Water Pump Average Longevity

Been reading some threads about failed water pumps at less than 60-70000 miles. Was this an issue with 2006 330/325i and older models years only or other years? It seems the 07 328i had a few here and there but what about 2008 and up? It looks like the 328i models may be a huge improvement over the previous generations?

E46 (1999-2006) models were know to have "weak" water pumps. They were driven mechanically by the serpentine belt. E90s use an electric pump that, to the best of my knowledge, has a longer service life.

Originally Posted by sleeper22

Been reading some threads about failed water pumps at less than 60-70000 miles. Was this an issue with 2006 330/325i and older models years only or other years? It seems the 07 328i had a few here and there but what about 2008 and up? It looks like the 328i models may be a huge improvement over the previous generations?

Hard to say, no one knows which part of the eletric WP fails.
With th eold belt-driven, it's mostly the bearing or in some cases the fins come off from the shaft (shaft is spinning but fins inside stay put, no flow). Bearing fails due to bad tension on the tensioner or high rpm, or hot climate like Arizona in summer etc.

I wonder if electric WP fails, mostly on the controller side, the motor winding etc usually very good (at least in electronic terms it's hard to burn the winding unless you run crazy amount of current through it). so it's either hot climate or poorly regulated power (meaning bad battery, alternaotr kicks in, voltage is up-down drastically). Just a guess.

I would like to get a good idea for when i might need to do my t-stat and pump on my 330i. I want to do it before it breaks but also dont want to spend the $$$ when i still have 40k left on my equipment. 86k at the moment.

My electric water pump (for a N54 engine) failed just past 4 years and well inside the 60k-70k range (@ 44,000).

Mine went out at 56K miles 5 years.

I think I forgot to add the 335 in the mix as it seems this model may be a problem and not so much the 328. Just observation so correct me if I am wrong.

E90 330xi 6 yrs, 137k miles, still original water pump. garage kept, not driven hard. Don't plan on replacing it if it's not broken.

For the guys that had their water pump failure, what was the symptom and did it cause other damages?
Do you need to have the car towed or was it able to limp to a local mechanic?

On original battery as well, and original AT fluid.

My 2007 328i (E91) waterpump gave it up last week at 5.5 years and ~90,000 miles.

I had noticed the coolant was low a week or two earlier and added maybe 8 - 16 ounces to the reservoir.

Had the yellow warning lamp come on and then the red lamp about 10 seconds later. Pulled over immediately and had the car towed. Didn't want to take any chances.

Replaced the pump and thermostat myself over the weekend. Took about 8 hours with the car on jack stands.

My previous bmw, an e36 lost its water pump at 60,000 miles.

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...ght=water+pump

IMO, the electric water pump should be more reliable. But DSX and a couple other techs say not. It's still up-in-the-air which is better.

Sounds like to me if you change your coolant every 2 yrs and the battery doesn't crap out, the water pump has a better chance of surviving. I am amazed at the battery life of fb88's 330i. WOW! On another note how long are batteries lasting? Sounds like another can of worms LOL

The issue with the new pump is the cost. Most pumps will go 60k and many BMW owners refresh the entire cooling system around that time. Mechanical pumps, even the high performance Stewart pump, were far less costly to replace.

The waterpump on or N52 is dead at 70K. The waterpump and thermostat cost about $600 for just the parts. I plan on replacing it this weekend.

122,000 miles and still on original water pump with N52. It's had three coolant flushes, and two battery changes. The electric pump can last some time if taken care of.
Of course as I'm typing this the pump will go out tomorrow afternoon at 3:53 PM EST.

I do plan and changing it out along with a few other parts here in a few weeks though.

Same battery and same pump since 3/2007.
No coolant change and will run the OEM pump to 70K (55K now) and change it out with tstat and change over to Evan NPG waterless coolant.
Pumps diagnosis that I have seen so far and this isn't many of them I guess because those that fail don't do failure analysis were failure of the phenolic tube the pump is in meaning cracking and leaking or most likely short to gnd or other electrical component that failed do to heat cycles.

My M3 battery is 9 years old but I use a battery tender for my BMWs when I am not driving them and I think that makes all the difference. I have mine wired to the jump posts permnaately with the connect sitting on the headlamp housing. Takes me maybe 10 secs to hook my tender up. You might consider that if you don't drive it a lot as in a DD...

Also water pumps (excluding the 318) have failed on E36/46 at around 50-80K miles and many times resulted in a head gasket failure unless you were very lucky.

Water pumps seem to be not a component has yet got right...

Originally Posted by 8355adam

I would like to get a good idea for when i might need to do my t-stat and pump on my 330i. I want to do it before it breaks but also dont want to spend the $$$ when i still have 40k left on my equipment. 86k at the moment.

Replaced the thermostat but not water pump on 05 330xi at 120k miles. Water pump was still going strong when car was totaled last month at 144k.

Originally Posted by nilknarf

..Had the yellow warning lamp come on and then the red lamp about 10 seconds later. Pulled over immediately and had the car towed. Didn't want to take any chances...

+1, & mine went into limp mode at 65 mph that forced me to pull over along Hwy 101.

I also have an '06 330i ZSP. My water pump never died but was replaced at 139K at the same time as the thermostat, after the T-stat threw a code on the way to a track inspection, prompting me to deal with it right away.

My water pump died yesterday at 65,500 miles. Had both it and the thermostat replaced at a local indy shop. What started out as a leisurely drive to work ended quite differently. The mechanic told me that the new pump is much better than the one they took out. I guess time will tell.

How much did it cost parts and labor (if you have itemized cost)? Do you get 2 years warranty on parts from Indy?

my cobb stage1+fmic was fine with my wp with 56k on it now if I lowered the map to stage 1 aggressive I'd hear the water pump going VERY fast until I let the car sit for a minute my guess that it was close to death so 60-70k is my guess.

Originally Posted by fb88

How much did it cost parts and labor (if you have itemized cost)? Do you get 2 years warranty on parts from Indy?

Parts (pump, thermostat, coolant, misc. supplies) - $780
Labor - $300

The indy used BMW replacement parts for the job so I assume the 24 month warranty period on the parts applies.

EDIT: Just read the fine print on my invoice...warranty on parts and labor is 24 months or 24,000 miles, whichever comes first.

Originally Posted by 8355adam

I would like to get a good idea for when i might need to do my t-stat and pump on my 330i. I want to do it before it breaks but also dont want to spend the $$$ when i still have 40k left on my equipment. 86k at the moment.

i got a 330i 2006 with 134 on it and it cost me 1000 from a private guy bought the parts from bmw pump 570 and thermistate 100 ...but if you go to aftermarket can get the pump for 350 and ti for 50 u can save about 300...also 86000 miles u have pleanty of time.

Mine went at about 74K miles.

I have an early 335i (Sep 2006) and just replaced the original battery in January. Currently at 99K miles and the original pump is still going strong. I am a little bit concerned about my thermostat since it has been running a little bit cool for the last year or so. Usually won't get past 200 on the oil temp gauge unless driven quite hard or the weather is warm and the AC is on. Heat works fine however so I haven't replaced it yet. Just keeping an eye on it.

This car has been virtually trouble free. I had one door lock fail and had the HPFP recall work done but aside from that the only other thing is one of the halos recently went out. I have been thinking about upgrading them anyway.