on the way back from a meeting yesterday, I was getting intermittent orange and red level temp alarms for the engine overheating. when i pulled over to check the coolant level, it was still full. I nursed the car home and parked it out on the street to cool off. several hours later I pulled it up into the garage, and it had a hard start, the temp alarms went off again, and the engine fan was blowing after shut off like I had just driven it through the mountains. This morning i had a very rough start, and after initial temp alarms again they went away and the engine was purring like normal. about half way to work, the check engine light came on.. From what I can tell, the belts all look good, it's nothing obvious. My repair shop is a good 20 miles away from home/work. I'll be leaving my car here at the job all week and taking the wife's car back and forth, fortunately we work opposite shifts. Is it going to be safe enough to drive to the shop, or should I figure out a tow? Any insight to possible cause or maybe a DIY fix? I drive a 09 Cooper, never had this issue before.
Sounds exactly like our BMW 5 Series when the electric water pump quit. I'd probably get a flatbed tow to be safe.
I second this, but without the direct experience with a BMW 5 Series. 20 miles is plenty of time for the engine to overheat imo. If I read you correctly, this is an R56? ('09 should be a second gen) If I recall correctly, the water pump and thermostat are pretty deep in the engine compartment. The intake and associated pipes come out, of course, and the assembly is under the block. There's some fairly inaccessible clips in there, so while it might be DIY, it's a bit of complicated work in a cramped space. Someone with more knowledge feel free to correct me on that.
had it towed by AAA to the shop, fairly certain it's just a faulty sensor, be in and ready to go early tomorrow. If it turns out to be something else, well then s*()*&! lol.