[StealYourFace]

Originally Posted by Thomas Wolf

Mine failed last week. (45,000 miles) Had to have it towed, even helped them push it into the garage.. This work would have cost me $1,400 if it wasn't for my 3rd party warranty (EasyCare). I paid my $100 deductible and was on my way. Monday morning comes around and my car is dead cold. Have it towed again and the next day they pinpoint the problem. The water pump failed again, it ran continuously until my battery died, it also leaked all over my wiring. Now they are ordering additional conduits to get it to start. Since they botched the job on the first water pump and caused even more damage to my car, are there any other issues I need to really watch out for as far as Electrical damage?

Who did the work? When you say the car was dead cold, you mean you had no heat? That sounds to me like they didn't bleed the system properly.

[ZhengHai]

My cars at 102,XXX miles and I have the same symptoms as OP. This morning I drove about 15 miles to the gym and right before I pulled in the yellow temp light came on and went into limp mode at 20mph. It was about 62 degrees this morning. Then the red temp light came on and went down to about 10mph. At lunch I purged my coolant overflow since it says your pump will run and push all the air out. Everything ran fine. The pump wasnt surging or making weird noises. I could hear bubbes and fluid pumping in the overflow tank so I opened the relief valve and fluid came out. I knew it wasnt low coolant because I've had the low coolant light come on in the past. After work I might have reached two miles and then the yellow temp light came back on. I pulled over and by this time the red temp light came on. It was 102 degrees today. It went into limp mode like crazy. The throttle was completely unresponsive. The engine was surging and it would only creep like 2mph. I called an indy shop and they quoted me $1142 for parts and labor I ended up picking up a whole kit for just under $500 shipped. Hopefully I get my car up and running soon.

[ZhengHai]

Update: I did the the install myself yesterday and everything works fine again.

[Mavus]

80k mi replaced the pump and tstat as preventive maint

[Reesurfn.330i]

I ordered my parts yesterday from Tischer for 475, I'm changing the water pump and thermostat. My local indy shop that I am wanting to take just quoted me north of 500 just for labor. They say it's a 5hr job, is that true? Anyone know any good places in Orange County Ca? Thanks

[GoRomeo]

Originally Posted by Reesurfn.330i

I ordered my parts yesterday from Tischer for 475, I'm changing the water pump and thermostat. My local indy shop that I am wanting to take just quoted me north of 500 just for labor. They say it's a 5hr job, is that true? Anyone know any good places in Orange County Ca? Thanks

Not sure how long this job takes but i have heard is a bit tedious. How many miles do you have? I am at 117k and still running on original water pump...

[Zero_09]

Replaced mine at 108k miles preventative maintenance for $200 just for labor. Parts I got from Tischer BMW

[ZhengHai]

Originally Posted by Reesurfn.330i

I ordered my parts yesterday from Tischer for 475, I'm changing the water pump and thermostat. My local indy shop that I am wanting to take just quoted me north of 500 just for labor. They say it's a 5hr job, is that true? Anyone know any good places in Orange County Ca? Thanks

$500 is ridiculous. These shops are boning you out the ass. Id do it for you for $150. Or possibly a case of beer and you'll know how to do it.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by Reesurfn.330i

I ordered my parts yesterday from Tischer for 475, I'm changing the water pump and thermostat. My local indy shop that I am wanting to take just quoted me north of 500 just for labor. They say it's a 5hr job, is that true? Anyone know any good places in Orange County Ca? Thanks

That's probably the book rate. It's no more than a 2 hour job for a professional mechanic.

[Reesurfn.330i]

My car has a little over 100k miles, doing it as a preventative maintenance. I do not want to pay 500 just for labor! I'm still waiting for the parts to come in the mail. I'm also replacing the front bushings =/ any one know a good spot to take it in OC, CA??

[illeste92]

Originally Posted by Reesurfn.330i

I ordered my parts yesterday from Tischer for 475, I'm changing the water pump and thermostat. My local indy shop that I am wanting to take just quoted me north of 500 just for labor. They say it's a 5hr job, is that true? Anyone know any good places in Orange County Ca? Thanks

I just had my water pump and thermostat replaced with a coolant flush. I took mine to SB Automotive in Downey~~. Brian and Sean are cool and honest dudes. I have a 07 E92 with 150K miles. i've been taking my car to these guys ever since I had my car and can honestly say they do a great job. Brake pads and rotors replaced/Spark plugs,coils/oil gasket replaced... windshield piping was cracked so they replaced that as well... they uses all OEM BMW parts.... Not sure how much they will charge you for labor but give them a call~~

[Reesurfn.330i]

Originally Posted by illeste92

I just had my water pump and thermostat replaced with a coolant flush. I took mine to SB Automotive in Downey~~. Brian and Sean are cool and honest dudes. I have a 07 E92 with 150K miles. i've been taking my car to these guys ever since I had my car and can honestly say they do a great job. Brake pads and rotors replaced/Spark plugs,coils/oil gasket replaced... windshield piping was cracked so they replaced that as well... they uses all OEM BMW parts.... Not sure how much they will charge you for labor but give them a call~~

I will definitely give them a call tomorrow and see how much they will charge me. I am just a bit scared taking it to indy shops that do not work with BMWs too often.

[suprchrgd]

i just changed mine. It died at 90k miles. I feel if you can change out a starter, you can change out this water pump and thermostat on your own. I did it in only a few hrs, taking my time. I also ordered my parts from ecstuning along with the coolant.

[habakak]

Mine just died on Sunday. Riding along and EMS warns about engine temp. Check the heat gauge and it's well within operating range, actually on the lower end since it was early am. Pull over as the power gets cut, open the hood and let it cool down. Drive another mile to get off the highway, pull into a gas station and check the coolant. All fine, but the engine is definitely too warm.

My dealer here in NJ wants $1500 to replace it. I figure parts at retail is about $500 from what I see (water pump, new bolt kit and thermostat) and about 2-3 hours for labor? At $145 an hour for labor I figure $1000 should be ample? Looking around for another shop to do it.

[ZhengHai]

Originally Posted by habakak

Mine just died on Sunday. Riding along and EMS warns about engine temp. Check the heat gauge and it's well within operating range, actually on the lower end since it was early am. Pull over as the power gets cut, open the hood and let it cool down. Drive another mile to get off the highway, pull into a gas station and check the coolant. All fine, but the engine is definitely too warm.

My dealer here in NJ wants $1500 to replace it. I figure parts at retail is about $500 from what I see (water pump, new bolt kit and thermostat) and about 2-3 hours for labor? At $145 an hour for labor I figure $1000 should be ample? Looking around for another shop to do it.

You can definitely do it yourself. If you have tools and can get to a lift it's a breeze. Shops are charging way too much.

[Barrique_Red]

Our '06 325xi with 91,900 miles on it acted up this past Thursday. Yellow overheat, then Red overheat symbols within 30 seconds of each other. Once it went Yellow and then off (instead of to Red), but then went Yellow/Red a minute or two later. We limped it home (about 25 miles) by stopping as soon as it went Red, shutting off the engine, and waiting a minute or two before proceeding. Seemed to work OK. Was able to drive at least 6 miles before seeing the icons again.

Just ordered the kit from Tischer. Kit says Genuine BMW water pump and thermostat kit, with bolts and shipping (to USA), for $475.

Watched the videos on the net for DIY and will get to it later this week.

Thanks for all the great info on this thread!!!

[Taskmaster]

Mine threw a code - it could have been because I added water instead of coolant a few months back when it gave the "Coolant low" indicator. I bought the parts from ECS (including coolant) for around $460, you can find it for less if you shop Rockauto or Ebay and can wait. Labor was $300

[jnoyolapicazzo@yahoo.com]

Same symptoms, stopped and started several times before giving up and calling a tow since I still had 20 miles to go to the shop and it wouldn't drive more than 1/2 mile before having to stop again.

Quoted $1,107 from Orr Autosport in Eden Prairie MN. This includes pump, thermostat and labor. They told me (as opposed to some posts above) they don't charge labor for the thermostat since they have to take it out anyway with the pump.

Question - is the system purged when replacing the pump? Since I had to put water (regular bottle water) when it first got the indicator on, I was nowhere near a gas station where I could buy coolant.

328xi 2007 - 98,000 miles.

[yupetc]

Originally Posted by jnoyolapicazzo@yahoo.com

Same symptoms, stopped and started several times before giving up and calling a tow since I still had 20 miles to go to the shop and it wouldn't drive more than 1/2 mile before having to stop again.

Quoted $1,107 from Orr Autosport in Eden Prairie MN. This includes pump, thermostat and labor. They told me (as opposed to some posts above) they don't charge labor for the thermostat since they have to take it out anyway with the pump.

Question - is the system purged when replacing the pump? Since I had to put water (regular bottle water) when it first got the indicator on, I was nowhere near a gas station where I could buy coolant.

328xi 2007 - 98,000 miles.

Please do not buy coolant at A GAS STATION. BMW's coolant has to be purchased OEM at the dealership.

[jdpitcher]

Originally Posted by jnoyolapicazzo@yahoo.com

Same symptoms, stopped and started several times before giving up and calling a tow since I still had 20 miles to go to the shop and it wouldn't drive more than 1/2 mile before having to stop again.

Quoted $1,107 from Orr Autosport in Eden Prairie MN. This includes pump, thermostat and labor. They told me (as opposed to some posts above) they don't charge labor for the thermostat since they have to take it out anyway with the pump.

Question - is the system purged when replacing the pump? Since I had to put water (regular bottle water) when it first got the indicator on, I was nowhere near a gas station where I could buy coolant.

328xi 2007 - 98,000 miles.

Yes, there is an air bleed procedure that must be done after replacing the water pump/thermostat. If you added bottled water, you need to have the shop drain the system completely and refill with the correct antifreeze/distilled water concentration. OEM BMW (preferred) or Zerex G-05 coolant only.

You also might want to check if the shop will let you buy your own parts. Ask them what portion of the $1107 is labor, they are probably making some $$ off you for parts. You can find the parts needed for around $500. $600+ for labor seems a bit high for a 3 hour job.

Replaced mine last week at 79k miles.

[Barrique_Red]

Today we went about removing the thermostat and water pump from our 2006 325xi. Checking the coolant level, it was low in the reservoir, but there was some in there so its not like we were empty. In any case, we spent the better part of four hours removing the two items. Here are some things of note.

When we started the car to drive it onto the ramps (first time starting it since the events of last thursday) we smelled some awful burning odor once we opened the hood. The engine was only running for one or two minutes max, and the odor seemed to be coming from the radiator fan - couldn't quite tell exactly. Perhaps we are in for a fan replacement as well. I don't mind replacing the water pump/thermostat since we've made it over 90K miles.

. Ours is the M6 transmission, not sure if that matters, but things were just a bit different than the DIY video posted by the guys over at BavAuto (A great video, btw!!). We had an extra hose/pipe running across in front of the sway bar. Not a big deal, but something else we un-bolted to gain better access.

. The Bentley manual says that if you remove the sway bar bolts, you are supposed to replace them with new ones when you re-attach the sway bar. This gave us pause, so we decided to do as much as we could before removing the sway bar. If we get stuck, we will get some new bolts, and move the sway bar out of our way.

I will say that removing the sway bar (swinging it out of the way) would probaly help this job go a lot better!

. We were able to get the thermostat and water pump out of the vehicle without moving the sway bar, but I am not sure we will get the new pieces back in without moving the sway bar. So I am still holding out hope that I won't have to mess with new bolts.

. We dropped a screw and a socket while doing the removal, and can't find them. I think we are going to have to remove the stiffener plate to be able to see where these pieces went/reach them. I would guess that removing the plate will make the job of putting things back together easier as well.

Our parts arrive tomorrow, from Tischer, so we will see how enthusiastic I feel about tackling this again so soon.

While doing this work, we noticed oil collecting on the outside of the engine. I am betting this is from the valve cover gasket, and that this is why my oil goes down in 6 months or so. Oil is low again (changed oil at the end of january) and so I am expecting to have to do that job next.

Off to search for a DIY!!

mikey

[Barrique_Red]

Parts arrived safely and we spent two hours installing the pump and thermostat today. The three bolt kit of aluminum screws (for the water pump) is 11510392553. Nice of Tischer to include them in the overall kit for the water pump and thermostat.

Added the coolant mixture this evening. Did the bleed function with the engine off and a battery charger attached. Drove her around about 4 miles, and checked for leaks. Only one weep (slow drip) but it is at one of the fancy snap-ring connectors. Hoping it cures itself...

No overheat, and no funky smell from the engine compartment. Tomorrow we will take her on a more strenuous drive - to see how she does. But so far, things are looking good.

I have about 8 hours of my time into this job, but I don't rush things. Working in a tight space and getting all the hoses on was the most challenging part of this job. And If I had been brave, I would have dropped the sway bar out of the way to make this a whole lot easier.