E46 Water Pump

[Max M4X WW]

Hi all,

I noticed the rad on my wife's car has started to bow so I'm going to replace it with a Hella item from Euro's (£70 ish) and while I'm there it makes sense to do the tank, belts, thermostat and water pump.

I think I'm happy with the Hella rad, Hella expansion tank and WAHLER thermostat but I'm not sure which water pump to go for - the options are..

BMW - £107
Circoli - £27
HEPU - £46
Airtex - £33

I will get a new pulley and bolts from BMW. There are a lot of discussions on here about what and when to replace but not a lot of mention of brands. I can't justify getting the lot from BMW.

Thanks in advance!

[iSore]

Circoli are good. On the rad, don't be tempted by cheap ones (especially EIS) as they junk but go for Nissens. I would use a genuine BMW thermostat. A bit of grease in the belt rollers doesn't hurt if they sound a bit dry.

You may want to consider a new expansion tank as well - avoid the cheap aftermarket ones - BMW tanks aren't that dear.

[helix402]

Only go for a genuine BMW waterpump, pattern ones tend to fail after a short time. Wahler thermostats are bad, prone to leaks. Behr or BMW are the best (the same part).

[Max M4X WW]

Getting so much conflicting information! Someone on the E46 website says the WAHLER stat is the same as the BMW one with the logo ground off..

They have also suggested this Meyle pump: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/390672027615

I can get a Nissen's rad for the same price as Hella, so is it better? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/330804612616

[LC23]

When I replaced my thermostat on one of my old 330s I bought it from C3BMW. It was a Wahler and clearly exactly the same as the BMW original stat that came out the car apart from the BMW logo had been ground off.

[Max M4X WW]

Great, thanks.

[helix402]

The last Wahler thermostat I fitted (last year) lasted 1 year and 6000 miles before failing due to a leak from the sensor connection. This is why I do not recommend them. Current BMW thermostats are made by Behr, which I now have on my car. Hope this helps.

My car is a 1999 E46 328iA SE (M52tu).

[Max M4X WW]

I'm going to get a BEHR stat then, which is I believe what is probably on the car now.

[iSore]

helix402 said:

Only go for a genuine BMW waterpump, pattern ones tend to fail after a short time.

I've yet to have a non genuine water pump fail in over 20 years. There is a first time for everything of course (I've just fitted one to mine) , but I've fitted dozens.

[Dannbodge]

When I changed the pump in my E36 I used a Meyle HD one.
It was very good quality and had a 2yr warranty.

It only cost me about £35 too

[Max M4X WW]

I ordered quite a mix of parts in the end, including a Febi water pump as I have used Febi parts in the past with good results and I'm hoping it is actually German made.

[helix402]

Re pattern water pump failure, it is rare, but unfortunately I've seen it on a ECP supplied pump (the more expensive one). I have fitted the Meyle one to an M54 and it's still going strong.
Having seen a pattern one fail I only go for genuine now. Febi parts are generally good, some engine parts for BMW are made by Febi.

[dmitsi]

What engines are these for, I'm currently looking at new pumps for e86 3.0 z4 and the pumps all seem to be £300 and above.

[helix402]

This discussion relates to the M52tu and M54.

[Patrick Bateman]

I've used c3bmw for any water pumps I've replaced-

http://www.c3bmw.co.uk/StockItem.asp?categoryID=98...

Bought the Kohle Schmidt (meant to be Kolbenschmidt as far as I can gather) one for a 330Ci and likewise for my M5. Both had metal impellers.

[LC23]

OP - you may well have bought the parts now but to confirm for you. My 2004 330 has a Behr stat and it is a genuine BMW part.

[Max M4X WW]

Thanks, I got a genuine/behr one on ebay fairly cheap.

[dmitsi]

I realise this isn't relating to the same pumps but I had to replace the electric pump on the n52 3.0si z4 coupe last week. BMW wanted £620 ex vat for the pump and stat, found new on eBay for 355 delivered.
Turned up next morning even ordering at 2pm and pleased to see a pierburg pump and wahler stat.
The good thing about z4's is the space in the engine bay, once up on the ramps all was accessible, didn't have to move anything. Job took 1 hour including drain and refill, then 15 minutes to bleed the system. It would've been annoying just on jacks so very thankful for the works ramps.

The pump had done 75k which reading online seems to be around the fail point for the electric one. Symptoms were coolant escaping through expansion cap, fan running on overtime. When expansion cap removed looked like no coolant in there, but opening the bleed valve brought it back with a healthy dose of air.