Engine died, overheat light came on but gauges were ok

[granracing]

Driving along on the highway, not pushing the car at all. 33 degree day outside. All of a sudden loss of power, yellow than quickly (like a second or 2 after) red light comes on. Get on side of highway quickly, shut it down. Temp gauge was normal. Fluid came out of the fill tank.

Extremely worried what it could be. Hoping for water pump; concerned it's bigger such as head gasket or other major issue. Ugh. Waiting for flatbed now. Cry. ideas / guesses?

[MZWIE]

Water pump most likely

[JimD]

Originally Posted by e34m5

Water pump most likely

I agree. I haven't had that issue but others describe exactly those conditions for a water pump.

[Rob Daman]

I agree. Saw my friends 335 do that

[granracing]

When the water pump goes, there's not typically additional damage to the engine itself, right?

I so jinxed myself this morning when my co-worker got in it, we headed out to a client and he asked how I like it (pretty new to me). "It's great, just sometimes worry about it being a BMW." Doh!

[TheSt|G]

Originally Posted by granracing

When the water pump goes, there's not typically additional damage to the engine itself, right?

I so jinxed myself this morning when my co-worker got in it, we headed out to a client and he asked how I like it (pretty new to me). "It's great, just sometimes worry about it being a BMW." Doh!

Depends on if it actually overheated. Failed cooling system with an overheat is what leads to a blown head gasket as the aluminum head warps, not the other way around.

[granracing]

Okay, temps were low being helped by how cool it was outside. I opened the hood and it wasn't hotter than I'd expect. Tried blowing hot air out of heating vents right away to remove heat. Didn't last all that long.

Parts for BMW besides a BMW stealer.... Rock Auto has and AIRTEX Part # AW6681 which is the water pump for under $500.

Or where else do you guys prefer to buy your aftermarket BMW parts? Thanks for the help; this actually calmed me down a bit.

[Rob Daman]

the computer usually put the engine into limp mode. You should be ok but you could always do a compression check later for self assurance.

[cheshirecat79]

Originally Posted by granracing

Okay, temps were low being helped by how cool it was outside. I opened the hood and it wasn't hotter than I'd expect. Tried blowing hot air out of heating vents right away to remove heat. Didn't last all that long.
Parts for BMW besides a BMW stealer.... Rock Auto has and AIRTEX Part # AW6681 which is the water pump for under $500.
Or where else do you guys prefer to buy your aftermarket BMW parts? Thanks for the help; this actually calmed me down a bit.

You can get the water pump mostly anywhere and it'll be fine. ECS Tuning has a whole cooling system kit that you may want to look into as you're going to need new bolts for it also. A thermostat might not be a bad idea while you're in there.