[jarmend]

Originally Posted by sy2767

2011 N55 and my pump failed at 46k, left me stranded in the middle of nowhere on the highway, Had the dreaded high speed fan issue for 2-3 weeks before it died.

I had the exact same experience, but a 2012 n55 with 43k in July 2017.

[tlow98]

Originally Posted by sy2767

2011 N55 and my pump failed at 46k, left me stranded in the middle of nowhere on the highway, Had the dreaded high speed fan issue for 2-3 weeks before it died.

It seems that the stranding in the middle of nowhere part could have been avoided?

[BimmerNugget]

Getting stranded sucks...That's why a AAA mid tier membership is essential to BMW ownership. $110 bucks a year for (4) 100 mile tows.

[sy2767]

Originally Posted by tlow98

It seems that the stranding in the middle of nowhere part could have been avoided?

We were evacuated during the wildfires in northern Canada ( Fort Mcmurray). We lost everything but the car which was at work and did not get harmed, but I had to get it to city of Edmonton which is over 4 hours away to the dealer. Towing it was not an option because of the circumstances with the fire, I had nowhere to live there anymore and I was not working either, again, all fire related. So I said screw it and started to drive, made it about 100k from the city and it died.

[tlow98]

Originally Posted by sy2767

We were evacuated during the wildfires in northern Canada ( Fort Mcmurray). We lost everything but the car which was at work and did not get harmed, but I had to get it to city of Edmonton which is over 4 hours away to the dealer. Towing it was not an option because of the circumstances with the fire, I had nowhere to live there anymore and I was not working either, again, all fire related. So I said screw it and started to drive, made it about 100k from the city and it died.

Sorry to hear that! goodluck with everything

[Meeni]

N52 pumps die from the electronic being exposed to heat cycling (possibly an after-effect of the higher quality metal enclosure). On mine the pump was still working fine mechanically but the electronic was completely fried with burn marks on the edge of the PCB.

[shanes]

I have a late build 2011 328i xdrive and I was on the original working water pump and thermostat till 145,000 miles.. it had zero issues but felt It was definitely necessary to change it out with a new setup. One thing I was big on was changing out the coolant like every 50k miles with BMW oem blue. I took the old pump apart to see how it looked inside and to my surprise it looked clean and brand new still and no burning smell.

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

Originally Posted by Welcome to NBA Jam

Someone will take on the task eventually. I hope Mishimoto studies it. The primary failure appears to be related to internal seals.

We are now in 2018 and nothing came out. I highly doubt it.

[Welcome to NBA Jam]

Originally Posted by TheMidnightNarwhal

We are now in 2018 and nothing came out. I highly doubt it.

Patience, young Skywalker.

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

Originally Posted by Welcome to NBA Jam

Patience, young Skywalker.

It's just by the time we get good alternative for them to last longer the car will start to become obsolete. Like we're 2018 now and it's 5 years after the last production year model. Still nothing. 11 years for 07s.y


Now if they come out with something better and cheaper that might be interested.

When are they going to come out, 15, 20 years?

[Efthreeoh]

For the N52, below are the superseded part numbers and their effective dates.

My 2006 E90 325i (4/2006 build) pump failed at 149,521 miles in July 2011. Since then in the 7 ensuing years past the replacement date, the replaced pump has gone 210,000 miles. No codes have been present anytime I've scanned the car over the years. The P/N of the pump I ordered in July 2011 is 11517586925 which is the current pump design from 4/2008 forward. I've been driving the same commute the entire time.

So just to jinx myself, the pump in my '08 Z4 3.0si Coupe (11/2007 build) now at 11 years old and 92,000 miles has yet to throw a pump code.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by shanes

I have a late build 2011 328i xdrive and I was on the original working water pump and thermostat till 145,000 miles.. it had zero issues but felt It was definitely necessary to change it out with a new setup. One thing I was big on was changing out the coolant like every 50k miles with BMW oem blue. I took the old pump apart to see how it looked inside and to my surprise it looked clean and brand new still and no burning smell.

Don't take this as a flame, but a lot of people on E90 Post over-maintain these cars, especially the N52 E90. The original 2006 and early 2007 N52 thermostat and waterpump were prone to failures. The updated parts for the thermostat and waterpump from late 2007 and early 2008, of which I have both in my E90, have lasted far longer in time and mileage than the original parts. For expensive parts such as the T-stat and WP, premature replacement is just wasting money. A failed thermostat will not leave the car stranded on the side of the road and will make itself known by a SES (check engine) light. The waterpump usually leaves tell tale trouble codes in the ECU well in advance of complete failure. The codes are easily found with periodic scans with a BMW scan tool. For the N52 doubling the coolant change interval does nothing in preventing waterpump failures, because the WP control electronics (of the original pump design) overheat and cease to function, so the pump starts to slowdown then eventually stop altogether. It produces codes for such events with a mileage stamp.

If you plan on keeping your car long term, then save money for such things as a valvecover gasket replacement and oil filter housing gasket replacement, both which can leak oil onto the serpentine belt, which if it breaks CAN leave the car stranded and with expensive repair bills. And plan on a serpentine tensioner replacement, as that can result in engine damage as well. If you are OCD about leaks, then you'll eventually need to replace the oil pan gasket.

Unless you live in a major city with shitty pothole-filled roads like NYC or Philly, the suspension and suspension bushings last far longer than people think. IMO, many people here replace shocks, struts, and bushings way too early. Save maintenance money for stuff that breaks, not for stuff you think may break because you read about it on the internet.

Doubling up of maintenance (i.e. halving the intervals) does not increase the car's service life by double. I know this from experience. I've owned my car for over 12 years since I took delivery at 3 miles on the odometer (I ordered my car) and it now is about to pass 360,000 miles the week after next. I do most all my own maintenance and repairs.

My 2 cents.

[aamodtpw]

I have a 2013 E92 with an N55. Just replaced the water pump last month @ 47K miles. It didn't die completely but started to flake out, as in overheated limp mode about 20 miles after cold start. Stop/restart fixed the immediate problem, but replacement was needed to restore driver confidence. At least I was prepared to have it go out this early, thanks to the info I have gleaned from reading posts on this board.

[NathanK24]

I have a 2010 model year 2009 built date e90 with N54. I am at 115k miles and water pump has not failed yet under my ownership. Looking through the carfax, I did not see any history of replacing it. My guess is that it was done in the earlier years of the car and not documented, or I am hanging on by a thread.

[dauble2k5]

My 2011 335i failed around 79k.

[Bmw_Crazy]

2009 150k still going

[Gamb1t]

Failures of these components are also happening on f30 models.

[unrulyteach]

My n52 went at around 70k looks like my n55 was replaced (cpo) at 55k

[BravoJohny33]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

Don't take this as a flame, but a lot of people on E90 Post over-maintain these cars, especially the N52 E90. The original 2006 and early 2007 N52 thermostat and waterpump were prone to failures. The updated parts for the thermostat and waterpump from late 2007 and early 2008, of which I have both in my E90, have lasted far longer in time and mileage than the original parts. For expensive parts such as the T-stat and WP, premature replacement is just wasting money. A failed thermostat will not leave the car stranded on the side of the road and will make itself known by a SES (check engine) light. The waterpump usually leaves tell tale trouble codes in the ECU well in advance of complete failure. The codes are easily found with periodic scans with a BMW scan tool. For the N52 doubling the coolant change interval does nothing in preventing waterpump failures, because the WP control electronics (of the original pump design) overheat and cease to function, so the pump starts to slowdown then eventually stop altogether. It produces codes for such events with a mileage stamp.

If you plan on keeping your car long term, then save money for such things as a valvecover gasket replacement and oil filter housing gasket replacement, both which can leak oil onto the serpentine belt, which if it breaks CAN leave the car stranded and with expensive repair bills. And plan on a serpentine tensioner replacement, as that can result in engine damage as well. If you are OCD about leaks, then you'll eventually need to replace the oil pan gasket.

Unless you live in a major city with shitty pothole-filled roads like NYC or Philly, the suspension and suspension bushings last far longer than people think. IMO, many people here replace shocks, struts, and bushings way too early. Save maintenance money for stuff that breaks, not for stuff you think may break because you read about it on the internet.

Doubling up of maintenance (i.e. halving the intervals) does not increase the car's service life by double. I know this from experience. I've owned my car for over 12 years since I took delivery at 3 miles on the odometer (I ordered my car) and it now is about to pass 360,000 miles the week after next. I do most all my own maintenance and repairs.

My 2 cents.

I blame mike miller douche maintenance schedule. He treats the car like its a freaking plane.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by BravoJohny33

I blame mike miller douche maintenance schedule. He treats the car like its a freaking plane.

Mike Miller's maintenance schedule for the E90 is nothing more than the legacy BMW maintenance schedule for cars like the E21 and E30, which I'm familiar with both chassis. My brother had an E21 for about 4 years, and I had an E30 for 18 years (owned since new in 1988). Miller is on record stating the E30 was the most reliable BMW of the modern era (and had a very robust cooling system), while I agree with that, the E90 (with the N52) is no less reliable and robust as the E30. But what I don't agree with Miller is the level of maintenance the E90 requires. Per BMW the E90 has far less maintenance requirements than the E30. Just going from memory, the E30 (with the M20) needed valve adjustments every 30,000 miles, a cam belt every 60,000 (with water pump change), and driveline fluid changes every 30,000 miles. Coolant was every 4 years. The E30 had a rudimentary oil life monitor, which for my car called for 9,000 - 12,000 mile oil changes using conventional oil. The E90 CBS system for oil changes is far more sophisticated. Most E30s lost the oil maintenance system when the rechargeable batteries would die anyway. The E90 can last a long time and to high miles on BMW's CBS schedule, and 100,000-mile driveline maintenance (well for the manual trans at least). The E21 was really reliable as well, but it was relatively to E30s, a simple machine. The E21 exhaust system would notoriously break exhaust hangers as I remember it.

I think Miller applies his position of some BMW engines having substandard cooling system components to the E90 (like the M62 for example). For the N52, the cooling system in my experience is on the level of robustness as the E30 had. While the idea is great, I think the electric water pump engineering BMW executed is stupid. With no coolant temp gauge in the N52 E90, there is no way to tell the WP is not operating to spec until it goes tits up.

Maybe following Miller's maintenance schedule will increase an E90's longevity, but at the level of mileage I've achieved on the CBS schedule, I can't see how much farther it would go and especially for the average owner, including BMW enthusiasts, where it is rare they keep a car past 150,000 to 200,000 miles. Not many people keep cars past 250,000 mile unless they are serious DIY'ers, because it's just not immediately-appearing cost effective at Dealer and BMW specialist Indy prices. To be transparent with my E90, I keep running it because I like the simplicity and directness of it; and I'm very well set up to DIY it. I have no desire for iDrive (which EVERY frickin' car has now) and a rear-drive manual transmission drivetrain sports sedan, which NO sports sedan offers anymore. The new G30 has not manual option, so no thanks BMW.

My 2 cents.

[BimmerNugget]

Originally Posted by BravoJohny33

I blame mike miller douche maintenance schedule. He treats the car like its a freaking plane.

LMAO

[CTinline-six]

The original water pump on my 2006 325xi went out at 72k miles, the replacement has been fine as of 142k. It also cracked the lower radiator hose where the sensor mounts around 120k, dumping a lot of the coolant. My 2009 328i with 35,000 miles has a coolant hose that has heat damage on the outside and I plan on replacing it.

While a lot of people over-maintain these cars with the Mike Miller aircraft maintenance schedule, I do feel opening the hood and at least looking at the condition of hoses, looking for leaks, etc will save an owner a lot of headaches. I open my hoods once a week, and look over everything before a long trip. My 325 has been very reliable, but the parts that have failed did fail long before 150k miles. I wouldn't describe my driving as severe, and my vehicles are garage stored most of the time. Time and heat cycles seem to have more of an impact on gaskets and cooling system parts over mileage.