[Midnightclub92]

Hey guys, (2006 335i)

Recently had a coolant leak and after a lot of digging (and pulling parts off..) I've found a hairline crack on my waterpump. It looks to have been replaced in the past with a Conti pump (my car is 2006) as this has no rubber washers. It looks like whoever replaced it used the original longer aluminium screws.

My question (as there seems to be varying opinions..) is are the Pierburg replacements any good? They seem to be an all metal construction and after seeing a bunch of threads of people going through multiple OEM pumps in quick succession with similar problems to me, seems like a good bet?

[335i54n]

pierburg is good, people that have multiple pump issues are most likely poorly maintained. I would do the tank too if its old, the float will be brittle and can break off and damage a new pump.

[whyzee125]

The all aluminum ones haven't been out long enough to say conclusively that they are better than the plastic ones, but when my current pump goes, I may give one of those a shot. We already know the Conti pumps are not very reliable so it seems like that would at least solve one failure point (plastic cracking) if not more.

[PichaDis11]

FCP euro lists that peirburg is the OE manufacturer for the pump. Which is true.

[Midnightclub92]

Well, I took a punt on the pierburg metal pump and so far so good. Included the shorter mounting hardware (the conti pump i took off actually had the longer aluminium bolts, which it shouldn't have). It is noticeably quieter than the conti pumps. Got mine shipped from Germany, £230 posted compared to £499 for the conti pump

[Technics_]

Originally Posted by Midnightclub92

Well, I took a punt on the pierburg metal pump and so far so good. Included the shorter mounting hardware (the conti pump i took off actually had the longer aluminium bolts, which it shouldn't have). It is noticeably quieter than the conti pumps. Got mine shipped from Germany, £230 posted compared to £499 for the conti pump

Sorry to resurrect this thread but any updates on how the Pierburg pump is performing? My water pump just quit and trying to decide on OEM vs Pierburg

[whyzee125]

Originally Posted by PichaDis11

FCP euro lists that peirburg is the OE manufacturer for the pump. Which is true.

Not quite. FCP states that pierburg is AN OE manufacturer. The original pumps on all n54 and n55 were continental/VDO but pierburg is an OE supplier since they do supply some parts to car manufacturers.

[rararat4]

The original water pump for an E90 LCI with an N52 engine was Pierburg and it was all metal outside. Nevertheless it still failed at around 200,000 kms. Apparently I was quite lucky. Other people reported water pump failures with mileage less than 100,000kms. I think the life span of this kind of water pump, I mean electronically controlled, is limited so regardless of what you buy it may fail while you are still owning the car.

Actually, I asked ChatGPT about other brands and it seems that this kind of water pump does not last. Audi and Mercedes have similar water pump problems to BMW.

[whyzee125]

My first n54, which was the best car I’ve ever owned, seemed to love to eat water pumps. It was on pump #6 when I sold it at 166k with one of the replacements lasting less than 500 miles. That was done at an Indy so it was covered under warranty.

My next n54 was on its original pump when I sold it at 113k

My n55’s original pump started leaking at 26k miles and the replacement lasted until I sold it at 40k.

My current n54’s OG was replaced at 80k and its second pump is still going strong at 108k.

All of these were the OE conti/vdo pumps.

[Grease23]

My 2013 E93 (N51 engine) had an original Pierburg pump. Even though it had not failed at 70K miles, I replaced it with another Pierburg pump from FCP.