[ENINTY]

I'll comment on everyone's responses.

Yes, I am still against it as a preventative maintenance item, as I said before, just for the fact that there is a huge disparity between failure times. Some pumps go at <60K, others at 100K, and mine at 149K. That tells me the quality of the manufacture of the pump is poor because it is inconsistent. Well engineered, designed, and manufactured parts should have relatively the same mean time between failure. It is common in industry to calculate the MTBF and determine a replacement interval. BMW should, being the engineering company that it is, provide a replacement interval for the pump. It shouldn't be guess work for the consumer to read Mike Miller's opinion and try to determine if it is worth paying upwards of $800 - $1,200 for a premature replacement. Just because the pump is electric it shouldn't be 5-times the price of a belt-driven pump. As I said before, a preventative maintenance part on a mass-produced car such as the 3-series should not cost $500. Mike Miller suggests on some BMW models that the entire cooling system, pump, radiator, hoses, etc. be replaced every 60,000 miles; my car with three times that distance.

Yes I was suspect of the pump because I inadvertently "discovered" the codes during another maintenance procedure and because of its age. Had the pump been reasonably priced I would have changed it a few months ago when I discovered the codes. I was going to scan the car last weekend, but got busy doing other things. If I had found the codes I was going to replace the pump at 150,000 miles, so I still would have broken down anyway.

I don't find nor do I expect BMW parts to be expensive. I've been wrenching on BMWs for over 20 years. I have found most OEM parts to be quite reasonable. For example, I recently replaced one of the Ox Sensors. The part was $55 from Tischer. Most OEM Ox Sensors are in the $80 to $120 range.

What is disappointing is the car is way more capable of providing advanced warning of pending failures. If the water pump is prone to failure, and the diagnostics system has the capability to monitor pump speed and performance, and the car has no temperature gauge, the car should have a warning to replace the pump. The car shouldn't just overheat in one fell swoop.

Regardless of the new vs. old maintenance schedule debate, BMW used to be very clear on maintenance requirements and owner involvement in the maintenance process. It isn’t any longer.

Good news is the new pump is on its way (Tischer shipped it yesterday). Bad news is I'm not replacing the hoses just yet because I need to get the car back on the road and I'm pretty sure Tischer doesn't have all of them in stock. I can do them later. All it will cost is coolant and a little more wrench time.