I would also check the auxiliary fan for proper working order.

.......Chip

"Dave Plowman (News)" > wrote in message
...
> In article >,
> Jeff > wrote:
> > I have a 2000 528i. Once in a while I will glance down and see the
> > temperature guage in the red. My first reaction was the car was
> > overheating, but then suddenly the needle went back down in the normal
> > area. Most of the time when this happens I had just started the car. It
> > happened yesterday while I was stuck in traffic. I know the engine was
> > not overheating becuase the needle will go down very fast.
>
> This is because the gauge doesn't read temperature directly. It is
> controlled by the engine ECU, and reads exactly in the middle over a wide
> range of (safe) temperature. As soon as that limit is exceeded it will
> climb quickly, and fall quickly too when the temperature drops.
>
> --
> *When cheese gets its picture taken, what does it say? *
>
> Dave Plowman London SW
> To e-mail, change noise into sound.