Wp doa

[Jellobmw]

I started hearing a slight rattle/ resonance around 2k rpm on the ride home yesterday. It progressed to a constant rumble in a couple of miles. Getting home I put the stethoscope to the water pump and yup, it was growling loudly. Amazing, this all progressed within 5 miles.

Well it made it 60k since I restored the car 20+ years ago, so I got complaints on durability.

But now the car is sitting till I can find the time to order and replace the WP, hoses, and viscous coupling. Good time to replace all coolant as well as it been a couple of years on that. Oh well, weather is nice and the R1200C is sitting there needing attention!

 

[MyFemurHurts]

At 55k miles, my E39's water pump died. As the bearing went, it developed a ton of play, and the fan was walking around. I heard a slight change to the engine note, but couldn't track down the problem.

A week after hearing the change in sound, I pulled off the freeway, and the whole car was shaking. I shut it down, popped the hood, and the fan had a ton of play, and the water pump was leaking.

I had that car for 8 years and put three water pumps in it. I hope my E9 does better than that!

 

[Tierfreund]

E39 water pumps are notorious. But there is a remedy. Aftermarket. There are some reallygood aftermarket pumps for that car (and of course a lot of trash as well). A rare instance where OEM is nfg.

(original) M30 water pumps are rock solid. With proper cooling system maintenance (fluid changes, proper antifreeze/anticorrosion) they´ll easily last 200k.
The fan clutch on the other hand...

 

[Honolulu]

You don't necessarily need a new fan clutch, check how your present unit spins. Pal of mine just had to replace the rad on his E39, it seems their cooling systems suffer general failure at around 100kmiles. We are not going to change the pump at this time as there seems no need but he will certainly keep an ear on it.

Rapid (5 mile) pump failure is surprising...I suspect there was a pre-existing leak that ate up the bearing until that bearing said "it's over!" And packed it in.