Water pump Gates or OEM BMW

It ended up being the water pump seal. They replaced the water pump and thermostat free of charge.

I put a gates on my 2005 in August. No issues so far.

I got a metal impeller gates and I’ve been beating on it for five years or more without any hiccups.

I paid similar for a BMW TBF, however, another garage told me that the garage I went to was known for charging high prices. I always shop around when the price is in the hundreds so I'm confident I wasn't ripped off.

Electric water pump on my BMW was \u00a3436.54 fitted at a BMW specialist (not dealership) OEM pump fitted, the same pump for me to buy and fit myself (no chance) was \u00a3600+ on Euro Car Parts

I've owned my 2013 535i M Sport since 2018 with 44k miles. Other than the regular maintenance items... 2021- oil filter canister gasket replacement -$ 800 ( I think. I can't find the receipt) 2024- passenger valve cover gasket- $660 Driver's door handle replacement -$250 2025- water pump and thermostat- $1750

I had an 2001 740iL that I traded an old truck for. The electronics are kind of a nightmare, the water pump has a plastic impeller that likes to randomly explode and shoot plastic all through the cooling system. You can buy one with a metal impeller that solves this.

During COVID, that water pump was on backorder from Ford so I used one from Gates. I guess Gates had a bad batch and 2 of their's failed in the span of less than a year.

The only one to really avoid out of the 5 choices on Rockauto is the Gates, because of the cheap stamped impeller. Personally, I would not go with an aluminum pump body in this application, but that's just my opinion after working on vehicles for a living for 45+ years.

I used a Gates pump the first time and it leaked. I uninstalled it, cleaned everything up, regreased all the seals, and reinstalled it it... still leaked. Turns out the Gates water pumps for the ecodiesel are just garbage.