I have an 04 R53 and it took me almost 3 hours to get out of a cluster-f of a parking lot on July 4th. I constantly turned my car off to keep from overheating, although the last 30-45 minutes I was at a slow roll. Finally on the freeway, I noticed my temp gauge was going down! I hopped off the freeway and took a side road where it started to slowly go up.

Went to work yesterday (7/5) and same thing, it goes up and down, where it should normally go halfway and stay there. I did refill my coolant and the problem still persisted.

Anyone have similar problems?

Just wanna get a few opinions before I take it to a Mini/BMW shop in Oakland.

Thanks!

 

You should be able to idle indefinitely..... No overheating if the radiator fan is working, the coolant is full, the water pump is working right, and the thermostat is working right....
So sounds like you might have an issue...

 

First check...
Did you hear a cooling fan...
The PS fan can get stuck...
Blows a 5 amp fuse, rendering the radiator fan inop (basicly removes the power from a relay the radiator fan needs)...

 

I did hear the cooling fan that night, but not yesterday since I wasn't idling around. How can I check if I blew a fuse for the fan or if it's stuck? Thanks for the quick reply!

 

Turn on the A/C N' You Gonna Here The Fan
( Low Speed ).
After That The Hi Speed need's to turn on.
But You gonna see the difference
From the Low & Hi Speed.

But if you turn on the A/C N' The Fan Turn on & off
That's The Hi Speed.

So You Low Speed is not working
( The Resistor Fan is Burned or The Fuse )

But If The Fuse Is Ok. ( The Resistor Is Bad. )

Also The Fuses For The Fan Are Under The Hood.
The Fan Fuse Is The F5. ( 5A )

I Hope That Help You.

 

It helped a bit. After turning off the A/C, the hi speed fan stayed on. I'll see what the mechanic says tomorrow. I really hope it's just the ps fan! Thanks again for the reply, I really appreciate it!

 

Yes Stay On but Way a little bit N' They Have to switch to the low speed.

If not.
The Resistor Is Bad.

Tried To Install External Resistor
Is Better.

Good Luck.

 

So I just took a short drive (about 20 mins) and this is the result:

I started driving with the A/C on and the needle was about 1/4 up on the temp gauge. It remained there until I turned the A/C off. The needle then slowly creeped up just below the halfway point where it should be. On my way back home, about 3 minutes from my house I turned the A/C back on and the needle started to move down again. By the time I got to my house it was slightly below 1/4 tick mark. I turned off the A/C again and it creeped up back halfway.

I took another drive and started with the A/C off and it moved down slightly, but when I turned the A/C back on heading back to my house again, it started to dip. When I got to my house, I turned off the A/C and opened the hood and it remained just above 1/4. I turned the A/C back on and it remained.

Also, when I had the A/C off at the end of this little test, the hi-speed fan remained on, so it's possibly the resistor, correct?

 

Yes Is The Resistor Fan.

But Went You Have The A/C On.
The Fan Turn On N' Off?

If Is Yes.
Is The Resistor.

So Went You Have The A/C Off
The Fan Turn On Until The
Temperature Is A 212F° Because
Is Went The Hi Speed Is On.

The Low Speed Turn On A 205F°

So My Recommendation To You.
Do The Bypass Until You Get That Resistor Fan Fix.

So That Way Went The Low Speed Need To Turn On The Hi Speed Is The Want Is Gonna By On.

N' You Mini Don't Gonna Get To Hot.

 

Dropped off my r53 yesterday at a shop and they called me today. Looks like I need a new thermostat and radiator. Thermostat is the reason why the temp gauge is going down and check engine light is on and there's a radiator leak, which is why my coolant is low.

Bad news is that they found a cracked axle boot that needs replacing.

Good news is I ordered a high performance radiator

Hopefully I get my baby back tomorrow!