Have you experienced an S65 Water Pump Failure?

[Theodore]

Have you experienced a water pump failure in your E9X M3? If so, what model year and at what mileage? Any extenuating circumstances at the time (tracking car, low coolant, extreme temperature, etc.)?

[monterey]

I'm debating whether to do mine at 86k. I found a Rein brand for a fraction of the price of OE. Would you put in a new aftermarket or keep the old one in if there's nothing wrong with it.

[Theodore]

Good question, I'm not sure. I'm wondering if these things aren't way over engineered and may work for the life of the car on this model? Perhaps overcompensating for the problems on the previous generation? I found some mentions of preventive replacements and cooling problems that were most likely thermostat related, but the water pump was replaced simultaneously "while they were in there." I haven't come across any threads where the culprit was directly identified as a water pump failure, even for the super high mileage cars.

[L4ces]

Originally Posted by Theodore

Good question, I'm not sure. I'm wondering if these things aren't way over engineered and may work for the life of the car on this model? Perhaps overcompensating for the problems on the previous generation? I found some mentions of preventive replacements and cooling problems that were most likely thermostat related, but the water pump was replaced simultaneously "while they were in there." I haven't come across any threads where the culprit was directly identified as a water pump failure, even for the super high mileage cars.

I am at 166K and honestly (I feel like I should be ashamed) I am questioning whether I should change the water pump now or just the thermostat. The water pump could get messy.

[E92friendly]

Originally Posted by L4ces

I am at 166K and honestly (I feel like I should be ashamed) I am questioning whether I should change the water pump now or just the thermostat. The water pump could get messy.

Have rags on hand and use a turkey baster to suck as much fluids out while doing water pump and thermostat is removed. wont be so messy. just take your time. thats a hefty amount of miles on your engines. Im impressed.

[L4ces]

Originally Posted by E92friendly

Have rags on hand and use a turkey baster to suck as much fluids out while doing water pump and thermostat is removed. wont be so messy. just take your time. thats a hefty amount of miles on your engines. Im impressed.

Already fixed. ??
Still going strong. The fan kicks into high speed less but is still a problem. Going to the dealer next :-(

[E92friendly]

No not at all never even done a change but I found a forum of someone who swapped out the thermo and pump with detailed info. That's where I got the knowledge from. However I also work on cars daily as a tech. But never an m3 I always search before I begin the job on my car so I get it done fast and efficiently. Plus I don't like messes even on customer cars so I'm always prepared to keep the job clean

[Redd]

Originally Posted by monterey

I'm debating whether to do mine at 86k. I found a Rein brand for a fraction of the price of OE.

Link to the Rein water pump please?

[TWiTCHY]

Originally Posted by Redd

Link to the Rein water pump please?

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw...in-crp-wpr0047

Has a metal impeller compared to OEM's plastic.

[Redd]

Thanks!

[WAKman]

This forum is so great! Based on a bit of past BMW experience, I started to wonder about changing the water pump in my '08 E92. The car has 81K miles, and, having done the rod bearings and the TBAs, I plan on taking some multi-state cross-country trips in it. So I wondered about replacing the pump first. But now, I think I'll let it ride a bit longer.

[mharris2007]

Mine just died three weeks ago. Horrible loud squeezing noise I thought was the idler pulley. My indie thought it was the power steering pump. Turned out to be the water pump. Sigh. I have an 08. The water pump died with only 57,000 miles on the car. Sigh again. So thus far since I bought the car at 39,500 miles I have had to replace one throttle actuator, one coil, the rod bearings (lead was 48), motor mounts, and the water pump / thermostat. Not the best luck. Actually makes me a little bitter.

[shimmy23]

Originally Posted by mharris2007

Mine just died three weeks ago. Horrible loud squeezing noise I thought was the idler pulley. My indie thought it was the power steering pump. Turned out to be the water pump. Sigh. I have an 08. The water pump died with only 57,000 miles on the car. Sigh again. So thus far since I bought the car at 39,500 miles I have had to replace one throttle actuator, one coil, the rod bearings (lead was 48), motor mounts, and the water pump / thermostat. Not the best luck. Actually makes me a little bitter.

60k is kinda the sweet spot for maintenance so i'm not surprised with your luck.

[Theodore]

Originally Posted by mharris2007

Mine just died three weeks ago. Horrible loud squeezing noise I thought was the idler pulley. My indie thought it was the power steering pump. Turned out to be the water pump. Sigh. I have an 08. The water pump died with only 57,000 miles on the car. Sigh again. So thus far since I bought the car at 39,500 miles I have had to replace one throttle actuator, one coil, the rod bearings (lead was 48), motor mounts, and the water pump / thermostat. Not the best luck. Actually makes me a little bitter.

Sorry to hear about the bad luck, but thanks for posting your experience. This is the very first S65 water pump failure (non-preventive maintenance) replacement post I've seen and I read a lot of these things. If it died 3 weeks ago on your '08 that would make the water pump about 10 years old. I wonder if age may eventually turn out to be the most important determining factor as to when this particular part starts to become unreliable.

[mharris2007]

Originally Posted by Theodore

Sorry to hear about the bad luck, but thanks for posting your experience. This is the very first S65 water pump failure (non-preventive maintenance) replacement post I've seen and I read a lot of these things. If it died 3 weeks ago on your '08 that would make the water pump about 10 years old. I wonder if age may eventually turn out to be the most important determining factor as to when this particular part starts to become unreliable.

My car was march 08 build date. So it was 9.5 years old roughly. Your hypothesis may be true. Only time will tell as the newer model years start to get up there in age.

I think this car is a little cursed to be honest. Or it's an 08 first model year curse. Either way, I had 2005 E46 M3 that I purchased in 12/10 with 10,000 miles and drove until 7/14 with 58,000 mikes on it. Not one single issue.

[pbonsalb]

I think 10 years and 100k miles is a reasonable point if you are in there anyway. Good time to do the belts and pulleys and tensioner. Maybe even the upper and lower rafiator hoses. If the radiator is aluminum tank it should be fine.

I have had E36 and E39 that had plastic tank radiators and plastic blade pumps that tended to fail around the 10 year 100k mile point. I just services my 08 E61 535xit with 123k miles and changed the belt and pulleys and tensioner and radiator and some hoses. The pump and thermo were done 3 years ago under extended warranty. Anyway I felt like the work was mostly unnecessary. The only part that turned out to be bad was the thin line off the upper radiator hose that goes to the expansion tank. Got me thinking that I might be over maintaining my cars. I tend to do that.

[Richbot]

They're plastic tank radiators, I changed mine when I did the thermostat at 89k because I have owned too many BMW's and now I'm scared of them

Tend to agree there is no evidence of the E36-like scheduled water pump fails on these cars, but I also know even sealed bearings don't last forever and mine will get a new pump next time the coolant needs to come out for a job

[Drv4fun]

I had a squealing noise that would change with engine speed, under warranty, less than a year old MY13, diagnosised by dealership foreman as the water pump. Car was there 2.5 days. No issues since. I think I may be the only one!

[VictorH]

Water pump failure doesn't seem to be a common theme at all. Unless you're really worried I'd let it go for a while longer. Lots of us are over 100K miles and you don't hear about lots of failures.

I'm at 120,000 miles, daily driver, lots of track events, with no problems so far. I needed a thermostat at around 85,000 miles but left the pump alone.

[N8bmw]

I just had mine replaced under warranty, '08 at 64k. Squealing noise and pulley had an abnormal wobble.

[Redd]

09 car at 100k kms and 'stat, pump and rad all still going strong. Gonna change them all out pre-emptively tho, together with all the hoses, just to be safe.

[Get lit]

Did mine as preventative maintenance at 90k. New thermostat, water pump, idler pullys, tensioners and belts, all oem parts. Surprisingly every part that came out was in really good condition! Probably could have gone another 90k!