Water Pump and Thermostat being replaced at 62k miles

[IEDEI]

the general consensus on the 135i and 335i forums for N54 engines seems to be that the electronic water pump and thermostat seem to fail between 60k and 80k miles. My service agent stated that in his experience he has also seen plenty of N54 water pump issues around 60k to 80k miles.

Note that these are electric pumps so when they fail....they fail pretty much suddenly....without much warning and they will leave you stranded as they eventually cause the engine to shut down to prevent damage.

So today i dropped my car off for some routine service at around 62K+ miles and also decided to get the Water Pump and Thermostat replaced. Total cost for the service with parts and labor is around $1100. It may sound like a lot, but (A) the parts alone are around $600 and (B) it's one of the few things that can actually leave you stranded on the road.

With my heavy driving habits, I felt it was worth doing----as I was going to do a coolant flush anyways and that is also a part of this replacement.


file under: Preventative maintenance

[Yeineken]

I would've done the same. I have a n55 however but I feel I may replace mine around the same mileage as preventative as well.

If you have a car lift at home you can do the job easily for $500. Bavauto has a good diy video using the 1 series.

[IEDEI]

Originally Posted by Yeineken

I would've done the same. I have a n55 however but I feel I may replace mine around the same mileage as preventative as well.

If you have a car lift at home you can do the job easily for $500. Bavauto has a good diy video using the 1 series.

i wish i was mechanically inclined.....but i suck!!! lol

[Eyeman]

Mine on my 135 went out a couple of weeks ago at 75k miles. Yep, could barely get off the road. I was like a mile from home so I cooled it 10 mins, drove half a mile, died again. Did the same thing and coasted in.

$1100 in NYC sounds like a good price to me.

[Em/1]

According to Mike, the tech for Roundel, this is good preventive maintenance and I'm pretty sure it is at 60K that he suggests; apparently it can be worse than just putting you on the side of the road if bits of broken impeller end up in places that they don't belong.

[TBURKE555]

Mine on my 07 335 went in December. Just like Eyeman about a mile from home. Called AAA about 1350.00 total.

[flzrider]

Wow, didn't realize the water pump on these cars had such a short life-span.

Out of curiosity, which water pump p/n did yours get replaced with, 885 or 426?

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/show...diagId=11_3754

[SpencerMH]

Anybody have any thoughts on running a 74c thermostat instead of the stick one? I'm going to proactively replace this and ecs offers a lower temp thermostat to help with temps, sounds great to get the pump going earlier with the high boost I run and occasional track days but does it cause the pump to wear out that much faster with no real benefit?

[nachob]

Originally Posted by IEDEI

the general consensus on the 135i and 335i forums for N54 engines seems to be that the electronic water pump and thermostat seem to fail between 60k and 80k miles. My service agent stated that in his experience he has also seen plenty of N54 water pump issues around 60k to 80k miles.

Note that these are electric pumps so when they fail....they fail pretty much suddenly....without much warning and they will leave you stranded as they eventually cause the engine to shut down to prevent damage.

So today i dropped my car off for some routine service at around 62K+ miles and also decided to get the Water Pump and Thermostat replaced. Total cost for the service with parts and labor is around $1100. It may sound like a lot, but (A) the parts alone are around $600 and (B) it's one of the few things that can actually leave you stranded on the road.

With my heavy driving habits, I felt it was worth doing----as I was going to do a coolant flush anyways and that is also a part of this replacement.


file under: Preventative maintenance

IEDEI, wise he is! Yes, even on the E46, I had the entire cooling system replaced at 90K miles as it all fails. Expansion tanks burst, radiator necks break, thermostat fails or impeller on pump breaks. If I still had 1M, I would change all of that proactively by 80K miles also. My best friend owns an independent BMW/Mercedes shop and he is getting a lot of E90/E92s with dead electric pumps.

He recently got an N54 E90 with the turbo cooling line failing. He referred them to the dealer as the motor has to come out to replace those. BIG MONEY!

[nachob]

Originally Posted by SpencerMH

Anybody have any thoughts on running a 74c thermostat instead of the stick one? I'm going to proactively replace this and ecs offers a lower temp thermostat to help with temps, sounds great to get the pump going earlier with the high boost I run and occasional track days but does it cause the pump to wear out that much faster with no real benefit?

I don't see a real benefit. I also live in a warm climate and in the mornings it would take a long time for my 1M to get to operating temp. San Diego gets cool at night and once it's hot you are limited by the airflow through the coolers. Once it cools down it will take longer for your car to reach operating temp.

[mendes]

I was a little surprised recently with having to replace the water pump and thermostat on my 1M only at 29,000km...
The warning message of low coolant level came up in the display. I checked the coolant reserve under the bonnet and it was dry. I rang BMW from the car asking them for the type of coolant that I needed to buy for a top up. Instead they insisted that I drive the car in immediately as they may be a leak in the water pump. I'm glad I did this as opposed to just topping it up myself as they found a leak in one of the rubber seals in the water pump. They tried to charge me $1400 AUD for this service but I reminded them that I had 5 days left on my extended warranty - Good times... Anyway, they had it for 2 days to replace the parts. After watching a video online of how to replace a water pump on these engines I realised it's a fiddly little job.

[jkoral]

I was quoted $515 parts, $400 labor for water pump and thermostat from local well known tuner shop.

57K miles, I'll wait until it fails and have it towed to the shop.