[tracfour]

Question: my07 335I with 104,000 miles went into safe mode after temp lights hit yellow then red. Car over heated and leaked radiator fluid, the shop said that it was the fan module that failed. I then had fan replaced and got all new BMW coolant. The next day driving I jumped on it and same thing, car shut down into safe , I check nothing over heated and all lights went off. I drove back to shop and the code said electric pump. The shop checked and found that it was a air pocket in the radiator which caused it to not be full. They cleared the code and checked the car and as of now all is OK. So question, could the original failure have been caused by a bad electric pump that caused the fan module to go out. So now I am worried that the pump is going and the next time I punch it, i am going to be sitting on the side of the road. I am now wondering if I should of had a new pump and thermostat changed in the first place however it did not show up as a bad pump the first time. Help please.

[thomas88162]

While it's possible that your pump is going, it may not be. Were you traveling slowly when you got the temp warnings and leaked fluid?

[jwzimm]

At your mileage you are overdue for your water pump to fail. It is very likely that it is the culprit and needs to be replaced. Either the fan was a coincidence or was not bad in the first place. When the car overheated and shut down was the fan screaming like a banshee? If so I doubt it was bad.

If they do proper diagnostics (i.e. reading the BMW specific codes) it will tell them for certain if the water pump is failing. The car performs internal diagnostics all the time and will start to post hidden codes when the pump is on its way out.

I would suggest a different mechanic that knows how to work on BMW's. There is a specific bleed procedure for the coolant system that is activated by the gas pedal. If your mechanic did not know how to do this I doubt they are familiar enough with BMW's to perform the water pump replacement.

[tracfour]

Thanks, I had hit 75 when the problem started. After the safe mode stopped no fan noise. Thanks guys

[Efthreeoh]

Your shop probably doesn't know what it is doing. The symptoms of over heating you described is a classic event of a water pump failure. The shop didn't properly bleed the coolant if there was still air in the system (indication they don't know what they are doing), these cars are the easiest to bleed because they are bled cold with just the water pump. If you correctly follow the coolant bleed procedure it is virtually impossible to F it up.

Secondly, the shop then tells you about an "electric pump code" (it should have been 2E81 or 2E82), which is the telltale sign the water pump is going bad. I'd go back to the shop get credit for the electric fan replacement since it probably wasn't necessary to be replaced, and take the car to a real BMW mechanic and have the system diagnosed and the water pump and t-stat replaced.

[NGEE]

Originally Posted by tracfour

my07 335I with 104,000 miles...

Haha - replace the pump either way

[thomas88162]

If you were at speed, that is to say above 20 consistently. Then your problem was never the fan.

[PichaDis11]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

Your shop probably doesn't know what it is doing. The symptoms of over heating you described is a classic event of a water pump failure. The shop didn't properly bleed the coolant if there was still air in the system (indication they don't know what they are doing), these cars are the easiest to bleed because they are bled cold with just the water pump. If you correctly follow the coolant bleed procedure it is virtually impossible to F it up.

Secondly, the shop then tells you about an "electric pump code" (it should have been 2E81 or 2E82), which is the telltale sign the water pump is going bad. I'd go back to the shop get credit for the electric fan replacement since it probably wasn't necessary to be replaced, and take the car to a real BMW mechanic and have the system diagnosed and the water pump and t-stat replaced.

This X10

[tracfour]

I am going to get the pump and thermostat just be on the safe side like you guys said.

[ucdbiendog]

Originally Posted by jwzimm

At your mileage you are overdue for your water pump to fail. It is very likely that it is the culprit and needs to be replaced. Either the fan was a coincidence or was not bad in the first place. When the car overheated and shut down was the fan screaming like a banshee? If so I doubt it was bad.

If they do proper diagnostics (i.e. reading the BMW specific codes) it will tell them for certain if the water pump is failing. The car performs internal diagnostics all the time and will start to post hidden codes when the pump is on its way out.

I would suggest a different mechanic that knows how to work on BMW's. There is a specific bleed procedure for the coolant system that is activated by the gas pedal. If your mechanic did not know how to do this I doubt they are familiar enough with BMW's to perform the water pump replacement.

This post makes me sad. I am just about at 104k miles

[jwzimm]

Originally Posted by ucdbiendog

This post makes me sad. I am just about at 104k miles

Sorry to bum you out. It is a known and common failure on these though. 100k miles is pretty good for an electric pump though. Things do wear out and you can't expect it to last forever.

[ucdbiendog]

Originally Posted by jwzimm

Sorry to bum you out. It is a known and common failure on these though. 100k miles is pretty good for an electric pump though. Things do wear out and you can't expect it to last forever.

yeah i have already been planning for it. im particularly worried since im taking a road trip this weekend, bout 200 miles each way. it would really be the shits if it blew then. so far no symptoms though; no codes, no bump in temp, no howling fan. KNOCK ON WOOD