2009 X5 4.8 WaterPump??
 

Does the V8 engine have an electric WaterPump? My truck been making a groaning/growling sound coming from the WaterPump area. It seem like the water pump pulley bearing is going. Is replacing the WaterPump a difficult job to do on my own? Do you need special tools to do the job? Thanks, Sam

Could be just the pulley bearing, it happened to me. 4.8i not using electric water pump thank god.

Thanks for replying! So do I replace the WaterPump or just the bearing? Also this is the original WaterPump.

If you are at 65 000 miles, I'd just replace the pump as preventative maintenance. What's the mileage on your X? Coolant exchange is also something to consider.

I think it call the tensioner idler pulley not the bearing that I am talking about. Check this first before replacing the water pump....I thought the same thing but my mechanic says just the pulley. Good luck

https://youtu.be/JM5YEz9xTps

Mine sound like this like cricket

My X5 has 94K miles on it. Mine sound like a tight drive belt or WaterPump, IDK.
How do I upload sound clip here?

good morning!, just to add my two cents, at that mileage is a must to replace the water pump, I did it on my 4.8 at 90K because I had this cracking sound coming from the water pump, at the same time I drop the new belts and pulleys just for peace of mind.

Water pump is a little bit difficult to remove since the bottom screw is behind the balancer that the manual recommend to remove it to get access to it but with a little 8 or 9 open wrench you are able to do it...

just patience and you could o it... just get a beer and cheers!!

The 4.8l water pump does not last much more than about 70k miles. The seal starts to seep with the crazy engine temps BMW has this engine run.

My pump started with a slight knocking noise. i think the bearing cage breaks and then the bearings become loose and the race becomes pitted. I started the engine one day before I had a 2500 mile round trip I had to take and heard the noise and just said "crap". Tried to get a water pump from the dealer, they did not have it is stock.

I chanced the trip, pump became noisier and noisier on the trip, but I hoped and crossed my fingers once the engine RPM was up over 2000 RPM that the bearings would redistribute themselves and the pump would last.

I made my trip without a grenade on the front of the engine!

I went ahead and installed the BimmerFix Products | BMW Coolant Pipe Repair System coolant stent pipe while I had the water pump off.

I also cheated and did not remove the lower pulley from the crank balancer. The bottom bolt was a PITA and tight, but if you have "normal" size hands and fingers and some patience, you should be able to get by without removing the lower pulley.

I also switched over to a Hamburgtech 90C thermostat and have been running this for the past year without problems.

Thanks guys! Just received my parts today. About to do it up tomorrow. Question, does the radiator have a drain plug? If so, where is it? Do I get to it from underneath? Thanks in advance, Sam

The radiator does have a drain plug as I recall.

It is straight up from the bottom on the drivers side to the best of my memory.

You may need to remove the lower engine cover to gain access.

I would probably remove the lower engine cover anyway because you will lose coolant when you pull the lower hose and water pump. It will also keep you sane when you drop bolts, nuts and tools in the BMW Black Hole!

I did not pull the fan or the upper cross bar, but might recommend doing this.

I am in the process of replacing my Voltage regulator and had to pull the fan and upper cross bar, not too hard, you just need to figure out how to release the fan shroud and then fold the small arm on the drivers side in to make the fan easier to remove. You should also pull the 4 screws that hold the top radiator cover so you can easily remove the fan shroud ears.

I would also recommend replacing the O-ring on the fan sensor that is located near the lower radiator hose. BMW part #13621743299.

If you decide to replace the serpentine belts, this can be a PITA due to the cage over the power steering/active suspension pump. Not sure if this is the same on models without the active suspension.

Well said...
Is there a change to make it work at lower temperatures?
By programming or by hardware like mod bulbs?

I have been running a HamburgTech 90C thermostat in my 4.8l for over a year now with no major negative effects that I have seen. The only problem with the 90C thermostat is the threshold for a P0128 code is pretty close. You may get an occasional p0128 which you can clear and manage if needed.

If the thermostat main spring gets weak, then the temp will drop below a decent threshold so it is wise to continue to monitor the engine coolant temperature. You may find that you need to replace the 90C thermostat more often than a standard temp thermostat as the main spring weakens over time.

I have an UltraGauge I run on my E70 permanently and I set threshold alarms, but a low temperature threshold alarm is not something the UltraGauge can properly support that I have tried. Maybe I should try it and see what happens, I have assumed the low temp threshold Alarm may not work so well. I do however, have a display that has the engine temperature and charging Voltage along with some other parameters constantly displayed.

But the KEY problem that the 4.8l seems to have is notifying the driver there is a charging problem. Either there is something wrong with my E70, there are different vehicle software versions or BMW dropped the ball BIG TIME on notifying the driver if the alternator is not charging. So I use/need my UltraGauge to monitor and alarm if there is a charging system problem. My alternator regulator was flaky and I had to manage a intermittent charging problem for about 6 weeks until the temps were high enough for me to pull the alternator and replace the Voltage regulator.

The UltraGauge will automatically sleep and if it does not wake up on start up, this usually means the Alternator is not charging. You can reach under the dash and unplug and replug the OBDII connection and manually restart the UltraGauge if it does not wake up and then you can verify if the vehicle is not charging.