Water pump isn't functioning and my warranty has expired already...
 

I was driving on the freeway yesterday and I heard some massive fan sound. Although deeply pushing the gas pedal, the RPM didn't go higher than 2500 rpm and it felt like a car is loosing power. "Engine is hot" sign showed up on the screen and I had to pull over at the gas station to cool it down. I took it to the local BMW specialist next day since my warranty has expired. They said my water pump is not working so the engine keeps overheating and the fan is massively spinning to cool down the engine. They estimated $890 to fix it and I'm at 59k miles. urgggggggggggggggggggggg!!!:(

BMW = Break My Wallet

I would be fairly pizzed, too...an '07 E70, with less than 60k miles, and they
are still sourcing water pumps that were failing on E53s nearly a decade ago?!

Not sure it's the same part, don't care. Just seems a little early in the "part
goes kaput cycle" to me, esp. since water pumps, etc. come up on the JukeBox
so frequently on any BMW board.
GL,mD

Just curious because mine is in the shop now getting a new water pump at 88,700 miles.

At what point can I do the work myself? I'm fairly competent, have done lots of work on cars in the past and am not scared of it....in general.

But on this car I'm afraid of stupid things like having to reprogram the computer or disconnecting the battery and not being able to get it running again.

Any thoughts? Does anyone here do their own work on engine or suspension parts?

yeah, sure. A water pump is all mechanical work- when I read the first post my thought was "$890?!?!?........$200 in parts and an evening in the garage and I'd be on the road"

I do all my own work- M5, 996TT, X5 (so far not much), F250 PSD, Acura MDX. Generally it is all just parts.

My biggest issues are in the electronic diagnostics. Buying programs and interfaces (ie durametric, GT1 clones, etc) are essential with these newer cars. But the easy mechanical stuff is again just disassembly. Indeed, the nicer and more expensive the car, the more interesting and elegant the parts (and more rewarding)

GL

A

When my dealer was helping me diagnose what I believed to be a cold weather performance issue the mechanic noticed that the water pump was cutting in frequently. He said there is a service notice about this (though they hadn't seen fit to notify me about it). When I listened carefully I could also hear the pump starting and stopping every few seconds though if I'd not been told what to listen for I doubt if I'd have noticed it.
Anyway, they had the car in and its fixed.
Peter T

Just FYI:

BMW (and all manufacturers) issue SIBs (Service Bulletins) all the time... these are official notices from a mfg to the public (ie mechanics, and their dealer mechanics) that IF there is issue X, then try fix Y.

So unless you have issue X, there is no reason to notify you of fix Y.

These are DIFFERENT than 'recalls', as this is when they KNOW there is a problem and that problem may result in a potentially dangerous failure. They must notify you of a recall.

Thanks for the note Ard - I see the subtlety. If it means that water pumps are going to fail though, maybe it should be a recall - though I accept it's not exactly an epidemic yet!
Peter T

To follow up, savvy owners will scour SIBs while under warranty, and see if they have any complaints that 'match' descriptors in the SIB...even if minor... that way they can get potentially issues taken care of while BMW is paying the bill.