This past week I finally bit the bullet and, despite having zero issues thus far with my water pump at nearly 72,000 miles of use, purchased a replacement Continental water pump, e-thermostat, and a gallon of BMW branded coolant. While it's never fun paying $500+ for preventative maintenance, especially when the parts are still fully functional, I forced myself to be realistic about my existing pump's lifespan. Even though my car almost exclusively sees highway expeditions of over 50 miles at a clip, there's no reason to think that I will get a ton more usage before I get the dreaded overheating warning.
When the water pump went out around 70,000 miles on my 535i (before the days of Uber/Lyft), I was on the way to an appointment, had no alternative transportation, and had my entire day ruined.
The next step is planning when to do the job. I'd love to wait until Spring when I can coincide this with tearing down the car for the full paint correction I've been plotting, but at my current mileage the pump is a ticking time bomb until it fails and leaves me stranded. While this is something I'll continue to ponder, Winston and I are glad to have the parts on hand just in case.
