greetings from the island - United Bimmer Community

**dianeseattle** · 06-06-2010, 06:34 PM

hi, i'm diane & i drive a 1999 BMW 540i, which i love, of course. it's an unbelievable car, & until yesterday, ran perfectly.

unfortunately, along the road, i smelled antifreeze, even though my heat gauge was registering normally, the car halted, stopped several times & generally scared me to death. i parked it, took the radiator cap off carefully, but of course, it wanted to blow. i let it fizzle out, then looked for a mechanic in a small town who'd be open on saturday.

well, there's no happy ending to this story. my point is that my first thought would be to replace the thermostat. i did get it to the ford dealership, where they knew nothing, but the head mechanic there said (off the top of his head) that maybe i'd had mice & rats in there eating off my insulation, causing shorts or computer malfunctions, etc.

i'm having it towed home tomorrow--it runs, but i am NOT driving it. i want to be able to fix it, not kill it.

so hi, i'm a hiker, live along highway 20 up on samish island, & i moved there from seattle because i have to be in the north cascades, near the trailheads, for the rest of my life. my son is 30 & lives in seattle, but he comes up with me for mile-high hikes a few times every summer. i live about 300 feet back from the edge of the cliff overlooking padilla bay & guemes island.

if anyone wants to comment on my mechanical problems, please feel free! i'm going to try to search the site for information, but i'm really freaked out about all this.

diane