XSeries-forum

My garage has identified the causes of slow water leakage on the M54 3.0 as a) radiator and b) power steering cooling unit, and both these components will be replaced when the latter part arrives from Germany (mid-Jan 2022).

I've heard the water pump is known to fail, so I was wondering if it's worth doing preventative maintenance by replacing this component also while the cooling system is disassembled. Mileage is 113K and no record of previous replacement AFAICS. So questions:
- what do you think?
- is this a big job?
- are the parts readily available and reasonably affordable?
- what are the consequences of water pump failure?

Thanks for any input!

At 113k it will definitely be worth doing. It’s not a major job, requiring draining the coolant, removal of the belts and pulley and the pump itself. Care is needed to undo the bolts in case they have ‘grown’ into the alloy block. Use of gentle pressure and slight loosen/tighten until they’re freed off will prevent snapping.

Parts availability wise, use RealOEM with the last 7 of your VIN in the ‘Serial Number’ box to pull up your car. The water pump is in the engine section. Note the part number and have a look at someone like Eurocaparts, or Carparts4less, others will have something as well. Don’t go too cheap! Around £40 to £60 on line. A garage can probably do it in an hour and if they’ve got the rads off and coolant drained then do at the same time.

Failure of the pump can lead to either a slow loss of coolant, noise (squeaking), slipping belts, or a rapid loss of coolant and overheating.

If diy’ing then make sure you use the correct coolant type - there are several for alloy engines, but not all are compatible. Mixing different types is a bad thing.

Great, many thanks, I'll pass this on to the garage.