I have an 82 320i it seems to blow a fair bit of air. I can see my heat gauge get to almost half way but i dont have squat for hot air coming through for defrosting etc. I mean we have a really nasty cold snap at the moment. I just wondered if it was like alot of smaller cars? Or is it maybe lack of maintenance from previous owners:rolleyes. The cold snap hit just as i got the car on the road so i havent been able to get a rad flush or get the thermostat tested. I was also wondering if my heater core could be plugged. Anyways tks for your input

the way that BMW did the heat was quite awesome. The warm air comes in towards the floor, while it blows cool air at you, to keep you alert or something. I think it's a very good thought, but it might make some people sleepy...
Jake

I should blow warm, but only through defrost and foot vents. The dash vents are for cold outside air only. Keep the lever on the right all the way down to keep those closed in the winter.

If you still don't have warm air check to make sure you have a full cooling system and that the heater valve is opening. It's located on the firewall in the middle, just next to the brake booster.

But the heat does work, correct? Also, make sure you understand how the vehicle's vent system works. It took me a while to understand it completely. My car does not blow that much hot air through the main vents, but doesn't defrost too well(I need to lube the vent selector cable.

thanks for the tips cause no one i know would have had a clue about that stuff

Check the floor when your car is warm. if its blowing hot air down there but not on top its probably the vent selector thats out of wack.

If its not blowing any heat at all. if you pop your hood and follow a rubber hose from the driver side of the firewall it leads to a ( ) circle like break in the hose with a small wire attached to the bottom (Heater Valve). If you find that wire and slide it to the opposite direction you should now have switched it to have warm air (thats if it didn't blow warm air before)

Basically if you don't know it. The heater control switch (the switch that controls the temp). That connects to a wire that goes through your firewall and connects to that Heater Valve I mentioned, that is the wire that you slide back and forth. So basically when you turn it inside the car it either pulls on the wire or pushes on it, changing that small switch on the Heater Valve.

On my car, when I turn the temp switch to hot, it doesn't quiet move the switch in the engine bay all the way, so I have to pop the hood and push it all the way over myself. Then the air gets hot as hell.

i would go nuts if i didnt have you guys to ask alot of these questions so tks

i would go nuts if i didnt have you guys to ask alot of these questions so tks

I've gone nuts many times... One time I go so pissed off from everything falling apart that I broke the cover that goes under the driver side dash.

Wow on my 79 i just remove the kick panel under the steering wheel and move that heater valve manually since the plastic piece on the switch the wire connects to is broken. i just set my to roast and use the vent to keep me from sweating too bad...that car heats up way faster than my e-36 even when it's -20 outside on my way home from work.

well i tried a few things like opening that valve but still only luke warm i need the weather to warm up enough so that i can work outside and i will pull some of the covers off. Totally in love with the fact today that the heater motor started squeeling time to shop for one of those i guess to

My car takes a while to warm up, but if I jump on the highway with the vents closed it gets boiling hot, very quickly. I usually leave one vent open, and one vent closed if it's still a bit cold, although after a while I open both vents.

I like it pretty cool in my car, as long as my fingers aren't freezing off onto the steering wheel then I'm good.

well i tried a few things like opening that valve but still only luke warm i need the weather to warm up enough so that i can work outside and i will pull some of the covers off. Totally in love with the fact today that the heater motor started squeeling time to shop for one of those i guess to

the heater motor has done that to me sometimes, but it worked fine. How long did you drive it for? I know my car heats up fast, but the heater takes a while to become super hot.

Yeah My blower motor squeels like crazy. It need to be replaced, only I don't know if it's a Sofica or Baer.

My car will melt you with its heat. I know at some point my heater controls are now reversed. I don't know how it happened but at cold its hot and hot is cold. Maybe check to see if the controls were reversed. Also, drop the panel under the steering column and check to see the cables are connected.

Lol, maybe its the US assembled E21's are on a different scale, but mine (Aus model) in minus degree celcius temperature is one of the best damn heaters ive ever had in a car. (Which is saying alot, given that my parents cars are Mitsubishi Pajero (Shogun) & E46 M3,) surely they should be alot better with heating given that they are worth like 25 times as much as mine...

lol thought i might just throw that in there ;)

Franzino

is there a way to take my cars vin somewhere to tell what kind of heater motor i have so that i can have the replacement in hand when i go to tear the heating system apart. I checked the valve btw it works fine actually the system is full but its still not heating well. I have actually noticed that the temp fluctuates when driving from just below half but if its warm out or just idling it climbs between half and three quarters. I have been twiddling with the controls but its not blowing off heat like you guys talk about yours doing. I am just trying your ideas out. I have a bad habit of just starting to replace parts with other cars i have had and well with this one that would get expensive. I am wondering if maybe the thermostat is sticky or a plugged heater core? any thoughts or ideas? i mean the air is warm but not hot and its only warm on a warm day

Check your coolant level. It sounds like it's low.

As for the squeel, you may be able to get rid of it by lubing the old blower motor with wd40. Take the black cover off that covers the blower and you can get to it, while you're in there you should be able to tell which blower you have by measuring if you can't read the stamping:

Behr/Bosch 11 inch overall length
Sofica - 10.5 inch overall length

Hey, I had this problem on an Audi 4000, and it might be a similar situation here. Do 320's have a a fresh air vent? Sometimes the selenoid doesn't operate/cable broken, so the door to the outside doesn't work, so essentially you are trying to heat the outside air rather than recirculating, so it never gets hot.

yeah i filled the coolant in it. with that valve on the firewall connected to the hose is it below or above that house when looking down on it when its all the way open its outwards towards the rad when all the way open and i can open it a bit further but not much. Is there a solenoid like that in the e21 like vtgi suggested?

No, there are 3 cables. One opens and closes the heater valve, one opens and closes the outside air vents (right hand slider), and one changes heated air flow from defrost to feet to off. That's it.

As previously stated, make sure that there is absolutely no air blowing from the vents on the dash. These are COLD AIR ONLY, by design. If you can't get the cold air to stop flowing with the slide lever on the right then the cable is detached.

Ok i misunderstood that because for sure i have air coming from the ones up at the top of the dash its either warm air or cold air but its flowing from there its only lukewarm air when warm