No heat and overheating

[blkspruce]

Hi all.

My 95 525i was recently in an accident and the impact caused the radiator brackets on top to break. There is coolant leaking from somewhere not diagnosed yet. My wife drove it to the store and there was no heat and it began to overheat and blow steam from the valve.

I cannot locate the leak now, only a puddle in the garage. Please help me with where to begin.

Thank you

[colo525i]

I'd start by looking at the radiator, it has plastic connections that could have broken in that impact. The radiator core itself may have been damaged and need replaced. Don't drive the car until you figure out the cooling system problem and replace/bleed the coolant, as the 525 is susceptible to ruining the headgasket if overheated.

[blkspruce]

How am I to tell if the core is bad?

[filip00]

i'd check the thermostate, the visco clutch, and surely replace the radiator and hoses.

how is the car overheating? only when running idle, and goes back to normal when driving, or the temp just keeps rising?

[blkspruce]

When driving and idle, keeps going up

[Chris'91'525i]

How am I to tell if the core is bad?

I'd fill the radiator with water as much as possible, then start motor and set the heater to full heat with fan on. Raise the RPM's and contine to add water till it's topped up with water.
Bleed it, and put the Rad. cap back on.
Wait for Temp. and pressure to bulid up. And you should be able to locate obvious leaks.
If you saw a puddle under the car, it should show up again if you do the above.

[TC535i]

No heat, overheats at idle? Sounds like an improper bleed, air pocket in the heater core.

Bleed, bleed, bleed again. Search about bleeding the system. Do it parked on a hill if that helps, so that the "bleed screw" is the highest point in the system.

[blkspruce]

No luck. I just tried bleeding and car ran for about 20 minutes and the temp guage was getting high again. I shut it off before it hit red. I pinched the hoses when the guage hit mid way and they are not expanding and filling with coolant. I tried to bleed from screw and no pressure.

What else please.

[filip00]

thermostate then. change it.

[blkspruce]

Not thermostat, I replaced it and although it did not over heat there is no heat in the car. I cannot bleed it for there is no pressure in the hoses. What am I missing?