XSeries-forum

yesterday afternoon the waterpump on the X has reached its life expectancy. last june i had the radiator, and the expandion tank replaced and now it is the waterpumps turn. i called AA and they confirmed my diagnosis and towed the X on a flatbed to the BMW dealership. they gave me a brand new corsa to drive while my X is being fixed and AA is covering the repair cost. they will also check the gearbox and the tire pressure monitoring system. i believe the inspection II was done at 102K miles so once i get these taken care of i can enjoy even more driving the X. i am working on one of my very goodfriends to join the X5 family. we'll see.

after £275 the waterpump is replaced. will pick the X up tomorrow morning. after driving around in the corsa i miss my X a lot.

£275 - Thats a good price supplied/fitted.......I had thermostat pipes & belts changed at same time as the pump, plus a new a/c pusher fan. Needless to say my bill was considerably more than £275- even at an indy.

that's what i thought as well. i was expecting over £400 bill. this repair alone paid for the cost of AA cost per year.

[quote=""kkodal78""]this repair alone paid for the cost of AA cost per year.[/quote]

I'm guessing this is the AA with full monty breakdown and £500 worth of repairs. How much are you paying.

I have this type of cover through Saga with full Euro cover on 1 car, the X5, and my wife and I have personal cover in the UK. The premium was circa £140 but coming up for renewal so interested in other rates.

I've got this cover too, have breakdown, home start, recovery and breakdown repair insurance up to £500 per claim, 5 claims per year, covering 2 cars and a van, and it costs me £31 a month

correction: total bill was 537+ VAT for some reason bmw called warranty direct for repairs and they said they would cover £275 since i did not opt in for franchised dealership cover and AA is paying me £465 (500-35 excess) so i am covered all around. they also fixed my tire pressure monitoring system. no more tyre control inactive message on cluster. if i only had WD for warranty i would take it to my indy for repair but now i have 2 year warranty on waterpump from dealership. next will be finding a ZF garrage to have gearbox taken care of. anyone know a ZF garage in east UK? i am willing to travel 3-4 hours to find a good ZF garage to take care of the gearbox.

I don't know a ZF garage though plenty of good independents can do ATF change without issue.

Do bear in mind that I have been assured car should be left overnight before the job so not too hot before fluid change the next day. Something to consider when deciding how far to travel to leave the car overnight.

i had the gearbox fluid changed. it needs reconditioning or replacement due to lurch issue

As for your query re being prepared to travel to a good indy.

At the moment my most recently/frequently used indy is Rich Barker at Barkers Motor Works in Haslemere.

Fair old distance for you but Rich is ex-BMW Master Technician, owns an E53 with same gearbox as yours, ( has changed his own fluid twice & still on 1st box). He also has very good reliable & useablke contact with ZF and thus can secure good prices for ZF boxes/parts.

He doesn't currently have courtsey cars but their is accomodation local to him, he is next to a railway station & of course hire cars can be delivered.

I drive mine there & wait, get lift home with wife driving or use the train.........My last most used indy had courtesey cars - I no longer use them - enough said.

Probably too far to travel but perhaps worth conisidering if mixing in with a mid week break down south - you could leave car their & head to London or leave car their a few days perhaps ?

Maybe worth a call.

Another forum member was saved by Jason from B&W Chiptune who was able to strip down a box & fix it.

Just a couple of options off top of my head.

jason did my gearbox fluid change when i had the remap as well. i seem to have a hard time getting hold of him. i was hoping for a direct ZF shop and the indy i use in sudbury really doesn't want to get involved with a job like this.
thank you for the recommendations
i also would like a garage that might get the job done with my AA and WD warranty. i guess average price for reconditioning is going to be around £1500 ish. am i correct?

It's been a while since I saw prices discussed on here so cant comment on the specific maths.

I mention Rich because he has prior indicated to me numbers that would indicate that cost of him sourcing/replacing might not bre significantly dearer than paying elsewhere for a so called recon box or a stripdown & repair.

PMW are in Essex & a quick trawl of net shows an indy trading as Herring & Palmer in Norwich. Hope this helps.

Perhaps worth making some calls