New Z3 3L .1500mls in 3 days. Advice needed

[Paulro]

Hi all
I picked up my newly purchased Z3 sport 3.0l auto last Friday, booked a ferry to Caen and drove it down to Portugal, the Algarve arriving yesterday. 1500 mls.
The first thing I'd say is how amazed I am at the mpg.
Driving at 80mph, sometimes slightly more the best I saw on the computer was 33 and mostly 32.8.
The car drove nicely, ideal too on those slightly winding but fast roads from Caceres to Badajoz in Spain and on to Evora in Portugal.
One thing to report; the car is running cold. Rarely did the temperature gauge reach the half way point and it mainly stayed just outside the green marker.
Why is this and what do I need to do to fix it.

One more point. I bought an oil filter and some oil with me. Do I need anything else to have the oil changed? I seem to remember members talking about o rings?

I took some pics and once I've sorted the Christmas shopping I'll post some.

Thanks for your help and happy Christmas to you all on this great forum.
Paul

 

[Antm72]

Hi Paul sounds like a great drive home.
It sounds like the car has a stuck thermostat ,good mpg for a car running cold.
I had this the heater will blow warm rather than hot and the gauge will probably raise stood still.
It could be the viscous fan also its not stuck on is it ?

 

[Paulro]

Hi Paul sounds like a great drive home.
It sounds like the car has a stuck thermostat ,good mpg for a car running cold.
I had this the heater will blow warm rather than hot and the gauge will probably raise stood still.
It could be the viscous fan also its not stuck on is it ?

Not sure. The heater was blowing nearly hot. In a traffic jam the needle got to half way. Is there a way to see if that fan is stuck on?

 

[Antm72]

You should be able to move the fan fairly freely by hand it works on oil movement but they can fail.
Im sure its the thermostat the temp gauge is buffered so 12 oclock is a range of temps ,mine behaved as yours is when the stat got stuck replacement resolved.

 

[Cooper]

Congrats on the car! Sounds like the thermostat is stuck or needs replacing as stated above. The o rings are on the oil filter center spigot which you will see when you pull the filter out, there are 2 of them. Easy to replace. Search around in here you will see plenty of write up and guides which go into great detail.

 

[t-tony]

Most, but not all, after market oil filters for BMW's come with a copper sump plug washer and the two "O" rings. Have you checked in the filter box?

Tony.