e8x electric waterpump failure poll...

[Natto]

2011 135i n55 failed at 62800km. Driving along on highway today, 100km/hr, 12 degree Celsius rainy outside. All of a sudden without warning, loss of power, yellow than red temperature light comes on and limp mode. Idrive displayed engine ioverheated recommended switch off engine and allow to cool down. Managed to drive off highway to a neighborhood parking lot, shut engine down with loud fan noise from radiator. Rest engine for 30 minutes and restart. All gauges displayed normal, luckily drove home slowly without issues. Pretty positive it is the waterpump failing

[NORAGRETS]

wait i voted incorrectly...mine just failed at 33,3xx miles

[SchismX]

Just replaced my pump and t-stat at 86k kms.

[alpho]

Replaced mine at 50K, covered under CPO.

Thankfully mine gave me a couple warnings.
1.) noticed my auxiliary fan kept running on high after shutting the car off one day.
2.) Couple days later, got a warning about my engine temp being high. I pulled over, everything looked fine.. Turned that car back on and all warnings went away/worked fine.

Took it in and they replaced the water pump.

[mleskovar]

Still no 128i water pump failures. Must mean something.....like residual motor heat is damaging the pump?

[Dackelone]

Originally Posted by mleskovar

Still no 128i water pump failures. Must mean something.....like residual motor heat is damaging the pump?

I'm pretty sure we have had a few 128i's with failed pumps. But its no where near the failure rates as with the 135i engine(s). I think IF I drove a high mile NA, I would change the pump too(along with the e-thermostat and U hose and bolts).

Btw guys... I was talking to a BMW friend of mine... and he said its way easier when replacing the water pump on a 135i to just drop the intercooler. That is the was most dealers do the service over here.

[mleskovar]

Originally Posted by Dackelone

I'm pretty sure we have had a few 128i's with failed pumps. .....

Not on this thread but by odds I'm sure there have been some.

[mchaoster]

Mine failed on Wednesday night. 2012 135i with PPK1 and 50k miles. Was stuck in Oakland (not so good part of California) for 3 hours. I had it towed 20 miles to the dealer. I've been reading this thread for the past 2 months and thinking I needed to do something but maybe the 2012's have better parts.

Last 2 weeks I started hearing the fan. But it's been up 100 degrees out here in San Ramon.

It's been at the dealer for 2 days and they haven't gotten to it yet as they have been busy. I'm pretty sure it's the pump. Loud fan, yellow temp light, red temp light, car goes limp, open the hood and the radiator is boiling loudly.

I'm out of warranty. This is going to cost me $1500 or more. I think this should be a good will fix. I've not had a single car with this problem, even at 150k miles. Also, since the car was new, the coolant would run low (every 6 months). They did a check before my warranty expired and didn't find anything (in December). I don't drive it hard at all. Haven't even tried launch control!


EDIT:
Dealer just called today and said that they will fix 95% of it under good will. I'll end up paying around $150. Just yesterday, they quoted $2k because I had some some other leaks, which for me is hard to believe. I had the car in late last year and told them my coolant keeps running low (4 times in 5 months). They didn't find any leaks. I still consider myself lucky at this point to only pay ~$400 for the whole thing, including the tow. Will pick up the car tomorrow.

[Dackelone]

Originally Posted by mchaoster

Mine failed on Wednesday night. 2012 135i with PPK1 and 50k miles. Was stuck in Oakland (not so good part of California) for 3 hours. I had it towed 20 miles to the dealer. I've been reading this thread for the past 2 months and thinking I needed to do something but maybe the 2012's have better parts.

Last 2 weeks I started hearing the fan. But it's been up 100 degrees out here in San Ramon.

It's been at the dealer for 2 days and they haven't gotten to it yet as they have been busy. I'm pretty sure it's the pump. Loud fan, yellow temp light, red temp light, car goes limp, open the hood and the radiator is boiling loudly.

I'm out of warranty. This is going to cost me $1500 or more. I think this should be a good will fix. I've not had a single car with this problem, even at 150k miles. Also, since the car was new, the coolant would run low (every 6 months). They did a check before my warranty expired and didn't find anything (in December). I don't drive it hard at all. Haven't even tried launch control!

It certainly sounds like your e-waterpump. I hope they put you in a loaner. Perhaps them taking a few days to fix your car is a good sign. BMW should cover this under some sort of good will.

My German dealer said they sometimes can get BMW to cover the repair. But they want to see that the car has been serviced by "a" dealer. For me that didn't work since I refuse to pay 300 euros for an oil change over here in DE. I always change my own oil and do my own services. Ohh well.

I think for anyone who uses their 1er a lot... you should just replace the pump so you don't get stranded.

Dackel

[LeoBurr]

2009 135i, 108k miles, still on the original water pump, no water pump related codes, been running a Cobb Pro-Tune since about 60k miles, FBO since 80k or so. Did the coolant at 80, and the car is garaged at home and at work. Typical cruising temps are 230F or so.

Planning on doing the water pump at 120k along with plugs/tranny and diff fluids at the same time.

[Dackelone]

Originally Posted by GeoffS

2009 135i, 108k miles, still on the original water pump, no water pump related codes, been running a Cobb Pro-Tune since about 60k miles, FBO since 80k or so. Did the coolant at 80, and the car is garaged at home and at work. Typical cruising temps are 230F or so.

Planning on doing the water pump at 120k along with plugs/tranny and diff fluids at the same time.

I think its safe to say... that your pump can/will fail at any moment. Just don't drive too far from home - it sucks when your left stranded.

Dack

[blue135]

This thread continues to baffle me. People talk like failure is inevitable, and maybe it is. But when i look at the numbers i get a different feel. Even for the 2008, which is clearly the worst of the lot wrt failure, 54% have still not failed. And the other years have better statistics than that.

[Dackelone]

Originally Posted by blue135

This thread continues to baffle me. People talk like failure is inevitable, and maybe it is. But when i look at the numbers i get a different feel. Even for the 2008, which is clearly the worst of the lot wrt failure, 54% have still not failed. And the other years have better statistics than that.

When the pump fails on your car... you will understand. Not IF but when!! And if that WHEN happens out in the middle of no where... it really sucks.

[Gangplank]

Especially if it's summer in the desert south west. Just closing out a month or so of days w/ a high temp above 105. I'd hate to be stranded without a running car on the side of the highway in this heat.

[LeoBurr]

Originally Posted by Dackelone

I think its safe to say... that your pump can/will fail at any moment. Just don't drive too far from home - it sucks when your left stranded.

Dack

It might. It might not. I've been checking codes for water pump impeller target errors and am seeing none weekly.

This isn't my first BMW. Some people say to do the water pump every 60k, others, every 70k, still others, 100k on the nose.

If I get stuck on the side of the road with a bad pump, I'll just be like other BMW owners with a suddenly failed expansion tank, failed HPFP, broken charge pipe, etc. I'm willing to wager there are a large percentage of non-enthusiast owned cars that are driving around with more mileage than me on their factory pumps who aren't stuck on the side of the road wondering why they didn't do their pump at 60k.

There are folks here with failures at 36k. Failures at 45k. Evidently, there's just no guaranteed mileage for the pumps used on these cars. The fact that mine's still good at 108k doesn't guarantee that my next pump will even make 35k miles. Live in fear, or just drive the car with the understanding that it has weaknesses that can be mitigated, though not eliminated, through planned preventative maintenance. If something fails before then, it's not the end of the world. Losing no fluids, and indy said it's dry as a bone.

[mchaoster]

They ended up not charging anything. I was very happy. Only had to pay for the tow

Glad to get my car back after almost a week.

[LeoBurr]

Still no failure, and still no errors logged to the ECM. However, I've picked up a new water pump/bolts/thermostat and am keeping them in the back of my car for if/when the pump does decide it wants to head out., if that happens before I plan on doing the maintenance in another 7k miles.

[LeoBurr]

Irony of ironies. I bought the water pump/thermostat/bolts for the 135i...and the X5 has a starter failure, leaving me stranded at the grocery yesterday. Evidently, the ZF8 can't be put into neutral when it can't start...so I had to get it skated onto a flat bed. Got the starter taken care of today.


Just goes to show that you can plan on doing some things to reduce the chance of getting stuck somewhere...but can never eliminate it.

[desertman123]

When I changed my OFHG I saw my coolant wasn't BMW juice (it was gold) so that leads me to believe the pump has been changed before. 2008 w/ 82k.

[Tallicia]

I think mine is about to go, or is going. This morning it went yellow, then red shortly after. I immediately pulled onto shoulder and turned it off. I waited 5 mins to let it cool. I then started it and no lights. I finished driving to my destination. There was no misbehaving from the car. Then many hours later I drove my return route and it behaved without any lights again, but when I parked, the fan was going full blast louder than I've ever heard. I quickly turned it off.

Now I am looking to see what shops are in Dallas to replace an e-waterpump and tstat on a Saturday. Or should take it to the dealer. N55 - 2011(Oct/10) , 45k miles.

[Gangplank]

Do you have Carly for BMW? Or other code reader?

Find an Indy shop to read the codes and/or do the repair.

[Kwroz21]

2009 - April 2009 - 124,000 km - P2e81
Happened a few hours ago on my way back from work... (Did i mention I work in Michigan but live in Canada... What a mission this been) cars out of warranty, plan on giving BMW a call in the morning to get a quote... and laugh. while my local shop takes car of it.