Overheating warning but car isn't actually overheating?

[Stewy_604]

The water pump is electric. I did mine last year, best to change the thermostat as well since they usually fail in close timelines. Go with the Continental VDO version, which Turner lists as Part# 11517632426. This unit replaces the old BMW Part# 11517563659.

[WP1]

Hi,

Just wondering...
How do you know if the 1's series overheat or is driving too close to the maximum? Like in other cars (non-bmw) they have temperature gauges that read Cold/Hot.

[jkoral]

I've yet to change my WP at 72K miles. Just had a few days of temps in the 90s and I've noticed my fan sounds really loud, or louder than I remember (and I have the upgraded fan that comes with the Power Kit Level II with the extra oil cooler). I get my exact water temp on my steering wheel readout and the temp has been low/normal.

I refused to change my WP pump until it fails and strands me on the side of the road. It's an electric part, so it doesn't wear out. Just as there are folks who have had their WP fail at 45/50K, others have hit 100K miles.

Hopefully this won't come back to bite me, but I have AAA Plus with 100 miles free towing and I'm never more than 100 miles away from a few good BMW indys that I will use for replacement.

[Esteban]

Originally Posted by jkoral

I've yet to change my WP at 72K miles. Just had a few days of temps in the 90s and I've noticed my fan sounds really loud, or louder than I remember (and I have the upgraded fan that comes with the Power Kit Level II with the extra oil cooler). I get my exact water temp on my steering wheel readout and the temp has been low/normal.

I refused to change my WP pump until it fails and strands me on the side of the road. It's an electric part, so it doesn't wear out. Just as there are folks who have had their WP fail at 45/50K, others have hit 100K miles.

Hopefully this won't come back to bite me, but I have AAA Plus with 100 miles free towing and I'm never more than 100 miles away from a few good BMW indys that I will use for replacement.

Looks like you're about right in the middle of those miles. I have AAA as well. Some peace of mind comes with that membership. Haven't had to use it yet but odds are I will one day.

[Stewy_604]

Originally Posted by Tom753

I have been reading you guys, and experience the same limp situation so I guess I have to change the water pump. However, I and going to google the part and different options and I find like 3 different types of water pumps. Which is the one to change? the one with the pulley ?

The water pumps on these cars are electric. Do the thermostat at the same time, since they usually fail within months of each other. I did mine last year, opted for the OE version on both, although some opt for aftermarket.

BMW OE Water Pump - 11517632426
BMW OE T-Stat - 11537601158

[weeeee]

I had the same issue see here: http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1388272

I suspect summer is going to bring this to a lot of people's attention. My kit (pump, thermostat, bolts) was from oembimmerparts for about 488 shipped.

Good luck!

[tjswarbrick]

Originally Posted by jkoral

I've yet to change my WP at 72K miles. Just had a few days of temps in the 90s and I've noticed my fan sounds really loud, or louder than I remember (and I have the upgraded fan that comes with the Power Kit Level II with the extra oil cooler). I get my exact water temp on my steering wheel readout and the temp has been low/normal.

I refused to change my WP pump until it fails and strands me on the side of the road. It's an electric part, so it doesn't wear out. Just as there are folks who have had their WP fail at 45/50K, others have hit 100K miles.

Hopefully this won't come back to bite me, but I have AAA Plus with 100 miles free towing and I'm never more than 100 miles away from a few good BMW indys that I will use for replacement.

Let me know how that works out for you!

75,500 mi, I got the yellow, then red & no power (2000 RPM Max, slowing down massively, Don't Rear End Me, Mr Semi!)
Was 104 miles to my shop. (Technically 89 miles, but 104 on-road according to Waze, from my location to Bavarian Motorsports in Milpitas. I told them I'd happily pay by the mile for the last 4. Even though they estimated something ridiculous like $20/mile for it.)
AAA Plus Member. Since 1982! BECAUSE of the "100 miles towing."
AAA Dispatch at 6:20pm - "We can't find a driver able to make that trip."
I was on the outskirts of Sacramento. The State Capitol! And needed to get back to the Bay Area - where there are tons of shops, and food is available 24 hours. Saw 5 empty (and 2 loaded) tow trucks go by in 2 hours.
At 3 hours sitting on the side of the road, I requested a tow 35 miles away. They still said "We'll try. It's out of our normal range of 15 miles."
2 hours LATER. Yes, 5 hours on side of road, 6:05 pm to 11:03 pm, on a beautiful summer Saturday night, a driver finally shows up for the 1/2 hr trip.
I had to call them every hour for updates - they usually didn't have one. They said after an "unusual" amount of time I could call my own commercial (non-AAA) company, and they would Consider reimbursement. That tow would have been $450. I asked what's an "unusual" amount of time and 3 different agents couldn't define it. 3rd try, I asked for a supervisor. 45 minutes of hold later (Cell phone down to 7%) the Driver arrived, but the supervisor hadn't picked up.
This morning (Monday) I called and got a supervisor. She said 2 hours is usually the limit of how long they expect you to sit there. And yet, there I was for 5, 2.5miles from nearest food. (If you're not at the car when driver arrives, they wait 5 minutes, then leave. Per policy. No courtesy call, no return later.)
And since I don't know any indy's up there, I had it brought to a dealership. So Pump and Thermostat will be $1800, instead of the $1354otd my indy shop quoted.
After speaking with AAA Dispatch Supervisor and Emergency Travel Benefits, and lodging a formal complaint, I THINK they're going to reimburse the rental car. But they still can't promise anything until after I submit receipts and 8 pages of forms.
I think I'll add the $500 overcharge to my reimbursement request.

Rant over.
I just need to drive the despised rental Camry 150 miles tomorrow night to get my baby back!
I hope my experience leads to better training and procedures so that doesn't happen to anyone. Ever again. But I'm not going to hold my breath...

[vinylengraver]

As I understand, some (or perhaps all of them?) tuning solutions increase water pump speed to compensate for higher engine cooling requirements.
Would that effectively shorten pump's lifespan (as opposed to stock?)

[tjswarbrick]

Originally Posted by vinylengraver

As I understand, some (or perhaps all of them?) tuning solutions increase water pump speed to compensate for higher engine cooling requirements.
Would that effectively shorten pump's lifespan (as opposed to stock?)

Dinan does; others probably do, too.
The "water pump is electrically driven and varies output based on instructions from the engine computer. Under the best circumstances the pump drives only as much coolant as needed and will shut down or activate as load and performance demands change (combustion chamber temperatures are dynamically changed based on economy, normal, and performance demands). The pump can also run when the car is off to reduce heat soak in the engine and turbo(s). " (Turner Motorsports listing for P/N 11517632426.)

I'd say, yes, turning it up could cause it to wear out faster. Better that than damaging the rest of the engine with heat! But it already turns itself up as needed so I doubt it's a significant factor for most of our street-driven, tuned vehicles.
JB4 with always-running pump issue not withstanding.

[adobeee]

Originally Posted by tjswarbrick

Let me know how that works out for you!

75,500 mi, I got the yellow, then red & no power (2000 RPM Max, slowing down massively, Don't Rear End Me, Mr Semi!)
Was 104 miles to my shop. (Technically 89 miles, but 104 on-road according to Waze, from my location to Bavarian Motorsports in Milpitas. I told them I'd happily pay by the mile for the last 4. Even though they estimated something ridiculous like $20/mile for it.)
AAA Plus Member. Since 1982! BECAUSE of the "100 miles towing."
AAA Dispatch at 6:20pm - "We can't find a driver able to make that trip."
I was on the outskirts of Sacramento. The State Capitol! And needed to get back to the Bay Area - where there are tons of shops, and food is available 24 hours. Saw 5 empty (and 2 loaded) tow trucks go by in 2 hours.
At 3 hours sitting on the side of the road, I requested a tow 35 miles away. They still said "We'll try. It's out of our normal range of 15 miles."
2 hours LATER. Yes, 5 hours on side of road, 6:05 pm to 11:03 pm, on a beautiful summer Saturday night, a driver finally shows up for the 1/2 hr trip.
I had to call them every hour for updates - they usually didn't have one. They said after an "unusual" amount of time I could call my own commercial (non-AAA) company, and they would Consider reimbursement. That tow would have been $450. I asked what's an "unusual" amount of time and 3 different agents couldn't define it. 3rd try, I asked for a supervisor. 45 minutes of hold later (Cell phone down to 7%) the Driver arrived, but the supervisor hadn't picked up.
This morning (Monday) I called and got a supervisor. She said 2 hours is usually the limit of how long they expect you to sit there. And yet, there I was for 5, 2.5miles from nearest food. (If you're not at the car when driver arrives, they wait 5 minutes, then leave. Per policy. No courtesy call, no return later.)
And since I don't know any indy's up there, I had it brought to a dealership. So Pump and Thermostat will be $1800, instead of the $1354otd my indy shop quoted.
After speaking with AAA Dispatch Supervisor and Emergency Travel Benefits, and lodging a formal complaint, I THINK they're going to reimburse the rental car. But they still can't promise anything until after I submit receipts and 8 pages of forms.
I think I'll add the $500 overcharge to my reimbursement request.

Rant over.
I just need to drive the despised rental Camry 150 miles tomorrow night to get my baby back!
I hope my experience leads to better training and procedures so that doesn't happen to anyone. Ever again. But I'm not going to hold my breath...

Holy smokes, what a disaster.

[tjswarbrick]

Originally Posted by adobeee

Holy smokes, what a disaster.

You have no idea...
AAA Complaint dept called the other day. He couldn't even define the many ways in which they dropped the ball.
Kicker is: They had a driver dispatched to me, to take me all the way home, at 6:25. Which is about the time I located the tow hook in the trunk. If Dispatch had given me a direct number - or if the driver came anyway, just to check on me - all would have been handled. Since Dispatch made me call the main 800# again, it was 10 minutes before they got the message, and the driver already went somewhere else!
(Also, a tow hook is not Mandatory to get pulled up onto a flatbed - just the easiest, safest, most expeditious way. They don't like to use aluminum suspension components, but could have easily run a strap around one of the underbody convertible-structure cross-braces.)

But, she's back now, running great!
300 mile round trip was actually kinda fun. Work the next day was not...
And I've learned a lot, both about the N54/N55 Water Pump, and the inner workings (not workings?) of AAA.

[TDurdan]

I have similar problem. Wonder if anybody had same issue? I guess might be early sign of failed water pump:

2012 N55 computer says car is overheating but temperature gauge shows normal and not actually overheating; car goes into limp mode. Turn off and turn on and car is back to normal.

This mainly appears when I put my heated seats on and/or turn on the temp control and not putting the airflow to the vents.

Any idea? Water pump replacement soon? Sensor issue? Car has 40k km.

EDIT 1: did the waterpump test, where you crank the temperature dials to max and step on gas for 10 secs. The waterpump cycled the coolant for 12 minutes.

EDIT 2: found out hidden coolant temp gauge, monitored it, with the temp control on, for some reason after 20 minutes it went to 120 degrees Celsius. Car was operating 105 avg prior to 20 minutes.

EDIT 3: turned car off. Let car cool off for few minutes. And turned off the heater, drove for 20 minutes, coolant temp range 105-110 degree celcius.
Anybody know what's up? Will still bring to Indy shop for a diagnosis.

[Cavpilot2k]

Originally Posted by TDurdan

I have similar problem. Wonder if anybody had same issue? I guess might be early sign of failed water pump:

2012 N55 computer says car is overheating but temperature gauge shows normal and not actually overheating; car goes into limp mode. Turn off and turn on and car is back to normal.

This mainly appears when I put my heated seats on and/or turn on the temp control and not putting the airflow to the vents.

Any idea? Water pump replacement soon? Sensor issue? Car has 40k km.

EDIT 1: did the waterpump test, where you crank the temperature dials to max and step on gas for 10 secs. The waterpump cycled the coolant for 12 minutes.

EDIT 2: found out hidden coolant temp gauge, monitored it, with the temp control on, for some reason after 20 minutes it went to 120 degrees Celsius. Car was operating 105 avg prior to 20 minutes.

EDIT 3: turned car off. Let car cool off for few minutes. And turned off the heater, drove for 20 minutes, coolant temp range 105-110 degree celcius.
Anybody know what's up? Will still bring to Indy shop for a diagnosis.

Water Pump.
This is an important note that most people seem to disregard when they are having signs of imminent water pump failure:
YOUR CAR WILL NOT ACTUALLY OVERHEAT PRIOR TO COMPLETE FAILURE!
You will get the yellow and red cautions and limp mode, but your temp gauge will not really be hot. In fact, mine was running 10 degrees cooler than normal. This was because the system was sensing an imminent failure and the water pump went into overdrive to save the other systems. So it may actually run cooler for a bit to allow you to get someplace safe.

If you keep shutting down and restarting and ignoring it, you WILL get stuck on the side of the road. Limp it or tow it for service immediately.

[MightyMouseTech]

Originally Posted by Tom753

I have been reading you guys, and experience the same limp situation so I guess I have to change the water pump. However, I and going to google the part and different options and I find like 3 different types of water pumps. Which is the one to change? the one with the pulley ?

It's an electric pump. No pulley.

[1FunRide]

Originally Posted by Odin2347

It was the pump...

I have the same issue now. If you don’t mind me asking, how much did it cost to replace the water pump?

[mrdca]

Hi,

came across this forum. The situation is like this: I'm driving then, out of the blue, I get the yellow overheating warning sign. Car has 101k miles.Everything I read pointed out to the water pump and thermostat. Replaced waterpump, thermostat, radiator.
Bled the system.
Car still is threw me the overheating warning.
Lastly, replaced temperature coolant sensor. Still get the same warning. I have no fault codes. Never had any codes come up. No noticeable leaks. Coolant level always fine.
I'm a bit lost as to what is going on with the car. I'm scared it will be that I need a new engine.

Anyone had this happen to them before?? Help. Please

[Dackelone]

Originally Posted by Tom753

I have been reading you guys, and experience the same limp situation so I guess I have to change the water pump. However, I and going to google the part and different options and I find like 3 different types of water pumps. Which is the one to change? the one with the pulley ?

Go to RealOEM.com and look up the part via your VIN. That will normally be the latest part number.


As for a semi dying water pump... often times you can try to put the pump in the self bleeding mode, by switching on the ignition(engine not running) and hold the gas pedal to the floor for ten seconds. The water pump should start to cycle to bleed air out of the cooling system. What happens with a marginal pump is they often will fail when you try this self bleeding mode. Maybe this will help "kill" your pump before it goes out of the engine warranty. Just be advised that IF this does kill your pump... your gonna need to have your car towed.


mrdca Sounds like your new water pump is defective. Where did you buy it from>? You should have a parts warranty on it. I would replace both the pump and thermostat again. I would also replace the u-shaped hose that connects the two units as well. IF you had it repaired at a BMW dealer they will cover towing and parts and labor for the repair. Good Luck.

Dackel

[4zuresky]

So this actually just happened to me a few days ago. I was driving in the freeway then suddenly the car went into full limp mode and the message with engine overheat needs to cool. I open my hood and I see a bunch of coolant sprayed on top of the hood. Thought it wa a loose cap, so I just refilled with water after it cooled and it came back to normal. Brought to an indie shop and they found some codes that pretty much meant pump failure. It was the water pump. Finally replaced it and also thermostat. It's running fine again. I have 58k miles on the 2012 35i.

[MaicoJr]

Based on what I am hearing, I am sure my water pump is giving me a sign it is about to go. The only thing with my car is, my fan only comes on when the heater is on and the car loses power between 1st and 2nd when accelerating. I got the warning, yellow, then red and then limp mode. Turn off and on and everything fine. But, as mentioned, when heater is off, the fan does not turn on and it drives fine. When I turn the car on, the fan does not come on. Am I just in denial it is the water pump or can it be something else?

[khaled95]

hey! I have a 2006 BMW 530xi, an overheating alert message pops up randomly the fans tend to go on full blast trying to cool the car down then stop and the message disappears sometimes after 10 seconds and some after 5 mins. This also sometimes happens as soon as I start the car in the morning which doesn't make any sense to get the car overheated on a cold start. however, I changed temp sensors, coolant hoses, water pump, and thermostat and the same problem tend to happen. Also, I've put a scanner on it and I saw a live data for the coolant temp which I noticed that the alert message tends to come when the coolant temp is 168 degrees where the thermostat usually open at 200 degrees.

[zzhughesd]

I too have classic signs water pump failing - I believe mine too is 'semi dying' ... I note that the 'self bleeding test' this does shoot a high regular speed of water into the expansion tank

I cannot hear the pump ( no noise whatsoever ); on the scanner shows Coolant flow number of 53 fixed vs (6000rpm)

Also get no comms with water pump 2e84

Question - I'm wondering why when the electro side of the pump is clearly failing ( ORANGE & RED OVERHEAT AND LIMP ); it still passes the self bleed 10-12 min test with ease .... and thus convince the user the pump is 'pumping' and though may be pumping isn't when car in use

I'd really like to know why being tricked with self bleed test result

Thanks

[Enaidoo]

Originally Posted by mrdca

Hi,

came across this forum. The situation is like this: I'm driving then, out of the blue, I get the yellow overheating warning sign. Car has 101k miles.Everything I read pointed out to the water pump and thermostat. Replaced waterpump, thermostat, radiator.
Bled the system.
Car still is threw me the overheating warning.
Lastly, replaced temperature coolant sensor. Still get the same warning. I have no fault codes. Never had any codes come up. No noticeable leaks. Coolant level always fine.
I'm a bit lost as to what is going on with the car. I'm scared it will be that I need a new engine.

Anyone had this happen to them before?? Help. Please

Im having the same problem. changed waterpump, thermostat and temp sensor today still overheating and going into limp mode.