays lava. I understand that the system is pressurized so I'm guessing that it has a crack in it or something. I turned off the car immediately and didn't notice any overheating. The fluid stopped spraying out after a couple of minutes so I waited a few more and then started it. There was no spraying and no overheating but I was a bit low on coolant. I filled it up and drove it some more with no leaks. I set an appointment with BMW just in case but has anyone else experienced this before? Thanks!

[Golden Arrow]

Like Doug said, things sometimes aren't filled all the way. My windshield washer fluid was low the FIRST day I bought my 335.

I could've filled it myself, but I figured I'd let the dealer do it, since they'd owned the car the majority of the day.

[Forgiven]

Originally Posted by tasansal

Your fan may be dead. Pretty common with M Sports. My fan failed after 4 days of delivery at around 200 miles. And no it's not normal at all.

This^

[BDWonder]

Originally Posted by lsutiger

Just got home from about a 10 minute drive. Nothing too harsh. Parked and turned off car and noticed some sound I've never noticed before from the engine compartment. Popped hood and notice the coolant boiling in the clear reservoir. Is that normal? I didn't get any sort of temp warning while driving.

2014 335i.

Thanks.

It may be your inner fan. It may be broken. I had similar issue except the car filled with smoke and etc. It is an easy fix. Take to dealer right away because the next thing your car will state it is over heated and to not drive it. Dealer it now. Do it. Do it.

[X2 Monstah]

Thermostat inop or stuck. had the same issue with my E92.

[SomeRandomer123]

Originally Posted by lsutiger

Thanks for the replies everyone.

I called my service department and like you said Doug, they doubted it was boiling and if it was low on coolant it may bubble in the reservoir. Told me to check the coolant level and add some water if needed. I checked and it was about 3 or 4 inches below the cold max level. I brought it up to max and took it for a spirited drive only about a block away from the dealer in case I had a problem. Ran it hard and then stopped at a gas station and popped the hood. No "boiling" or "gurgling" or whatever was happening before.

Now my only concern is why I'm I having to add water after only 2 months and 2,000 miles? Never noticed any leaking. Plus I never got a low coolant warning.

I'm going to pay close attention to it the next several weeks.

I noticed my 328i had a low coolant level at about 20,000mls when poking round the engine bay. No warnings. I took it to the dealership to investigate and they replaced the reservoir and refilled me. Now on 66,000mls, all is well. Though I wonder if I got another new one when they changed the engine?