E36 320i Overheating

["Colin St.Clair" <sasha@xxxxxxxxxx>]

As i was driving along today, i saw the temp gauge in the red zone and
immediately killed the engine and pulled over.
looking under the bonnet and finding no visible leaks, i remember from
hearing on this digest that my car (a 1991 model) most likely has a
plastic impeller in the water pump that is vulnerable to break.
Having owned an E30 for a long time previously, you get to know most of
the bmw service specialists around town (sydney) :)
luckily i knew of one about 500 metres away from where i was, so i
started the car and drove there very slowly. nearing the place, there
was a bad sort of pinging noise coming form the car and steam was coming
out the front. The mechanic did diagnose it as a busted water pump (lots
of play in the fan)
My question is, are these cars likely to crack their heads or do any
other damage from this sort of failure??
thanks
Michael St.Clair
1991 E36 320i

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