I don't have a problem at the moment, but I've noticed that there's others that have had issues with their water pumps. Is there any advice/Info regarding what I should watch out for regarding the start of possible problems? I have the 2006 3 ltr Si, my first one so not knowledgeable about this model, its currently on 70K. Should I think about replacing it soon or will this issue give me prior warning? Thanks.
Advice about E85 Water Pumps
- Thread starter zedwheels
- Start date
North West Surrey
The N52 engines have an electric water pump which usually just stops working, so the car overheats in about a mile with no prior warning - well that's what both mine did. 
My first E86 needed a new one at 9 years old and 60K miles, but my second seemed to be on the original at 12 years old and 90K miles.
My E91 needed one after 12 years and 135,000 miles, although it may have been its second one! My current E90 may have had one before but I don't know. I just keep my RAC cover in force.
But if you want to avoid the hassle of it dying swapping it as a preventative measure would make sense - quite a few people do. Mt E86 one died on a cold December night on an unlit NSL dual-carriageway so there was no way I was stopping on that! I babied it a few miles home but it did go into limp mode.
Don't buy from BMW as they charge over £500 for them, whereas you can get the same Pierburg pump elsewhere for about half that price. It should come with new bolts because they are single-use aluminium ones.
My first E86 needed a new one at 9 years old and 60K miles, but my second seemed to be on the original at 12 years old and 90K miles.
My E91 needed one after 12 years and 135,000 miles, although it may have been its second one! My current E90 may have had one before but I don't know. I just keep my RAC cover in force.
But if you want to avoid the hassle of it dying swapping it as a preventative measure would make sense - quite a few people do. Mt E86 one died on a cold December night on an unlit NSL dual-carriageway so there was no way I was stopping on that! I babied it a few miles home but it did go into limp mode.
Don't buy from BMW as they charge over £500 for them, whereas you can get the same Pierburg pump elsewhere for about half that price. It should come with new bolts because they are single-use aluminium ones.
If you have access to a code reader the pump will often throw "comms error" error codes when it's on the way out. This can also be heard as the pump running full tilt when cold. It was only after I'd replaced my pump that I realised that this has been what I could hear without knowing what it was (I kept thinking it was a secondary air pump.)
Oh, and spring for the Pierburg or decent make, mine had already been swapped at some point and the no-name one still didn't make it past 100k.
Oh, and spring for the Pierburg or decent make, mine had already been swapped at some point and the no-name one still didn't make it past 100k.
Mr Tidy said:The N52 engines have an electric water pump which usually just stops working, so the car overheats in about a mile with no prior warning - well that's what both mine did.
My first E86 needed a new one at 9 years old and 60K miles, but my second seemed to be on the original at 12 years old and 90K miles.
My E91 needed one after 12 years and 135,000 miles, although it may have been its second one! My current E90 may have had one before but I don't know. I just keep my RAC cover in force.
But if you want to avoid the hassle of it dying swapping it as a preventative measure would make sense - quite a few people do. Mt E86 one died on a cold December night on an unlit NSL dual-carriageway so there was no way I was stopping on that! I babied it a few miles home but it did go into limp mode.
Don't buy from BMW as they charge over £500 for them, whereas you can get the same Pierburg pump elsewhere for about half that price. It should come with new bolts because they are single-use aluminium ones.
Is this as much of an issue with the M54 engines?