[GB-335xiCoupe]

I'm about to give up. Very discouraged. I have a bad coolant leak, and I figure it's the water pump. So I bought a new water pump from BMW dealer (they actually matched ECS's price!)

Anyway, I like to DIY everything I can. I went to bavauto, and Otto did an awesome video on changing the water pump and tstat on a 335i. BUT he did NOT do a video on a 335xi. There is a huge freaking steel beam in the way on the X-drive model. I wrangled the sway bar out of the way, power steering hoses, etc took a damn long time.

But now that beam has me at a dead stop. I took off the passenger wheel too as I've seen others mention.

Is there any DIY out there, I just can't find it???? AHHHGGGG!!!!
I've got places to be man, I guess I'll be driving a rental car...

[hockeyplayer]

This may help: http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1004637

They are saying you will need to remove the radiator from the vehicle. Hope that helps.

[Imbue]

No way I'm keeping my Xi after CPO over!

[GB-335xiCoupe]

Ok, so here's what happened... Day before yesterday, I was driving on the country highways (there's some twisties that you miss if you take the freeway). Anyway, here's a huge freakin pothole. Babammm! I figured, car drives fine, nothing wrong... Temp looks good. Thought nothing of it. So continue. Finished my day, got home.

Then yesterday - drove 20+ miles, filled with gas. Drove off, "low coolant" light came on... "WTF is that symbol? " I thought it was the gas cap warning/seal thing, because I had just filled up.

Manual is in the trunk, I'll look it up when I get there....
Got to destination 40 miles more, looked up the symbol. Panic. (well not really)

Went to auto store to get coolant, figured little leak, I'll fill it and fix later. Wrong... basically pouring out. So I managed to get to the BMW dealer to buy a new water pump and by some miracle, I asked, and they matched the price of ESC Tuning $430, instead of the BMW taxed $650! WOW! I was so elated, I went and finally bought the floor jack I always wanted...

Anyway, my DIY attempts failed as noted above. I took it to the nearest Indy (only 3 miles away), and he found out right away - crack in the Thermostat housing! Ah, now it comes in clear focus... Pothole, low coolant, cracked Tstat housing. Sherlock, we have a match. Parts on order now. I'll be back OTR on Tuesday. Indy says 3 hour job! Total out of pocket will probably be about $700. I figure the old pump is gonna die, I have the part, might as well replace it. I'll keep the old one as a "backup".

I am relieved! Keep your 335xi. It is a good car. Any car you buy will have problems. Especially if you hit a fucking pothole!

[hockeyplayer]

Just curious...were you able to confirm with your Indy what exactly are the extra steps needed for XI models? thanks

[e92_enthusiast_1]

Sweet, glad you got it figured out. All in all $700's not too terrible.

[GB-335xiCoupe]

Originally Posted by hockeyplayer

Just curious...were you able to confirm with your Indy what exactly are the extra steps needed for XI models? thanks

No, he just looked something up, said "It says it's a 3 hour job". I'm like "Really?, wow, that seems low. What I did last night took 4 hours just to take apart." Of course I don't have a lift like he does... Damn back hurts!

[GB-335xiCoupe]

Originally Posted by e92_enthusiast_1

Sweet, glad you got it figured out. All in all $700's not too terrible.

That's just my guess based on his 3hrs estimate. I bet he's going to double that labor amount. I'll update as to the final cost parts/labor. It will be a nice extra to have a spare pump, even though it has 89k miles on it.

[GB-335xiCoupe]

Ok, so here's the summary for an N55, 2011 335xi coupe:

Parts details
(1) VDO-Continental water pump, BMW part number 11-51-7-632-426
(3) ALUMINUM mounting bolts, BMW part number 11-51-7-602-123
(1) Thermostat, BMW part number 11-53-7-601-158
(1) Coolant hose, BMW part number 11-53-7-545-665
---------------------
Cost details
Pump (ECS price match from BMW dealership) -.$431.30
Bolts (ECS price match from BMW dealership) -......$3.75
Tstat kit (ECS #2713411-w/coolant) -...............$104.95
Coolant hose (ECS #25109) -.............................$30.75
Shipping from ECS via UPS Ground -...................$12.99
Labor (Indie 2.5-3hr) w/haz disposal-............... $230.00
---------------------
Total............................................. .............. $ 813.74 + applicable taxes

I also bought about 5 gallons of coolant to ensure I made it to the dealership for the pump, and then home. Not included above...

What happened was, when I hit the pothole at 89,000 miles, a small crack developed in the tstat housing. I made it home (80 miles with no warning lights or gauge flux, normal temperatures), probably slowly leaking coolant the entire way...

The next day, once heated, I'm assuming the leak got bigger, and some was lost the day before. There was no coolant on my garage floor btw... The warning light for low coolant finally came on (30 miles from home). The rest is noted in the thread above... So now I have a new water pump and tstat, I'm good for at least 1,000 miles!

[Edit: I'm still blown away that the BMW dealership, which normally charges $640 for the water pump, matched ECS price of $430. And all I did was mention ECS. I didn't ask him to match it.]

[e92_enthusiast_1]

Good to see you're good to go. Watch those potholes.

Originally Posted by GB-335xiCoupe

Ok, so here's the summary:

Parts details
(1) VDO-Continental water pump, BMW part number 11-51-7-632-426
...

[Edit: I'm still blown away that the BMW dealership, which normally charges $640 for the water pump, matched ECS price of $430. And all I did was mention ECS. I didn't ask him to match it.]

[scotty_miller]

I feel your pain I did my water pump on my old xi and it was 6 hours of pure hell in my book. You really have to wrestle the thing to get it out. Swivels and extensions will be your best friend

[GB-335xiCoupe]

Originally Posted by scotty_miller

I feel your pain I did my water pump on my old xi and it was 6 hours of pure hell in my book. You really have to wrestle the thing to get it out. Swivels and extensions will be your best friend

Well in this case, my Indie was my best friend. When he told me it was only $230 labor, I said "Wow! Are you sure that's enough? Seriously?" He is only a few miles from my house, he will certainly be getting my future business, anything I can't do myself! BMW dealership, bah!

[Chriztofor]

Originally Posted by GB-335xiCoupe

Ok, so here's the summary:

Parts details
(1) VDO-Continental water pump, BMW part number 11-51-7-632-426
(3) ALUMINUM mounting bolts, BMW part number 11-51-7-602-123
(1) Thermostat, BMW part number 11-53-7-601-158
(1) Coolant hose, BMW part number 11-53-7-545-665
---------------------
Cost details
Pump (ECS price match from BMW dealership) -.$431.30
Bolts (ECS price match from BMW dealership) -......$3.75
Tstat kit (ECS #2713411-w/coolant) -...............$104.95
Coolant hose (ECS #25109) -.............................$30.75
Shipping from ECS via UPS Ground -...................$12.99
Labor (Indie 2.5-3hr) w/haz disposal-............... $230.00
---------------------
Total............................................. .............. $ 813.74 + applicable taxes



[Edit: I'm still blown away that the BMW dealership, which normally charges $640 for the water pump, matched ECS price of $430. And all I did was mention ECS. I didn't ask him to match it.]

Nice job, your savings on the pump was almost the cost of labor! By the way, nice price for the labor. Dealer prices always seem that they are charging the price to install it within their inflated part prices.

[scotty_miller]

Originally Posted by GB-335xiCoupe

Well in this case, my Indie was my best friend. When he told me it was only $230 labor, I said "Wow! Are you sure that's enough? Seriously?" He is only a few miles from my house, he will certainly be getting my future business, anything I can't do myself! BMW dealership, bah!

Lucky you haha My closest Indy is a joke and then another one is an hour away and charges 92 and hour. I'll keep that money in my pocket

[simster007]

Any particular reason to buy the hose? Can I use the old one?
(1) Coolant hose, BMW part number 11-53-7-545-665

[wiskerbisskit]

Shouldnt need the hose. I just replaced one of these last week. Actually 2 of them, one on an x-drive and a regular e90

[GB-335xiCoupe]

Since my leak was not perfectly diagnosed, I just replaced everything related... for $30, might as well.

[J02 335i]

That must of been one hell of a pothole. One would have to assume you have more damage to the car? Given the location of the thermostat.

[GB-335xiCoupe]

Originally Posted by J02 335i

That must of been one hell of a pothole. One would have to assume you have more damage to the car? Given the location of the thermostat.

No other damage. Indie said the tstat housing was leaking, but he wasn't 100% sure...

I have the old parts, except the hose. I'm not sure how to pressurize it to find the leak, since there's 4 inlets/outlets. Does anyone know how much pressure is expected to be in this system?

I could clean the parts real good and see if I can find the leak, but it might be virtually invisible... The pothole and this happening right away, too I much of a coincidence. I hit it at about 60mph. Wasn't pleasant. Damned Wisconsin roads!

[Eat.Sleep.Race]

Glad you got it cleared up! Now back to boosting!

[GB-335xiCoupe]

Update: I've driven 20k miles since the water pump was replaced in July '14. All is still good...