E91 Straight Six Bearding
Discussion
zippyonline said:
Swervin_Mervin said:
Anyone noticed their rear wiper arm beginning to dropp with age, when sat at rest? Only had a brief look and it appears to be wear to the plastic in the main part of hatch where the drive motor is. Not had a proper look though.
Once you've had a couple of problems with your own rear wiper, I found myself looking at everyone elses! I've noticed things such as reduced swept path (first tell tale sign of it getting stiff), stuck somewhere half way or something, and the bit of droop.The "droop" - I've not seen one in motion with it - but if it's like the whole swept path has shifted anti-clockwise a bit, you should (deeding on how rusted the spline is) be able to literally undo the nut for the wiper arm, pop it off and rotate round a couple of splines to compensate. I suspect with droop, it's been knocked once, or had a bad day, or something - it's not a BMW only thing.
I'd like to know, as my E91 325i rear wiper is working just fine at present - if washer fluid is the problem I'll look into pulling the fuse for the washer pump!
survivalist said:
Just when everything was going so well. I’m guessing water pump. Remember reading up on the N54 335i before buying one and one forum member commented ‘it’s a bulletproof engine, but everything bolted to it is made of chocolate’.
That's a bummer OP. 
But thanks to your photo at least I know what to expect when it happens to my 325i - whoever thought it was a good idea not to fit a temperature gauge?
I had a water pump go on my first Z4 Coupe with an N52 engine at 60K miles and 9 years in December 2015. Not the time of year to be messing with it outdoors, so I took it to my BMW Indy who fitted an OEM pump that cost £500! I've since found out it's a Pierburg pump, and they're around £300 from EuroCarParts.
Good luck getting your car sported.
Mr Tidy said:
Just wondering, but is it the same problem as E46 Compacts (and probably Tourings) had with washer fluid getting into the wiper motor when you use the washers?
I'd like to know, as my E91 325i rear wiper is working just fine at present - if washer fluid is the problem I'll look into pulling the fuse for the washer pump!
It’s a different problem to the compacts, just caused by dirt in the wiper spindle. I'd like to know, as my E91 325i rear wiper is working just fine at present - if washer fluid is the problem I'll look into pulling the fuse for the washer pump!
Mr Tidy said:
survivalist said:
Just when everything was going so well. I’m guessing water pump. Remember reading up on the N54 335i before buying one and one forum member commented ‘it’s a bulletproof engine, but everything bolted to it is made of chocolate’.
That's a bummer OP. But thanks to your photo at least I know what to expect when it happens to my 325i - whoever thought it was a good idea not to fit a temperature gauge?
I had a water pump go on my first Z4 Coupe with an N52 engine at 60K miles and 9 years in December 2015. Not the time of year to be messing with it outdoors, so I took it to my BMW Indy who fitted an OEM pump that cost £500! I've since found out it's a Pierburg pump, and they're around £300 from EuroCarParts.
Good luck getting your car sported.
I changed the waterpump on mine at 180something k miles – it was the original but still operating…that said, it was knackered and you could rattle the whole waterpump when I took it off. Not too bad a job, a bit fiddly and some of the hoses are a bit tight, but made easier by the fact it can just self bleed coz it’s an electric pump.
140 (20-05-2017) by Chris Reeves, on Flickr
Also change your 'stat at the same time, it's likely stuck open!
zippyonline said:
Mr Tidy said:
survivalist said:
Just when everything was going so well. I’m guessing water pump. Remember reading up on the N54 335i before buying one and one forum member commented ‘it’s a bulletproof engine, but everything bolted to it is made of chocolate’.
That's a bummer OP. But thanks to your photo at least I know what to expect when it happens to my 325i - whoever thought it was a good idea not to fit a temperature gauge?
I had a water pump go on my first Z4 Coupe with an N52 engine at 60K miles and 9 years in December 2015. Not the time of year to be messing with it outdoors, so I took it to my BMW Indy who fitted an OEM pump that cost £500! I've since found out it's a Pierburg pump, and they're around £300 from EuroCarParts.
Good luck getting your car sported.
I changed the waterpump on mine at 180something k miles – it was the original but still operating…that said, it was knackered and you could rattle the whole waterpump when I took it off. Not too bad a job, a bit fiddly and some of the hoses are a bit tight, but made easier by the fact it can just self bleed coz it’s an electric pump.
140 (20-05-2017) by Chris Reeves, on Flickr
Also change your 'stat at the same time, it's likely stuck open!
Booked in for recovery tomorrow as the dealer is a 35-45min drive away and I didn’t fancy risking it. Think the N54 runs pretty hot anyway.
Quick read of the fault codes suggests it’s definitely the pump.
Edited by survivalist on Thursday 15th March 18:52
JakeT said:
At first glance I thought that WP was a turbo. 
The self bleeding is so cool. Wish it could somehow be done with a mechanical pump.
They’re not actually self bleeding, you might get away with not doing the bleed procedure but there is one. It needs to be done with BMW diagnostic software (or alternatively with something like Autologic) it runs the pump at different speeds for approx 12 mins (forgot the exact time). The self bleeding is so cool. Wish it could somehow be done with a mechanical pump.
But you're right, it just uses the computer to do it. I like that it doesn't need the engine running. Means one can set the bleeding process to run, and then clean up while it does it.helix402 said:
JakeT said:
At first glance I thought that WP was a turbo. The self bleeding is so cool. Wish it could somehow be done with a mechanical pump.
They’re not actually self bleeding, you might get away with not doing the bleed procedure but there is one. It needs to be done with BMW diagnostic software (or alternatively with something like Autologic) it runs the pump at different speeds for approx 12 mins (forgot the exact time). The self bleeding is so cool. Wish it could somehow be done with a mechanical pump.ATM said:
My 335i keeps going in limp mode after being on motorway for 20 - 40 minutes. No idea why but it is annoying.
Have you looked for any fault codes? I've found with mine that before something actually fails the car will go into limp mode, which I find odd as non-BMW cars tend to throw up a fault and only then go into limp mode (based on my limited experience with VAG and Japanese Stuff)
survivalist said:
Just when everything was going so well. I’m guessing water pump. Remember reading up on the N54 335i before buying one and one forum member commented ‘it’s a bulletproof engine, but everything bolted to it is made of chocolate’.
I have to say they were way better in listening to what I wanted. As you'd expect their first response was to say they'd send someone to 'perform a temporary fix and get me moving'. When I pointed out that it was a cooling/overheating issue and that I'd already read the codes that suggested it would be a waste of time trying to fix it at the roadside they were surprisingly flexible and booked a flatbed in to recover the car to my local dealer the next day (today).
On a less positive note they were over 4 hours later than agreed, but as I was working from home this wasn't an issue. The driver of the recovery vehicle turned out to be a big BMW fan so we ended up chatting about various BMWs we'd owned and about common failures - for those interested it's either pumps (hydro, fuel and water) or injectors/coil-packs.
BMW were surprisingly efficient at agreeing it was a water pump about 10 mins after receiving it (the info/bulletin thing suggest that they should reset all systems and test drive before diagnosing pump failure), new part ordered and I should get the car back Monday afternoon :-)
Swervin_Mervin said:
Anyone noticed their rear wiper arm beginning to droop with age, when sat at rest? Only had a brief look and it appears to be wear to the plastic in the main part of hatch where the drive motor is. Not had a proper look though.
On mine the motor spindle was worn, was going to get a new motor but tried some JB weld to glue the slotted disc to the spindle and touch wood, 4 months later it's working fine. Edited by Swervin_Mervin on Wednesday 14th March 11:23
With the glass hatch open pop the small bit of trim off around the slotted disc then just tease the disc off. Might be the spindle worn.
zippyonline said:
ATM said:
So spray the arm bearing / seal in the glass or the mechanism itself in the bootlid?
The bit in the glass bit - like you say it's the stiff bit. Mine noticeably became easier as I went back and forth and lubed it up. 
I noticed my wiper arm moved more quickly/easily in use after this too. It was completely gunked up, so I don't think spraying just a bit of WD40 would have helped in my case.
zippyonline said:
The reason for not fitting the temperature gauge iirc is that it would be dancing all over the place when you drive, so people would go into bmw asking about it. It runs the engine hotter or cooler depending on whether it’s in an “economy” mode or a “performance” mode. TBH, most car temp gauges only tell you if it’s under temp, at temp or overheating anyway.
Not convinced that is the reason - E92s and E93s have a temperature gauge as does my E86 with an N52 engine and it doesn't dance all over the place! Apart from when the pump died of course. 
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