ok please bare with me i am a first time bmw owner

i bought a bmw 328i coupe sport (e36?)

all was going nice test drove fantastic auto box was lovely and smooth everything works etc etc

pay the fella and take her to see my best bud we go a wee spin and on the way back to his she starts overheating and cutting out at junctions......

oh no me thinks panic panic panic so im trying to get home to tuck her in to be looked at tomorrow

it then cuts out and will not start i phone my mechanic friend who tells me its a safety cut out because its over heated he thinks theres a fan not working

leave to cool and once cool try to start but wont turn over

jump start it it turns over and starts up yeeeeeha .......

until i take my foot off the accelerator and uh oh it dies again

im having no luck and no fun i only bought it for a weekend car as i drive a van but now i think i have been conned :-(

please please please some body help me!

Welcome along mate,

Oh dear doesn't sound good....

Now I'm no mechanic but if you say it keeps cutting out and won't turn over might be something simple like an earth problem, or maybe the alternator, as that keeps the engine going, I think dabsy will be best to answer this

Could be a whole number of issues sadly =[

Get a compression check done

Get the air flow sensor cleaned

Change the thermostat

Hope that helps

Oh and point 4...

Flatten the idiot that sold it to you! Lol

is the battery flat from trying to start it. im guessing its a coolant problem somewere. is the head gone? any milky crap on the oil cap? as above may need a compression test, worse thing to do if overheating is continue running it. it may be like mine though, only needed a £9 sensor, welcome to the club

take it straight back and demand a refund,dont mess about as the chap who sold it to you probably knew there was a problem.

was it bought private ?

if so its sold as seen sadly

Cannot add much to what has already been mentioned, but here goes nothing...

Your engine is the M52 straight six - Bulletproof in my opinion, I have this unit in my E38 !!

Start simple... Remove all six spark plugs and line them up for each cylinder (this is important), notice any differences?

If yes, explain the differences...

If no difference then put them back in their original places then change everything else that can be changed i.e. Oil, Coolant, thermostat, rad cap and maybe clean the throttle body...

It could be as simple as a coolant blockage which could be the thermostat or even some clown using "egg-white" to disguise the issue!!!

...Or it could be as sinister as a blown head gasket, which in itself is not that bad, but a fairly big effin job to do !!

BTW Welcome to BMWOC(UK) pal :rolleyes:

Lets get mucky !!!

How far did you go on the first test drive?

not entirely true regarding the "sold as seen". it depends on how the receipt was worded.

my mum sold a car a few years back with a dodgy 5th gear, the guy managed to get a couple hundred quid back to cover the repair bill.

if you took some one to court over it you would get laughed out of the place, no reciept of warrenty etc means sold as seen, when i sell a car i get the buyer to sign a sold as seen reciept, evan though its not worth the paper its written on.

you can try your look by speaking to the previous owner but they have the right to say do one. after all it was fine on the test drive wasnt it ?

There is a GOV website that allows you to drag someone thru the small claims court, cost you twenty quid - you explain and name the person.. Think its any claim under 2k... I'll hunt it out if you like?

Here it is...

http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/infoabout/claims/index.htm