Water pump went south : BMW 335i

Catanonia

Catanonia

Catanonia

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Joined
15 Mar 2012
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Santas Grotto
Oh well, just after I cleaned it inside and out and gave it some loving care, the water pump packed in on me leaving me stranded at work 75 miles from home :( perhaps I should leave her dirty.

It has been on its way the last few weeks with a crack in one of the metal feed pipes leading to the pump that I sealed up to stop the leak. That worked for a week, but this morning, red warning with no indication and no heat from the heaters. No leaks and full coolant, with the fan on constantly. Yup water pump gone to BMW heaven.

Managed to get it to a Indy (thanks AA, the 1st time in 6 years I have used you and you were great) and had a quote of £670 all in. Not too bad especially considering he could not source a OEM part and had to get original BMW pump at £450.

Have heard horror stories of £1500+ bills and mechanics stripping entire front ends to get at the pump, so a little relieved. It is possible to get at the pump from underneath if you remove the sway bar and know what you are doing and my Indy apparently does thank &*£

Only after investigation on the net have I found this quite common with the 3 series, electrical water pump with life spans of 80 - 110k. I have 90k on the clock, bang in the middle.

So be warned all you modern 3 series owners. It throws codes, internal ones only, but the car does not give these out as warnings of pump failure / problems. When it happens, it happens and it cuts all power. You will have about 30 seconds from the amber "i am feeling warm" light to the red and stop car light. Oil temp light was in normal range when lights came on, only after the red one did it start to rise.

What a start to the week and having to travel the 75 miles home on pubic transport :)

EDIT : On the plus side, I did get a renewal of £235 fully comp protected + business ;)
 
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It's good to hear you're getting it sorted. £450 for a water pump? :eek:

However

Catanonia said:
It has been on its way the last few weeks with a crack in one of the metal feed pipes leading to the pump that I sealed up to stop the leak. That worked for a week, but this morning, red warning with no indication and no heat from the heaters. No leaks and full coolant, with the fan on constantly. Yup water pump gone to BMW heaven.
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Shouldn't you have just not faffed about and got it done properly at a garage at a time convenient to you? :confused:
 
Lol BMW prices.
I paid 40 pounds for a Peugeot pump the other month. How do they justifiy the price? Is it made of billet or something?
 
Eliot said:
Lol BMW prices.
I paid 40 pounds for a Peugeot pump the other month. How do they justifiy the price? Is it made of billet or something?
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It will be a particularly advanced type of waterpump I'd imagine as my OEM BMW waterpump was nothing like that expensive.
 
As a comparison, my E36 waterpump cost me £28 and a bruised knuckle. Modern electric ones are vastly more complicated.
 
Electric waterpump? It's electric right? Not requiring drive from belts or chains from the engine?

So why is it fitted in such a stupid friggin place!
 
Electric water pump so it can keep running after car switched off to cool engine and in particular the turbos. Yes it is is a massively stupid place to put the pump.

Oh well, could have got one from Germany after market place for about £300 or maybe less, but needed it doing. I did the patch job on the pump hoping it would last for a week or two allowing me to get the car sorted. The problem of being a contractor and having to do 140 miles a day otherwise I don't get paid. Hindsight is good at times.
 
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Silly place to put the thing, especially given it is the type of part that will ultimately fail and need replacing.

But, given the turbo setup of the 335, an electric pump that'll stay on after a run and circulate coolant to prevent oil carbonising and ultimately turbo failure as a result, is no bad thing.

And it's a considerably cheaper repair than replacing turbos!
 
Ricochet J said:
It's good to hear you're getting it sorted. £450 for a water pump? :eek:

However



Shouldn't you have just not faffed about and got it done properly at a garage at a time convenient to you? :confused:
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For a £700 bill on a leaky joint. Took the risk and sealed the leak successfully and no coolant was lost. A week later the pump died, so no loss either way, it would have needed replacing. These pumps have a lifespan apparently.
 
Catanonia said:
Electric water pump so it can keep running after car switched off to cool engine and in particular the turbos. Yes it is is a massively stupid place to put the pump.
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This and the fact it needs an electric pump so we can use the "Rest" button i believe
 
[TW]Fox;24029727 said:
Is it the same setup As the 530i? This has a conventional water pump but an additional auxiliary electric pump for this purpose.
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Really not sure - always thought since it's an electric pump it'll just use that. Whilst having 2 pumps is necessary in the E39, for the E9x it seems pointless to have an electric main water pump, then to have another one to just do the auxiliary heater.
 
Gaygle said:
Really not sure - always thought since it's an electric pump it'll just use that. Whilst having 2 pumps is necessary in the E39, for the E9x it seems pointless to have an electric main water pump, then to have another one to just do the auxiliary heater.
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Don't see why it would be more pointless for an E9x? It's not an aux heater anyway it just continues to pump hot coolant round the system so the heater core stays warmer for longer. Also aids circulation when the car is idling but I doubt it makes much difference for that.
 
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