FCP Euro Water Pump/Thermostat Kit

[shimmy23]

I'm replacing some coolant components and came across the FCP kit:

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw...-11517838201kt

This kit has everything I want to replace, but i'm unfamiliar with the water pump brand (GEBA). I've also noticed that FCP states, OEM, OE for quality on most of their parts, but this GEBA water pump states "aftermarket." I'm not liking that.:confused2

Whats everyone's consensus on this brand and quality. I really don't like that FCP states 'aftermarket' quality.

[Icecreamfoo]

If you are uncomfortable with the GEBA brand, ask if they would swap out the water pump to the one made by Rein? Item # 11517838201.

Did my water pump/thermostat July of last year, and I pieced parts together myself between FCP Euro and ECS. I went with the Rein water pump from FCP, it was marked as OEM quality, and was like $110 or something around there...

[shimmy23]

Originally Posted by Icecreamfoo

If you are uncomfortable with the GEBA brand, ask if they would swap out the water pump to the one made by Rein? Item # 11517838201.

Did my water pump/thermostat July of last year, and I pieced parts together myself between FCP Euro and ECS. I went with the Rein water pump from FCP, it was marked as OEM quality, and was like $110 or something around there...

Rein is on back order

Doing some picture comparisons, it appears the GEBA has a metal impeller?

[Johal E32]

Bumping this thread as I am about to order a replacement waterpump for my 08 M3.

Any insight on GEBA? It seems like a reputable brand, but I would hate to do this job again in year.

[Redd]

Originally Posted by shimmy23

Rein is on back order

Doing some picture comparisons, it appears the GEBA has a metal impeller?

Rein also has a metal impeller.

[Johal E32]

Originally Posted by Redd

Rein also has a metal impeller.

Rein/CRP waterpumps are backordered from every online vendor I have checked.. ECS, FCP, Rockauto etc..

[jellydoughnutt]

I replaced mine with the GEBA one. Can't really speak if it's any better or not, but it's been in there a year 20k miles without issue.

Also, it's covered with lifetime replacement and not hard to swap out if it does go out. I didn't go with the whole kit listed in the link. I just purchased what needed to be replaced.

[shimmy23]

I'm gonna pull the trigger on the GEBA. With the FCP warranty, all should be fine anyways

[shimmy23]

Originally Posted by Redd

Rein also has a metal impeller.

Maybe they make two versions? A vendor was telling me it's an exact OE replacement with a composite impeller

[Johal E32]

Originally Posted by shimmy23

Maybe they make two versions? A vendor was telling me it's an exact OE replacement with a composite impeller

I think the vendor is mistaken.. The factory pump is for sure composite, I think it is made by HEPU?

I ended up ordering the GEBA pump for ~$150 on eBay. The factory BMW pump was $397 plus shipping. So it was pretty good cost savings. I also ordered a new waterpump pulley and hardware.

[Icecreamfoo]

Originally Posted by shimmy23

Rein is on back order

Doing some picture comparisons, it appears the GEBA has a metal impeller?

sorry for being late. I could not remember for sure now as it's been over a year, but my recollection was that the Rein unit has metal impeller. I pulled the recommendation from the below thread, post #9

https://www.m3post.com/forums/showth...ght=water+pump

The Rein unit is indeed out of stock at a lot of the larger, well-known vendors. But my first google search attempt turned up another place that supposedly still have one in stock:

http://znmperformance.com/bmw-water-...n-11517838201/

[kyippee]

I read some speculation that the aftermarket metal impellers weigh more than the stock OE composite one, will stress the bearing of the pump more, and possibly lead to earlier failures.

Decided to stick with OE for now

[pbonsalb]

The weight of a welded steel impeller might be comparable to a composite. A cast iron impeller is heavier. Still, I doubt even a cast impeller is going to affect the pump bearings in any meaningful way over the weight of the composite impeller. The coolant going through at speed is much heavier and more stressful to the bearings in comparison.

I think BMW went to composite to handle potential cavitation (bubbles so small you might not even see them) as its engines revved higher and higher. Cavitation puts a big shock on the impeller and composites are proven to hold up better to cavitation than welded or cast. Billet should work fine, but probably only the Motorsport pump has a billet impeller. Stewart does not make one for the S65 (I have a Stewart pump in my built S52).

I would be inclined to go composite or Motorsport when I change mine. It seems to be doing fine at 11 years and 100k miles but I think 10 years and 100k is a reasonable cooling system life so a preventative maintenance overhaul of the system is on my project list for sometime in the next year.

[Bubbles]

I went with rein. It is nearly identical to the bmw oem water pump except for the metal impeller. Install went smooth and performance seems same a stock. Durability to be determined. I passed on the geba option.