BMW Recalls More Than 720,000 Cars and SUVs Due to Water Pump Fire Risk

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Loose_Cap_2087@reddit

Ugh if I already paid boat loads to replace this last year, can I get reimbursed? (I know the answer is no but someone entertain me)

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Objective-Abies2503@reddit

My neighbors 2014 X3 caught fire unexpectedly on August 2nd and the fire spread to my car and totaled it. I guess I need to see if it was one of the affected vehicles…

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JibbyA1@reddit

the real question is will it take long enough that bmw will give me a loaner??

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cancancan1345@reddit

They aren’t allowed to sell any cars. My mom is literally on a list to buy one. Why do they love them?

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TheRealCVDY@reddit

dealerships make the most money from recalls

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cancancan1345@reddit

We were told they have a stop sale on 70% inventory. Why would they love not being able to sell their merchandise?

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TheRealCVDY@reddit

maybe not on stop sells, but recalls that don’t have stop sells yes

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burntfuck@reddit

Depends on how long the repair takes and how much time the manufacturer will pay the dealership to fix it. They are not always a good deal for the dealerships.

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That is true. I remember working at a dealer and it was explained to me that.. I can't remember if it was VW or not but that it takes 3 months to get the money reimbursed for parts and labor used in a recall

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rudbri93@reddit

Specifically, NHTSA filings show that BMW's N20 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine could short-circuit at the water pump’s electrical plug connector due to accumulating blow-by fluid from the positive crankcase ventilation system.

uhhh why is the pcv system leaking? also, a water pump catching fire is the most bmw thing ever.

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bakedvoltage@reddit

bmw would never made a bad water pump idk what you're talking about

stares at M54

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pants_full_of_pants@reddit

My m52 is not even at 100k miles and it's on its third water pump.

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Astramael@reddit

Fortunately it’s an easy swap. The worst part is doing the coolant fill/bleed.

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phumanchu@reddit

Is it mechanical or electric?

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pants_full_of_pants@reddit

The pump is mechanical. It's belt driven and the same pulley also drives the puller fan. Which means when the water pump impeller fails the whole assembly starts shaking as it spins, causing the puller fan to hit the radiator and shatter, and send plastic shrapnel everywhere which can damage bells and hoses. Tons of fun.

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Positive_Opposite885@reddit

That’s not normal. I changed mine preventative at 80k and now at 153k on my e46 without issue. What brand are you using ?

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pants_full_of_pants@reddit

First two were OE. First one blew up at about 65k miles, which is pretty standard. Most of them need replaced by 69-90k because they used plastic impeller blades.

The second one didn't grenade like the first but it started leaking and making noises.

For the third one, which I put in at around 85k, I used an aftermarket part with a metal impeller. It's at 94k now and no issues.

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Astramael@reddit

Yea… if I ever buy another I will immediately do a new all-aluminum radiator and expansion tank. An electric fan, remove the mechanical fan, do the water pump upgrade, new thermostat and a metal thermostat housing while I’m in there.

Would like to avoid the fan explosion. The engine heads do tweak if they overheat enough.

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phumanchu@reddit

Yikes

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pants_full_of_pants@reddit

Yikes indeed. The good news, as the other guy said, is it's pretty simple to replace yourself and the superior aftermarket part is less than $200. I always recommend folks do it preemptively if they buy one of these used and don't know the history.

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rudbri93@reddit

and m50, m52, n54, n55. i do like consistency in a car.

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stakoverflo@reddit

N52 -- I just replaced my thermostat + waterpump this week 😫

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Incompetent_Person@reddit

Classic N20 engine. First the timing chain guide prematurely fails, and now the water pump can start a fire.

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tipedorsalsao1@reddit

Its such a shame cause it is a great little engine when their running

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FuzzelFox@reddit

BMW in a nutshell haha

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rudbri93@reddit

I remember being so excited when this engine came out, too. small package, decent power, could have been a neat swap candidate.

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rugbyj@reddit

A fire? At a water park?

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petebmwm@reddit

I understand this reference.

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w0nderbrad@reddit

Why don't they just use a sock to accumulate blow-by fluid like the rest of us?

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rudbri93@reddit

Dont forget zip ties to hold it onto the breather.

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w0nderbrad@reddit

I'd rather not zip tie anything to my crankcase especially for accumulating blow by fluid. Not kink shaming anyone that does though. You be you.

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Drone30389@reddit

lol. And the most GM thing ever was windshield washers catching fire.

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Meinkoi94@reddit

my first guess would be when its clogged and creates over pressure in the crank case that the air/oil mix will find another way out

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Hrmerder@reddit

huh... BMW and Hyundai having something in common it seems.

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Arc_Ulfr@reddit

To be fair, there are (as far as I could see in the article) 18 examples of this happening out of >700,000 potentially affected engines, which are all about a decade old, plus BMW is actually going to fix the issue. From what I've seen, H/K/G's issues are on much newer vehicles and much more common, and they are much more reductant to fix them.

I'm not saying the N20 is a good engine or BMW a good brand, but I don't think they're nearly as bad as Hyundai or Kia in this regard.

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_eg0_@reddit

Former BMW manager went to Hyundai and became head of developement in 2015

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Onionsteak@reddit

BMW and water pump issues name a more iconic duo

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Dazzling-Rooster2103@reddit

"2012-2015 X1 / X1 xDrive

2012-2016 Z4 sDrive28i

2012-2016 528i / 528i xDrive

2012-2016 328i / 328i xDrive

2016-2018 X5 xDrive 40e

2014-2016 228i / 228i xDrive

2014-2016 428i / 428i xDrive

2014-2016 328xi Gran Turismo

2013-2017 X3 / X3 xDrive

2015-2018 X4 xDrive28i

2015-2016 428xi"

The B58 lives on.

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longgamma@reddit

Took BMW a decade but they managed to perfect the inline six

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Angry_Homer@reddit

...? They've been bulding I6s like forever

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Bderken@reddit

Yeah but not the perfect one…

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newsreadhjw@reddit

M54 was perfect already. Then they added turbochargers and shit got weird

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KeythKatz@reddit

N52*

Stuff started failing after that with the N54 which helped spearheaded German cars' reputation for high maintenance for a decade.

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Bonerchill@reddit

A vacuum-cleaner-sounding, turbocharged straight six “perfect.”

Nuance is dead, long live horsepower.

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Angry_Homer@reddit

That of course being the M30 "big 6" 🤤

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Bderken@reddit

It’s not bad, but the B58 can make way more power and seems more reliable

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Angry_Homer@reddit

Yeah but...

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Bderken@reddit

Now that’s a nice ass, wish I could touch it…

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KMKtwo-four@reddit

But they’ve only been building turbo I6s for like 20 years.

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SaintTastyTaint@reddit

My N55 seems to be pretty reliable 60K miles in.

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inputfail@reddit

It’s pretty reliable as an engine, never has left me stranded or anything major in 110k miles but you will start to deal with a lot of annoying oil leaks after 60k miles. The “big 3” with the N55 are the oil filter housing gasket, valve cover gasket, and oil pan gasket.

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Kryptus@reddit

The B48 is amazing as well. Basically same design as the B58 but with 2 less cylinders.

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4score-7@reddit

Perfect engine. Imperfect cooling system. Source: e46 former owner. Current e90 owner.

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ZeroWashu@reddit

fwiw the 2012 Z4 sDrive28i was a great little machine. The stick shift was smooth and the car could run at 80 all day and still have power to pass with ease. Such a great machine and the hard top convertible made for a beautiful car top up or down.

only issue I had was TPMS failing a few weeks before warranty went out requiring a few days in shop to replace the system and reprogram it. really never wanted to find out what that would have cost out of warranty

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phumanchu@reddit

I just went to a tire shop. I believe it was 90 bucks a tire with like 20 bucks diagnostic

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NivekHang@reddit

What about the BMW Supra?

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WeeniePops@reddit

I bet we're still going to get comments about BMWs not being reliable, even though everyone specifically states that newer BMWs with B series engines are the ones that are reliable.

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seamonkey420@reddit

my B48 is ok too!! phew!

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tobyhatesmemes2@reddit

Nice, our X3 is right at 100k and was probably due for a water pump anyway

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sleepinglucid@reddit

As a long time BMW owner I have to tell you all I'm SHOCKED , just absolutely shocked that a BMW would have a cooling system problem!

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Hrmerder@reddit

You forgot the /s

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Sir_Sir_ExcuseMe_Sir@reddit

No they didn't, because of the way it is.

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phumanchu@reddit

As a first time owner of a used 35is yeah that was like the second big repair I had done to it after the tires it came with all had cracks on the side

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Resident_Rise5915@reddit

How many water pumps have you had to replace by now?

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Percolator2020@reddit

A fire ? At a sea park? How?

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OpenJelly1437@reddit

Is this a over the air update like on Teslas?

:)

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Shmokesshweed@reddit

Are all Tesla owners insufferable? 🤭

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activedusk@reddit

Because BMW owners are known as scholars and philantropists all around good people. The amount of hypocracy and lack of self awareness. How long has this sub been beating the dead horse meme that EV catch fire if a spec of dust falls on them or you look at them funny. Meanwhile a 700k fire risk recall from BMW just makes people here go "oh wow, anyway...". Smh, at least you're consistent in your hypocracy and forgetfullness of which drivetrain type has more issues most often. Wasn't recently that Toyota had a problem with engines blowing up and yet just the other day some nobody made a post everyone jumped on that Toyotas are so realiable and everyone else just can't catch up. It's like you're all in this bubble of delusion and self hypnotization field.

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OpenJelly1437@reddit

Do you find over the air updates insufferable? or what is the problem ?

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Shmokesshweed@reddit

You know what I'm talking about.

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OpenJelly1437@reddit

You're kidding right? Every time there's a recall for Teslas (Over the air 90% of the time) this entire sub rejoices.

So i'm just returning the favor yet you all seem to not like it at all and call me insuferable :) interesting huh

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Shmokesshweed@reddit

Sure, that may be. But the sub also shits on Ford and others. Hell, I spend more time shitting on Ford than anyone else and I own a Ford.

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Vhozite@reddit

It’s true. I see you in EVERY Maverick thread I even recognize the name at this point lol

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Shmokesshweed@reddit

😁

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BoomerHomer@reddit

It's a requirement nowadays.

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Visible-Sky2448@reddit

Some of elons nut when over the air and landed on your upper lip

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OpenJelly1437@reddit

Cope my friend :)

Better get a fire extinguisher ready in case those water pumps burst in flames :)))

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Visible-Sky2448@reddit

I have a B58 this doesn’t apply to me

:)

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OpenJelly1437@reddit

Nice,i'm sure you'll get over the air updates/recalls on your B58.

I got matrix lights a month ago so i'm sure BMW will be next :)

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e_r_s@reddit (OP)

Read the article to find out.

:)

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OpenJelly1437@reddit

I did,unfortunatelly it is not over the air like on Teslas....that sucks.

I got a "recall" last night done over Wifi while i was sleeping.(recall: the font was too small for the speedo)

It was all over the news,didnt see this on the news though...i guess nobody cares if it's not a Tesla.

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mcorliss3456@reddit

Really??? But BMWs are SO reliable. 🙄

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Ghost17088@reddit

Of all the likely components where a fire could start, the water pump is pretty near the bottom of the list. And yet, here we are BMW.

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bschmidt25@reddit

The N20 sucks. And I say this as a former N20 vehicle owner. As smooth as a tractor engine and has catastrophically failing timing chain guides. The B48 blows it out of the water.

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Slowpoak@reddit

B58 STRONK

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SaintTastyTaint@reddit

Just amazed that my 2011 328xi & 335xi dodged a recall bullet,

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solo118@reddit

Their cooling systems/water pumps have been shit since the 90s, but oddly enough not prone to fire risk until 2012 apparently

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Maximilianne@reddit

why do car companies have recalls over standard OEM parts ? I'd assume BMW or really any automaker just opens up the yearly Bosch/Mahle/insert large OEM company catalogue and just orders the water pump, and so you'd think the parts would be reliable

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