BMW E46 Thermostat Housing and Water Pump Replacement DIY 

This man and the dudes from ShopLife and auto repair guys are literally all u need if u own a e46 🖤

Who misses 50s kid?

Hey 50s Kid. Really just want to extend a big thanks for these videos, you have really helped me out.

Jason: You really are a BMW genius. I have learned so much from all your videos. You should be a College professor. You are an excellent INSTRUCTOR. Thank you for sharing your mechanical abilities with all of us. You are to MUCH. ! ! ! Tonio.

Imagine how many e46es this guy saved from total failure. Big like for the work man

How does anyone give the 50's kid a thumbs down?! Hands down, best bmw tutorials on youtube.

Love your videos, really brilliant. I particularly enjoyed the coolant completely missing your tin foil. Hats off to you for showing it. Reassuring for us amateurs to see the pro get a soaking! Keep 'em coming. Yours, another 50's kid..

Your videos are still relevant today 👍🏽 got prepared for doing a full service on my 320ci

I have to give you a thumb up for every one of your videos man... cuz, you always save me a lot of money from the dealer! I went to the dealer to have some services done. After diagnostic my bills went up, close to $3000.00. for only 3 things, thermostat, steering angle sensor, and fuel pump. And I didn't let them do it, I bought those part, went home, and have them done myself. save me around $2000.00

just did my water pump yesterday. it was new and almost east. since my tension pulley , the upper one, wasn’t a 16mm it was a 13mm with the 50 torx and forgot to realize in your other video. so i didn’t get lucky i was stuck and ended up breaking the 13mm and so now i have half of the nail in there then realizing it could still work lol. so i took out the pulley that holds the alternator in and well i had a rough time lol. especially putting it back in with the belt. now i need a new tension and finding out how to get that screw out. i tested it with the belt and it’s really firm on the upper tension pulley. i love your videos and next will prolly be the thermostat if i have too. first was my inlet outlet pipes and then the water pump . thanks 50skid i really really appreciate it!!!

love your videos...i learn quite a bit from you..keep doing them

Replacing the thermostat and water pump today and this video is a lifesaver along with all your other E46 videos. Straight to the point with detailed guidance. Thank you so much man!

Thanks for sharing this content. Just a note that the 4-cylinder engine doesn't need the fan/shroud removed.

Very well put together video. I’m about to pick up a 2002 E46 soon and am just doing my homework. Thanks from Canada

Thanks God you are, cause your videos are very informative and detailed. I got e46 and doing step by step of your video tutuorials

O- ring for that temp sensor is a "number 31" and available at hardware store if you need it today.

I recently drained coolant from engine block using one of those “form-a-funnel” molding thingy and worked very well, no mess at all. Highly recommend.

Hey... Thank you for all these amazing videos. I just bought an E46 and kinda got skunked. Luckily I've been able to repair it myself. Thanks to these videos... I was wondering what is that driver that you seem to use in many of them?

I just bought the last year of the E-46 , 2006 330 ci. I am really like your videos

Another well done video! Found a Wahler thermostat boxed at Advance Auto, branded as CARQUEST, but Wahler, made in Germany stamped on the part. $60. Didn't have time to wait on Fcp. Rest of cooling system is just over two years 30,000 miles, so didn't change anything, but have spares on the shelf, just in case.

Dude you're awesome I definitely need to teach these so called mechanics how to properly work on A BMW!

Forgot to say.... Excellent vids by the way. Im learning so much from you, Thanks !!!

Congratulations, explain very well and illustrate perfectly everything you do. For you only applause.

The best videos for replacing everything on bmw e46..YOU ROCK...

you, sir, are a gentleman and a scholar.

I love you. no homo. Helped me out so much. Can't thank you enough. You are a legend and your videos will be here forever helping so many people save money and hours of time.

Wondering when you worded the aftermarket thermostat from India being "big mistake" then next you said Whaler thermostat was much better "and it has heating element" and it was brought to my attention that the way you said it could lead somebody to believe that the Whaler was good because it had heating element where the one from India didnt. I was thinking both of the ones you used would have had the heating element. I enjoy all your videos, and you are the first one i look to for video help. THANKS

Ty for sharing that rachet info. I was wondering what it was during the video. With modern battery tools being so good air tools aren't as required as before. Definitely picking one of those up

i laughed so hard when the tin foil didn’t work 😭😭😂😂 my man miss the e46 videos !!

Once again thank you for your time and video. I learned the hard way about buying the proper parts.

Thank you for taking the time to show all of us how to do this. You are making the world a better place :) Liked, subscribed, hit th notification bell.

Mount the radiator hose with the clips inserted before mounting. It is supposed to click over the edge when mounting. It is the indicator that the hose is mounted correctly. Unless the o ring is damaged that will result in good connected hose. Apply some silicon on the o ring to allow easy mounting.

Did they teach you how to make heavy duty aluminium foil funnels to catch coolant at the BMW academy? Flipping love your videos man. I can keep an E46 on the road thanks to your help. Please don't ever stop.

You are amazing. Thank you so much for your help. I'm doing this to my car and I would be so lost if not for your videos.

Hey man very informative. I'm ready to tackle this thermostat failure problem tomorrow. This video has been a great help. Wish me luck!

Your videos are the best for bmws. Thank you

Your usual stunning quality tutorial. Thank you for the education you share. You have saved me a fortune! You are the only reason I can own an E46. Legend! Thank you

I like all of your video becouse you are really naice guy and you explain things very naicely. Wish you all the best👍 God bless you.

I suggest to use a funnel which connects to a hose. Guide the hose to a bucket. Unscrew the engine bolt and when the coolant flows press the funnel against the hole. Try to use funnel with wide hose to allow sufficient flow through the hose. It will be less messy for sure but it remains a pain to empty the engine.

Thanks man, leaving comment for support. Its that time for my car

Great videos helpd me a bunch with my 325ci your rock

ive got a 2000 328i, the coolant drain plug is right above the motor mount on the passenger side and i was able to put a couple funnels together as i have the front end all apart and replacing a lot of stuff all at once, luckily it didnt make a huge mess but youd have to have the radiator out to do it lmao

If at video location 14:59, the o-ring is what seals the water pump from leaking--why put rtv on the surface between the water pump and the engine housing...bob

Hey, as someone who just went through this. Do yourself a favor and "lube up" the oring on the inside of the connectors before pulling a muscle trying to get them to snap on!

HEY 50sKID I NEED YOUR HELP I WATCH YOUR VIDEOS WHENEVER I NEED TO DO SOMETHING ON MY E46 BUT NOW I REALLY NEED SOME HELP PLEASE MY CAR STARTED OVERHEATING I NOTICED MY HEATER HOSE WAS DISCONNECTED FROM THE JOINT UNDER THE MANIFOLD INTAKE I PUT THEM BOTH BACK TOGETHER AND I STARTED THE CAR IT WAS GOOD I ADDED SOME COOLANT AND IT WASNT OVERHEATING UNTIL I TURN THE HEATER ON BLAST THATS WHEN THE CAR QUICKLY OVERHEATED I PUT IT ON DRIVE AND IT DIDNT WANNA MOVE ANYMORE I CHECKED THE FAN BUT THERES NO PROBLEM AT ALL WITH THE CLUTCH FAN AT THIS POINT I DONT WANT TO PURCHASE A THERMOSTAT OR A WATER PUMP I WAS READING FORUMS AND IT SAYS I MIGHT HAVE TO BLEED THE SYSTEM AGAIN WHAT DO YOU THINK IT IS? PLEASE HELP ME THANKS

Great video when i removed the lower radiator hose almost broke my hands when it broke loose lol. Also the sensor will leak is very true.

I really like your videos very much informative.when it comes to thermostat i have learned the hard way from now on i only use genuine with bmw logo on it

Lol lol lol love the funnel with tinfoil ..... Good stuff... Watching this because I don't have a manual. You are the best THANKS

Hi 50' kid. Thanks again for an answer for my starter. But I have temp issue question. A starter broken. So went garage and fixed but orange engine light on which was not there before. They said temp sensor malfunctioning. Noticed a temp gauge needle on max side with engine not even started. Hooked up reader saying 278B and 27DF temp sensor coolant. Signal constant. Any idea? Thanks.

Hi there. I have a question regarding the Meyle coolant pump with the metal impeller. I read in a Spanish forum that installing those was not a good idea. I asked if that could be related to galvanic corrosion between an impeller made of steel and an aluminium engine block. I got a negative response and an explanation that it was actually a bad idea because the cylinder sleeve was too close to the coolant pump's impeller, and should that one break and come loose, there could be a good chance of it hitting the cylinder sleeve and creating a huge mess in the engine. Does anything of this make any sense? I think that there might be a good reason why BMW uses a plastic impeller, but I wonder if that's any of these two I just mentioned. Thanks in advance and for the good work. Hats off and thumbs up.

Very very helpful, thank you!!

This is probably the most well-maintained car on the face of the earth...

So detailed, Dudes bad ass !

Curious, why don't you recommend genuine BMW parts? I would assume those are the highest quality and most likely to not leak, obviously the most expensive also. I would expect you to say "I recommend genuine BMW parts but this Wahler is OEM, very good quality, and half the cost".

great tutorial as usual. Im in the process of replacing the water pump. gonna go with the italian one you recommended in another video. the car just got to 100k kilometers, thats about 70 miles. i had replaced the thermostat 7 years ago, around 40k miles ago with a whaler. would you recommend replacing it again now that im changing the water pump? The water pump in the car now is the original one from 2000.

Hey 50skid, I've always watched your videos and wanted to thank you for all the education when it comes to a e46. I'm having an issue where I was driving my manual e46 and my resevoir tank cracked and busted open while I was driving. Made such a mess. I replaced the resevoir and bled the coolant system from there. My vehicle never overheated before but now it's overheating after driving a few miles. No leaks and a new expansion tank was added and I bled the coolant system as mentioned. Any ideas what it could be?

love the attempted aluminium funnel!

How tightly are we supposed to torque down the fan? Thank you so much for this video it helps so much!

I like your presentation

I only need to replace my thermostat, do I have to change other things too or is thermostat only no problem.

Very usefull. I´ll follow your video to do my repairs, thanks for your time.

Do you think is better to have an electric fan, instead off the clutch fan when doing all these repairs w- pump, thermostat, p- steering pump, etc. Removing the shroud is easy. Replacing clutch fan and shroud at the same time is hard for me. So, please let me know if it is possible for an electric fan change. Will the engine be just fine.? Thank you so much.

I went to give you a special thanks. Your videos has helped me out alot. Losing is not an option.

Thank you for your videos. They are very helpful. I did this in addition to all new hoses. Fast forward a frw months. Now I have a coolant leak, but suspect its coming from the coolant hose under the manifold. Do you have a video showing that particular fix?

Awesome videos! Just the right pace and detail. Only thing I can think of that might help even more is if you were to put the part numbers and brands in the notes, that you use for each repair. Other than that, thanks heaps for sharing!

As always, your videos are very informative and has literally saved me thousands over the years. On the subject of thermostat replacement.... I have now replaced my thermostat 3 times in the past month thinking that maybe there is a defect in the part. After install each new install the code goes away on its own only to come back maybe after a few hundred miles. The sat P0128. Is there anything other than the thermostat that can cause this code or would purchasing oem thermostat be my answer? Thanks again for your videos.

5:12 ... this thing I made is going to contain the mess!" 5:20 okay, hopefully this is going to work... 5:22 LOL

Hello 50's kid,what brand its the water pump and thermostat housing did you replace? Please let me know. By the way you are been great in all the videos, I replaced many part's on my e46 thanks to you

Glad I'm not the only one who has to sometimes take a bolt back out, lol.

if im changing the water pump and thermostat should I also change the clutch fan even if there's nothing wrong with it?

I'll replace thermostat today... radiator is 6 months old as much. Another question: can we ""test" the thermostat without fan? I was seeing that you did not put it back and then you bleed the system... is that ok?

Great Great Video, Thank You Sir

Cornwell I know sells a foldable material to fold into a funnel

Hello! i have some issues with my thermostat and i was wondering if anyone could help me out! I got a 7B activation map coolant code (together with E3 fuel trim bank 1 and E4 fuel trim bank 2 code). so i replaced the thermostat, and the check engine light went off. then, 70 miles later, the light came back on with the same code! can someone help me out?

YOU AWESOME AND LEARN AS I FOLLOW YOUR INSTRUCTION. THANK YOU

There is a coolant leack from somewhere behind my thermastat housing but I cant seem to find where is leasing from. Is around underneath tha vanos and fist inyector. I see coolant collecting on a block right below two pipes coming out the block. Appreciate any advise. This used e46325i is draining my pocket.

can I send you an invoice from my mechanic in west la dude fixed the thermostat housing, the intake manifold gasket, coolant tank, that just after my car was leaking but it turns out it was the water pump... smh To know He really could've gone the extra but is screwing me for labor thank you for these videos brotha i need to get a jack and some tools cause the maintenance for my 01 330 ci hurts lol

Did my pump, stat and hoses this am. After I took off the w/pump I went to the block drain. There was still plenty of water in the block after all the water dropped out pump housing. Pull pump then drain block.

Hi, i have a 2004 e46 320i, i am getting this error code ( P1620. Map Cooling Thermostat Control circuit signal high) does that mean i have to chabge the thermostat or is it something else?

Thermostat, removal and installation. How many nm is the prescribed torque?

Nice video my brother got 330 2005 and the radiator blown one day then he replaced it and it blew again why ? Is it head gasket problem ?

Does that removed waterpump has a metallic threads?

my 1999 e46 is not hot but the gauges is in the red, the brake light is on and the abs yellow light is on, i run the car and is not hot at all any suggestions? thank you

What socket are you using on the water pump pulley tensioner? I was told to use an 8mm allen but i’ve hit a wall because i can’t seem to find where to loosen the belt tensioner.

Hello, great video on your new water pump with metal impeller, how do you spell the brand MAYLE ? Thanks

First off I want to see your videos have been very helpful definitely appreciate them but got a question for you I replaced all of my coolant system the hard lines underneath the intake everything on it the O-rings anything that could be replaced I pretty much replaced and when I hooked the battery back up and tried to start the car the car turns over but won’t run I have fuel pressure everything works but won’t run :(

Saved me again man thank you! Just curious why is your name 50skid, what does that mean? I originally thought born in the 1950s or kid in the 1950s but you're nowhere near old enough to be🤣

Love these Videos i learn so much from you

Boa tarde , meu carro está superaquecendo, troquei a termostatica e não armou a ventoinha, no ar condicionado ela arma , pode me ajudar ?!grato

Why is your antifreeze green? Just wondering

I don't know about using steel wool on aluminum. I would use brass, its a little softer than steel.

hello, i hope you can help me somehow here. i've got the same engine (M54B30) and recently my coolant starts to disappear through the exhaust and it only happens when the heating inside the cabin is turned on. when the heating is turned off, the coolant is ok and the car doesn't smoke. what it could be ? thanks in advance.

I can't find the Meyle brand water pump for an e46... is it discontinued?

What is the second bolt that the coolant came out. Is it necessary to do both or just the radiator? And what is that second bolt housing or where is it stored ?

Thanks for the video! Very helpful

I'm having some electrical issues. I have an 03 330ci. My gauge cluster, navigation and convertible top do not work. My navigation screen only says "BMW" on startup for about 20 seconds. I have no clue where to start. I've read this could be a "k-bus" issue? Have you ever heard of problems like this? And what do you recommend? Thank you

thank you so much!!!!

Really helpful steps. Many thanks

Can you tell me the part# to pulley tool for pulley bolts & nut that you bought off eBay? I am unavailable to pay locally

Quick question for anyone, my 2004 320i only produces heat from the vents at throttle and as soon as you stop it returns to cool air. I believe it's the thermostat failing open which causes this from what I've read, can this be confirmed by checking the upper rad pipe (the one with the opper bleed screw) for heat right after a cold start? Since shouldn't the radiator not be part of the circuit if the thermostat is working?