BMW: BMW 325i (1994), fan clutch, bmw 325i

Question
Hi,
My car recently have been overheated. I chenged the termostate, but still has the same problem and after driving for ten minutes temprature goes all the way high. I dont have money to take it to mechanic so do you have any sugestion?!
Thanks

Answer
Kashef,
 First thing, make sure that you DO NOT keep driving the car once it is hot.  That will lead to $$$$$$$ thousands of dollars in repairs.  How long ago was the Thermostat changed?  Did the over heating start after you changed the thermostat, or did you change the thermostat because it was over heating?
 With the limited knowledge I have of your car, there are 3 possiblities.
 
 1.  The thermostat that was installed could be faulty,  it's rare, but it "could" happen.

 2.  If you noticed the car overheating after the thermostat was changed, you probably have air in the system.  Air will not let coolant circulate correctly, and will build up steam in the system.  Try re-bleeding the system.
 
 3.  Your fan-clutch is bad.  WHEN THE ENGINE IS OFF, you can grab the fan and spin it.  This is the fan-clutch.  It just reduces load on the engine to spin the fan.  It also acts like a thermostat, as when the engine is cold, the fan clutch is cold, and it will not allow the fan to pull as much air through the radiator (you dont need to cool a cold engine).  However, when the engine gets up to operating temperature this clutch gets tighter, and spins the fan faster, cooling the antifreeze, and cooling the engine.  You can do a simple test to check if it's working correctly.  Grab a few pieces of newspaper and roll them up, WITH THE ENGINE COLD, start the car.  While it's still cold take the newspaper and slowly insert the paper into the fan blades while it's spinning.  The fan should stop with the rest of the engine spinning.  Wait till the engine warms up and try this again (DO NOT let it overheat!) it should be noticably harder to stop the fan with the newspaper.  Make sure you do not try to stop this fan with your hands, especially when warmed up.  If you do not notice a difference between cold and hot, then your fan clutch is bad.  It is a simple change to replace this (it would take me 5 minutes).

 Personally I think it's #3, unless the car just started overheating after the thermostat was changed.

 Hope this helps, and dont hesitate to ask anything else.
 Josh