Unbelievable!

[andyscole]

I take my 2001 330i for it's mot today and it passes with flying colours. The only comment is that the power steering pump is rather loud. So the guy give me my mot cert and i pay and leave. Or try to leave, as the steering is heaavvvyyy... and low and behold the power steering pump has gone.

I'm not blamming the mot station becasue it has become loud recently and having done a little research this seems to be fairly common. I have tried to find a second hand one with no joy and a new one is over £200. Can anyone give any advice??? as my arms are starting to look like popeye already!!

[DennisCooper]

Try FAB breakers or Quarry motors. they're the UK's biggest BMW dismantlers. If they don't have one at the moment, then looks like a new one from BMW will be the way to go.

Cheers, Dennis!

[neiljohnson]

A known fault with these cars the shaft snaps without warning a new one from Bmw (which have now been modified) is the best route to go.

[andyscole]

neiljohnson said:

A known fault with these cars the shaft snaps without warning a new one from Bmw (which have now been modified) is the best route to go.

does that mean that if i buy one from bmw they will have the thicker shaft so less likely to break? Whereas if i buy one from say gfs or eurocarparts they still have that weak point?

I'll try the dismantlers first so cheers for the advice

[Scott330ci]

I havent any relevant info I am afraid but my friend has an e46 vert as do I and we both needed our pumps replaced.

Mine was a dealer job and I believe he obtained his from GSF.

[neiljohnson]

andyscole said:

neiljohnson said:

A known fault with these cars the shaft snaps without warning a new one from Bmw (which have now been modified) is the best route to go.

does that mean that if i buy one from bmw they will have the thicker shaft so less likely to break? Whereas if i buy one from say gfs or eurocarparts they still have that weak point?

I'll try the dismantlers first so cheers for the advice

a second hand one will likely fail the same way due to the fault also many well respected pump reconditioners wont do them. Cant comment on the gsf ones but have had the problem with one sourced from euro car parts, better to bite the bullet and get one from the dealer imho as failure at the wrong time could cause a nasty accident

[Hedgetrimmer]

neiljohnson said:

andyscole said:

neiljohnson said:

A known fault with these cars the shaft snaps without warning a new one from Bmw (which have now been modified) is the best route to go.

does that mean that if i buy one from bmw they will have the thicker shaft so less likely to break? Whereas if i buy one from say gfs or eurocarparts they still have that weak point?

I'll try the dismantlers first so cheers for the advice

a second hand one will likely fail the same way due to the fault also many well respected pump reconditioners wont do them. Cant comment on the gsf ones but have had the problem with one sourced from euro car parts, better to bite the bullet and get one from the dealer imho as failure at the wrong time could cause a nasty accident

Agreed. I would risk buying a second hand one. I used quarry recently for my steering pump and they were 60% of the cost of the dealer on an M5.

[andyscole]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Exactly.....Does that mean it was 60% off or 60% of the price??? So i'll buy a new one then...

[DaveR]

Scott330ci said:

I havent any relevant info I am afraid but my friend has an e46.. and we both needed our pumps replaced... mine was a dealer job and I believe he obtained his from GSF.

Another GSF steering pump user here

My OEM pump failed as I was parking outside the chalet on arrival in Courchevel one winter. As far away from home as the car would be all year and a million hairpin bends between me and the valley floor.

Where else would it choose to fail?

[andyscole]

DaveR said:

Scott330ci said:

I havent any relevant info I am afraid but my friend has an e46.. and we both needed our pumps replaced... mine was a dealer job and I believe he obtained his from GSF.

Another GSF steering pump user here

My OEM pump failed as I was parking outside the chalet on arrival in Courchevel one winter. As far away from home as the car would be all year and a million hairpin bends between me and the valley floor.

Where else would it choose to fail?

Has the gsf one been ok?

[andyscole]

What do you think about this? comes with 2 year warranty also..

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&am...

[DaveR]

andyscole said:

Has the gsf one been ok?

The short answer is "yes".

The long answer is...

...about 13 months or 19 months after my Indie fitted it, it failed. I know it was 13/19 months because the warranty on the part was either 12 or 18 months and I can't remember which...

Anyway the mechanic's view was that, regardless of being 1 month out of warranty, the failure of the unit (broken component) was unprecedented & unacceptable. They undertook to argue the toss with GSF on my behalf and I received a full refund 3 months later. Can't say fairer than that.

The replacement GSF pump has been fine ever since (4-5 years), hence the initial short answer!

[Devil2575]

The PS pump on my E36 328 got very noisy. I priced up a new one and that was about 200 notes so I got a used one through the parts gateway. Cost me £25 and was fine for the next 2 years I owned the car.