E30 running hot or not ?

["Demetre Koumanakos" <demetre@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi All,

Once again I seek the expertise of the reflector gurus...
My 318 E30 water temperature gauge is telling me the car
is running hot, I paid a visit to the BMW mechanic and he
used a digital thermometer to measure the temperature (he 
measured the water from the open radiator cap), he 
told me that the water  temperature is between 89-92 degrees
Celsius and that the gauge is malfunctioning.
Usually the gauge reaches half way, now it goes from halfway
to almost on red !!
The changing from half-way to red is often, when I idle it stays on
red, when the car is in motion it drops to half...
When this "problem" started the heater started to act up on me, 
when standing there is no heat from the vents,
when moving heat appears. This is not like a slow heating process
but "binary" heat no heat !! The two problems may not be
related, but I exploring all possibilities...
Would a defective heater valve effect the radiator behavior ?
Could a defective water pump create all of the above ?
Any comments ?

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