New water pump, thermostat... anything else?

j24 · Post by **j24** » Wed Feb 01, 2023 11:37 am

My coupe's approaching 85k miles, and from what I've read it might make sense to replace the water pump as preventative maintenance. It's a 2008 3.0si, so the N52K engine (not sure if the 'K' changes anything!)

Thinking I'll take it to a local indie for the work, so trying to see if it makes sense to replace anything else whilst getting that work done to save on labour costs.

I'm definitely going to ask for a new thermostat to be fitted at the same time, but is there anything else (belts etc) that would make sense to replace at the same time?

Hoping I'll be able to supply my own parts to soften the blow to my wallet... currently looking at this:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/273979766183

Seems a not-bad deal for the Pierburg water pump and a Marle thermostat - but no idea if I'll be hit with any custom charges...

Anyone had any dealings with cs-parts-de through ebay? Or am I better sticking to Autodoc, etc? (Currently looking at about £340 for the pump and thermostat through them though...)

Thanks for any wisdom!

Mr Tidy · Post by **Mr Tidy** » Wed Feb 01, 2023 9:40 pm

There was a discussion here about the differences between the N52 and the N52k:- viewtopic.php?t=105709&start=45

Subject to customs charges that looks like a great deal. My Indy bought the pump for my first Z4 from BMW and it cost just over £500 in 2017.

But when my 325i needed one in 2018 he must have gone elsewhere as it was about £340.

It depends how far you want to go. You could get it checked for countless other things like the condition of the Auxiliary drive belt, cam-cover and oil filter housing gaskets, rear brake pipes just in front of the passenger side rear wheel for corrosion, any worn suspension parts, broken springs.... the list goes on!

j24 · Post by **j24** » Thu Feb 02, 2023 4:55 pm

Cheers Mr Tidy - definitely has the potential to turn into a never-ending list!

Just not sure if there's anything else that makes sense to have done at the same time as the pump/thermostat to save on labour costs later down the line.

Have read about the Serpentine Belt and Tensioner, as well as the plastic 'Mickey Mouse' flange, but not sure if there's any saving in addressing them now, or if it's just best to wait until they need doing.

At the very least the thermostat seems to be a no-brainer if I'm replacing the pump - just trying to see if I can be clever with the pennies whilst I'm getting that done!

enuff_zed · Post by **enuff_zed** » Thu Feb 02, 2023 5:12 pm

On an M54 I would say do the belts as they have to come off to do the water pump. Obviously not on the N52. It should be fairly easy for you to see the condition of the belts yourself though. I'd estimate about another 15 minutes max to swap them over for a mechanic with the car on a lift, so why not. (Basing this assumption on the M54 of course)
Autodoc do not have any customs charges, due to some fiddling of the regulations by having a UK office, so worth checking them out too.

Argyll Andy · Post by **Argyll Andy** » Thu Feb 02, 2023 5:20 pm

j24, I bought the same one, same supplier as you’ve listed. Good to deal with and reasonably quick.

Picture of custom charges attached. Based on a purchase price of £231 HTH

j24 · Post by **j24** » Thu Feb 02, 2023 5:20 pm

enuff_zed wrote: ↑Thu Feb 02, 2023 5:12 pm On an M54 I would say do the belts as they have to come off to do the water pump. Obviously not on the N52. It should be fairly easy for you to see the condition of the belts yourself though. I'd estimate about another 15 minutes max to swap them over for a mechanic with the car on a lift, so why not. (Basing this assumption on the M54 of course)
Autodoc do not have any customs charges, due to some fiddling of the regulations by having a UK office, so worth checking them out too.

Cheers - got an N52 engine on my end... but I'm very much a clueless idiot with the mechanical workings of it!!

Thanks for the tip with Autodoc - looks like they have cheaper prices on their app, although the prices I saw yesterday have disappeared as they've introduced a new (worse) deal... I was looking at £300 for Pierburg pump and Mahle thermostat, but that's gone up to £350 today. But seems like they swap their days on a daily basis, so going to keep my eyes peeled over the next few days!

j24 · Post by **j24** » Thu Feb 02, 2023 5:22 pm

Argyll Andy wrote: ↑Thu Feb 02, 2023 5:20 pm j24, I bought the same one, same supplier as you’ve listed. Good to deal with and reasonably quick.

Picture of custom charges attached. Based on a purchase price of £231 HTH

Ah brilliant!

Good to know and get an idea on the fees, just under £300 for the pump and thermostat seems decent!

Argyll Andy · Post by **Argyll Andy** » Thu Feb 02, 2023 5:25 pm

j24 wrote: ↑Thu Feb 02, 2023 5:22 pm
Argyll Andy wrote: ↑Thu Feb 02, 2023 5:20 pm j24, I bought the same one, same supplier as you’ve listed. Good to deal with and reasonably quick.

Picture of custom charges attached. Based on a purchase price of £231 HTH
Ah brilliant!

Good to know and get an idea on the fees, just under £300 for the pump and thermostat seems decent!

NP, at the time I couldn’t find anything close to that and was in no rush. My Indy charged £110 for fitting and coolant iirc

enuff_zed · Post by **enuff_zed** » Thu Feb 02, 2023 5:32 pm

j24 wrote: ↑Thu Feb 02, 2023 5:20 pm
enuff_zed wrote: ↑Thu Feb 02, 2023 5:12 pm On an M54 I would say do the belts as they have to come off to do the water pump. Obviously not on the N52. It should be fairly easy for you to see the condition of the belts yourself though. I'd estimate about another 15 minutes max to swap them over for a mechanic with the car on a lift, so why not. (Basing this assumption on the M54 of course)
Autodoc do not have any customs charges, due to some fiddling of the regulations by having a UK office, so worth checking them out too.

Cheers - got an N52 engine on my end... but I'm very much a clueless idiot with the mechanical workings of it!!

Thanks for the tip with Autodoc - looks like they have cheaper prices on their app, although the prices I saw yesterday have disappeared as they've introduced a new (worse) deal... I was looking at £300 for Pierburg pump and Mahle thermostat, but that's gone up to £350 today. But seems like they swap their days on a daily basis, so going to keep my eyes peeled over the next few days!

Aye, knew you had the N52, hence my caveat regarding the belts.
For Autodoc always use the app as for some reason the discounts are often better than the website.
Select all the stuff you want and stick it in your basket. Then keep checking back every day. The basket price will automatically update with the current discount. Usually best to hit the button at 37 or 38%, although very occasionally it will go a little higher.
The beauty of Autodoc is that the price you see is what you pay, nothing added on during delivery.
They have had poor ratings for delivery times in the past but seem to be addressing that.
I placed an order last Friday morning and it was on my doorstep when I got home Monday evening!

enuff_zed · Post by **enuff_zed** » Thu Feb 02, 2023 5:35 pm

j24, PM'd you

M1k3yC · Post by **M1k3yC** » Thu Feb 02, 2023 7:10 pm

It's not directly related to what you're doing, but I opted to change the gearbox and diff oil on mine as preventative maintenance. I also changed the coolant. You might assume that the coolant would be changed with the pump, but I think it's possible to just top up as necessary.

In my case I'd recently had my coolant done and then discovered that the water pump needed doing. When the water pump was subsequently done, I am fairly sure that the coolant was only topped up to save money because we knew it was fresh.

j24 · Post by **j24** » Thu Feb 02, 2023 11:43 pm

M1k3yC wrote: ↑Thu Feb 02, 2023 7:10 pm It's not directly related to what you're doing, but I opted to change the gearbox and diff oil on mine as preventative maintenance. I also changed the coolant. You might assume that the coolant would be changed with the pump, but I think it's possible to just top up as necessary.

In my case I'd recently had my coolant done and then discovered that the water pump needed doing. When the water pump was subsequently done, I am fairly sure that the coolant was only topped up to save money because we knew it was fresh.

Thanks - yeah good tip on changing the gearbox and diff oil. It's only ever seen BMW dealers, so fairly sure they've not been changed before. Thinking I'll get them changed when it goes in for an Inspection 1 in April.

smorris_12 · Post by **smorris_12** » Fri Feb 03, 2023 12:23 am

I'm going to have to get onto Autodoc. Sounds jolly useful for parts, esp as I've started seeing water pump comms errors.

Mr Tidy · Post by **Mr Tidy** » Fri Feb 03, 2023 8:11 pm

If you are seeing fault codes for the water pump Scott I'd be ordering one in readiness!

I've had two of them die on N52 engines and both of mine overheated in less than a mile.

TOMGREEN413 · Post by **TOMGREEN413** » Sat Feb 04, 2023 10:20 am

I'm not sure if I missed something but I'm also planning to do mine next month, but in addition to the pump and complete thermostat housing l was going the replace the header tank as I believe they can split , besides they don't seem to difficult to fit and aren't that expensive.

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