BMW Repair: bmw overheats, bells whistles, fan operation

Question
I just bought a 2001, 530i, 97,000 miles, vin cf12390, I have had it for 4 days, I have no history on the car other than the carfax report (useless), while sitting idle for 10 - 15 mins (playing with the bells, whistles and radio stations) the car quickly overheated into the red and the light came on. I immediately turned the car off. The engine did not seem to be hot and the next morning I checked the water level, seemed to be fine. After letting it sit for 15 mins it returned to normal temp range. I have driven it 2 more times and so far it hasn't overheated again. Could it be a fluke or should I beware of a problem? I'm afraid to drive too far from home but also afraid of taking it in to be looked at unnecessarily. Please advise.  

Answer
Kristy, the electric fan can intermittently not come on causing this situation. I only say this because I have seen this issue and it is hard to catch happening. If this happens again check to see if the electric fan in front of the radiator is coming on. Turn on A/C button and again check for fan operation. You might want to see if the thermostat is working properly. In short if this happens again I would take the car in and at least have the fault memories read out of the computer. BMW's are very sensitive to overheating so this is an issue that I would get taken care of.
-Evan