'89 Sport not reaching normal temperature?

[Ritz]

My G reg '89 Sport has been taken out after 6 months in storage. Everthying brill apart from one minor thing...

Past couple of drives I've noticed the temp needle doesn't go to the middle of the dial (as normal), hangs just before halfway mark.

Any ideas?

[ImysE30]

Mine does the same thing, don't think i have ever seen it go to the middle

[georgen]

I've had several 6 cyl E30's now, and the temp guage has always sat at a different position in every one of them !

As long as she's not overheating, I wouldn't worry fella..

[Ritz]

Mine does the same thing, don't think i have ever seen it go to the middle

Really? It was actually noted in the service by a BMW specialist last April 2008 - I didn't notice until I read the service records again couple of days ago.

[scottidog]

Mine was always below half way mark but over the quarter mark. Try a thermostat if its bothering you, easy fix and cheap too.

[ImysE30]

Mine does the same thing, don't think i have ever seen it go to the middle

Really? It was actually noted in the service by a BMW specialist last April 2008 - I didn't notice until I read the service records again couple of days ago.

Yep and i've had the car about 2 years. Not really bothered me, only start to worry if he went near the red

[Ritz]

I've had several 6 cyl E30's now, and the temp guage has always sat at a different position in every one of them !

As long as she's not overheating, I wouldn't worry fella..

Yeah its not overheating so not stressing that much. I can hear the fan roar at when you rev it at high temp so thats all ok.

Just thought there might be a faulty temp sensor or something...

[bss325i]

Mine has always sat just before half way. I have recently replaced both temp sensors and thermostat and its the same.

Dont worry about it.

[Brianmoooore]

I suppose I'd better type this out once again: The E30 temperature gauge is not linear - it's compressed at each end, with the whole centre section, from just clear of the blue to just before the red, covering just a few degrees. The needle anywhere is this whole section is fine, according to BMW.
In practice, E30's have the needle just past the 1/4 mark, or almost exactly on the centre mark, depending, presumably, on the thermostat fitted.

[nickso]

I suppose I'd better type this out once again: The E30 temperature gauge is not linear - it's compressed at each end, with the whole centre section, from just clear of the blue to just before the red, covering just a few degrees. The needle anywhere is this whole section is fine, according to BMW.
In practice, E30's have the needle just past the 1/4 mark, or almost exactly on the centre mark, depending, presumably, on the thermostat fitted.

handy to know.

why haven't we got an FAQ section so brian doesnt have to churn all this top knowledge out time and again?

[hoshy]

I've created a page for on the wiki for the temperature gauge and also an FAQ page.

The temp gauge page is currently purely Brian's text from above - Brian let me know if that's not ok and I'll change it just enough to be clear of any intellectual property issues

Now the FAQ page also exists - please try to update it guys.

http://www.e30zone.net/e30zonewiki/index.php/FAQ

[325zimmer]

Mine did this after I changed my head gasket. I put in new sensors and thermostat and it did the same.
Then i ran an earth from the sensor to the (-) earth post on the strut.
This sorted it and it sits bang on the middle now.