M20 water pump life

[Dan in NZ]

When I first got my car the water pump was screaming the sound of an iminent death... Got a new one fitted, along with timing belt and tensioner, all accessory belts and Inspection II at the BMW dealer.

Now, 2 years and 40,000km later, it's shot again. I was hoping it would last a bit longer than this! How often has anyone else had to replace water pumps? Especially interested to hear from other M20 owners.

Toyota has a 2 year unlimited mileage warranty on all replacement parts, I wonder if BMW has this level of support?

[Dan in NZ]

Oh, and 40,000km is 25,000 miles, in respect to the non-metric board members!

[wingman]

Sorry that this is not water pump related but did you fit the fog lights yourself and if so was it easy. It was a piece of pie on the E12.

[ryan roopnarine]

bmw north america (im not sure if this includes canada, but i know it applies to the US) has a lifetime warantee on stuff like that (ie shocks, mufflers, waterpumps) that you buy from them and have installed by them. 40k km is too short, it should outlive the timing belt so that you can change both at the same time. 40k km sounds like either a defective water pump, improper belt installlation, or bad belt tensioner/pulleys.

[Alan_525i]

25K miles is REALLY short. My car had its original waterpump (M20 also) for 110K miles, it was only replaced as a preventative measure while everything was apart. Sounds like you simply got a dud. I would probably swap my pump every other timing belt change which for me being the paranoid person I am would be every 80K or so miles. I know they say you can go 50K on the belts, but I really dont need to have my head off the car a third time!

[Dan in NZ]

Sorry that this is not water pump related but did you fit the fog lights yourself and if so was it easy. It was a piece of pie on the E12.

Fog lights? They're just the factory ones, I thought all E34's had them. I have taken them out to stick on a 3M headlight protection film, after both had holes from stones. It's a 5 minute job, just one screw behind the tow-hook covers as I recall.

[Gene in NC]

Belt tight?