BMW E46 Water Pump Replacement DIY 

My water pump seized up a few weeks ago and has been sitting in the garage waiting for me to replace it, lol. I was hoping that your video was still up and available. Thank you for making these, they've helped countless people.

Sir, your videos are by far the best auto repair guides on RU-vid. You actually know the proper nomenclature of all the parts and their functions. You've saved me thousands!

Hey Kid, just want to come on here and say thank you so much for your videos. It is because of your videos that I was able to tackle jobs that I would otherwise never attempt. With the money I saved from paying a shop, I was able to purchase tools that I will keep for many years. Keep doing what you're doing and if you're ever in Whittier I'll get the first round of drinks. Cheers, JC Garcia

Bro THANK YOU for making this video, seriously. My E46 was down for a week and a half due to the water pump blowing on me, and these mechanics were charging me $350 - $400 for labor, along changing the Thermostat and radiator hoses. Took me all day to change the parts, but with your video I was able to save my money and also get more hands-on training and be more confident in working on my car. Subscribed 👍🏾.

Dude, know this and know it well..............without your excellent tutorial, i could never have had the courage to do this job. i did do my 1993 bmw a few years ago. i thought my 2003 330CI would be too hard, but it was easier in a way. i could never have figured out how to remove tension on the belt. you are a lifesaver. i did not have the money to send this job to the dealer. now i can drive my car again. i hope the leak of coolant comes from the water pump.

dude your channel rocks...still the most down to earth mechanic I know.

What happened to me when reinstalling the oil filter housing was that no matter how well I drained it there was still some residual old oil that drained out when I turned it over to reinstall but before I had a chance to get it in place and fully seat it. This oil drained into the waffle area underneath the seal and then was blown out towards rear & downward as I drove the car & made it look like it was leaking for a week or so until all that residual oil worked it's way out. It freaked me out at first, but I waited it out and soon it became clear there was no actual leak. Since your oil filter housing isn't warped, that may be the reason why it appeared to still be "leaking". Thanks for all your videos, btw, they are very helpful.

Ha! Good to see you again! Wanted to say, that your videos gone a long way and look even better now. Camera placement, lighting and editing. Also I'm very jealous of how rust free your car is. Every bolt is shining like new dammit

I look forward to the day you do some E 30 videos because your E 46 videos are my favorite on RU-vid

my 05’ 325i coolant tank exploded the other week, I think/hope that the head gaskets should be fine. Flushed the whole system 3 times, ordered a new upper tank hose and lower left radiator hose. Definitely a good call to replace all the o-rings, the one around my thermostat was definitely not doing its job. The cooling system and the CCV were the two main things i’ve already had to replace, made so much easier thanks to your videos!

U have made my life easier working on my e46. Love u man..

I think I shared my thoughts with you on the possibility of a warped OFH. I could be wrong. I know I shared it with a few people. But I got four weeks out of a new OEM gasket and it puzzled me as to why. There was actually a large lump of it that was missing when I got t it. It had literally dissolved. Anyway, I treated the bolts as a group of four (the top four) and a group of two (the bottom two) instead of a group of six as I did the first time round when I came to refit them. Tourqued the top four first to full spec and then did the bottom two. That was a while ago and all is fine. I would recommend it. Nothing to lose.

Great job Jason! I remember doing mine at 125k naively thinking the pump would "walk" off ... Nope! That thing was stuck on there! The sides snapped off, no way to lever it out. I eventually got if out with a lump hammer after 5 days of gentle persuasion 😳😂😂😂. I vaguely remember the recommended change interval being 60-100k? My ex mechanic refused to do it so that's where my journey began ☺️

Thanks man your videos teaching alot of things big help with my new e46

50sKid first off thanks for saving me a ton of money on repairs! Great vids, please keep em coming! I would be especially interested in your level of detail and filmography on interior fabric repair/ replacement for a, b, c pillars and/ or sagging roof fabric. An issue for many of these cars.... keep up the good work, thanks again!

My water pump just failed at 160k your video will make my job easier on the weekend 👍

Much more easy than I predicted... I will buy the eBay oring kit and buy a pump kit in OEM Bimmer Parts. Many thanks!

Great video! I need to change the water pump on my E46 tonight.

Beautiful E46 you have. Hope you haven't given up on it.

Thank you for making videos they are always helpful!

You videos are great. Thank you, your information helps me a lot!

Just a tip,if the pump crack when anyone press the bolts,you can hammer the front of the pump,that will only break the pump bearing only and then can remove the pump,I did many time before,good luck

i love your videos man you help me so much by teaching me how to work on my car and saving me money!

i cannot stress how good oembimmerparts.com is

Great vid! Thank you - just going to do that job (amongst other stuff around)!

Thanks for the video, this was extremely helpful!

Jason: When having a mechanical radiator fan. Is it a good thing to remove the fan in front of the radiator. For better air flow,or the fan to remain disconnected. What would you recommend to do leave the fan in place or to remove it.? Thank you Professor. Tonio.

I’ve changed my coolant not long ago and just replaced my water pump and thermostat today without draining the radiator. I just topped off the coolant that leaked out and bleed the system. Will this be okay???

Finally got around to start replacing my entire coolant system, thanks to my fan disintegrating earlier this year. First up, the water pump. I think the shop I bought my car from may have replaced it because it came off really easily. However, no matter how hard I tried, I could not get the fan clutch off, even with the "special" tools. Turns out I didn't need to - it's not very difficult with the remains of the fan removed from the clutch. If anyone has trouble getting it off, don't spend an hour trying (like I did). Easy enough to get around the clutch to remove all the nuts and bolts. I think the shop I bought my car from may have replaced the water pump because it came off easily.

The water pump was the last thing in my e46 before I got sick of it and sold it. Used a gates off Amazon and sent it on its way.

Way easier than i imagined, but glad my water pump is still fine :D

Hey man I have a question so when doing this job do you have to drain coolant from the block, I need to replace my water pump and thermostat soon

Just in time for my water pump replacement 😆

I'm glad I came across your videos! How often would you recommend replacing the radiator? I've heard they rarely fail on the e46 but I'd appreciate your thoughts. Thanks!

Hey, just wondering where you got that that drill? I need to get one that is small but I don’t need to hook up to air

I have a question, can the antifreez senser be replaced without removing the resevoir on M52TU.? mine led comes on when the level stick say o.k. bty great video.

Just did the change without flushing the radiator or anything just letting it drip out of the water pump housing and all that came out was about 1,5 liters

@50skid hope your well. Do you have a list of all pulleys, tensioner and belts required to replace on the 330ci m54 engine (2003). I can't seem to find the video you mention these in...the best brands to use etc.

When do you change the water pump on the E46 how can you tell when it goes bad please can you let me know

failed water pump at 150k! thanks for the video!!

And went to parts geek but theres several, says crankshaft, camshaft position sensor and camshaft position (exhaust).or is that the same as the crankshaft?

I just bought a 2002 325i i smell coolant when its running but dont see any leaks as of yet i checked the overflow it was low i added about two liters of coolant and removed the bled screw the coolant came out the screw hole in a steady stream i went into the car turned to position two put the temp to 91 fan on the lowest went out to check the level and the fluid is not moving am i doing something wrong any help would be appreciated is my pump broken i hear something on but this is my first time working on a bmw

I am having trouble getting my fan off. The bolt seems welded on. Is there a different way to change the water pump if you are having trouble with the fan removal.

I have the same radiator drain plug that you show in this video. I need to replace it and can’t find it anywhere. Could you please recommend a source for this. Thank you.

So the bleeder screw should be lose while pouring the coolant and then tighten when fully poured in?

I have a oil leak on a 2003 BMW 325i can u give me some advice

I'll do this on this weekend on my 330Ci. hope to everything goes right

please if you decide you have the time make a video on bleeding the air out of the system ? you explained it but ofcourse it would be great to see it in action. thanks !!

thank you för your nice explanation

I wish that there were some vids of this quality covering E46 330D's as the plumbing is a bit different

I tided one nut to much when I replaced the water pump and I broke one bolt , do you know what should I do ?, thank you!

Hey 50sKid. I have a 2003 320ci (m54b22).. I don't see anything connecting the fan to the engine so is it safe to assume it's an electric fan that I can remove easily? My water pump (pretty sure) broke today and started leaking hella coolant onto the belts and stuff. Hopefully I can work on this tomorrow..

Hey man, tnx for the video. By any chance are you planning to someday fix second air pump or show us how to fix it, mine leaking a lot of air when starting cold engine and makes super loud noise when its cold outside. Dont really want to spend 300 dollars for a new one :/

@50sKid can you tell something more about current condition of the Saleri pump? Do you still use it in your car? Previously I have valeo, but it's lifetime was short, so i changed to INA, but now after 2 years it's also in bad condition and I'm looking for something realiable.

Hi! It is not necessary to drain out all coolant actually. If you have Original one and if it is in a good condition or just replaced recently - you can take a 100-300 ml syringe with long flexible medical pipe tube. And then suck out the coolant from the radiator expansion tank firstly. It will be around of 2 liters of coolant could be saved and re-used. (Without any actions from the bottom of the car by the way!). Also, after - it could be left pipe taken off from the thermostat and suck off the coolant from there as well. And it will save around 2.5-3 liters of it. Of course, in the engine will be some which will be loosen. But, with such sucking - it can be easily reused and just added some new liquid after procedure finished. “Clean”, easy and saving a bit of money ;)

My E46 ac only blows cold on the left 2 driver vents the other 2 blow out hot do you know why

What about if it has the pully still on it? I cant get to the water pump

can you please do a video on automatic transmission oil cooler replacment please

I have a 2005 with only 40,000 k garage kept with all original hoses, water pump and belts, at what point should I think about replacing? Or if it ain’t broken don’t fix?

Has anyone done this job and the studs on the housing snapped on them? I think the past owner or mechanic over torqued them in the past because two snapped on when pulling the old one out. I put in a new one and tightened with the other two studs which is likely a bad idea but hoping for the best. I want to pull it out again and do it right does anyone have advise on replacing the studs. Getting the old ones put and what the part numbers would be for new studs and bolts. Any advise is appreciated

I have a 99 Z3 2.5l and when I look up the vin I find it’s an E36 but it has the M52tu because it has the dual vanos. When I look it up online I get E36/7 and some say E46. I am trying to make sure I purchase the right parts when I am replacing them, so my question is which do I purchase for? E36, E36/7 only or E46 ?

Could anyone help? I'm getting lots of pressure in my upper radiator hose and coolant coming out of the expansion tank cap. Car isn't overheating. Exhaust gas in coolant tester fluid stays blue. Compression test was a success. Leak down test revealed nothing. Coolant pressure tester didn't drip a drop. Completely replaced everything which makes up the coolant system except the water pump. Could it be the bearing in the water pump causin my leaky cap and swollen upper radiator hose?

What’s the difference between the water pumps Saleri PA659 and PA659S?

At 1 minute 11 seconds you can see the oil cooler do you have a video of changing that

what type of pins are holding the air scoop mine are missing them

can you do a symptoms video? e.g symptioms of a failing pulley, (noises, rattles etc) symptoms of a failing disa (whatever that symptoms are) symptoms of a failing CCV (lean?, idle?, smell, vacuum? symptoms of failing vacuum line/s (idle, noise) etc?

my water pump started leaking coolant today on my 330xi, 148k miles. It looks like it is just the gasket though but it is not in stock anywhere. thanks again for the great video

20:05 Is it ok if 1 propeller is broken in this oil housing?

Hey Kid, so I didn't know and I did overheat it and took it home I didn't drive it a full speed and I would pull over as much as possible but still doesn't change the fact that I drove it overheated back home. I changed the spark plugs, I changed the oil and filter, also changed the oil cooler thermostat and tank and has new radiator.. but car still over heating, that's how I ended up at this video.. but I heard you said at the end when tightening the bolts on the pump to not drive it over heated because you can lose alternator, pump, steering etc. So now I'm more concerned water pump is what I'm changing out next but did I mess something up and not know it.. i thought i was in the clear since the car turns on like nothing happened? No noise nothing except for the fact that it won't take all the coolant that it's suppose to and it keeps overheating and I believe the alternator needs to be replaced too because I have to keep jumping it.

Blue BMW antifreeze is like a oil based substance. Green antifreeze is just water with additives. Using green antifreeze caused premature wear on the internals primarily including the water pump.

Do you work on customer cars? If so are you interested in doing a project on a E39 M54

one of my power steering lines has the tinyest leak, can you do a video on powersteering when yours goes?

what kind of coolant do you use?

I refreshed my entire cooling system about 15, 000 miles ago. Yesterday I noticed a puddle of what looked like coolant under the front center of the car. It was green though and I use the blue BMW antifreeze. However my coolant had dropped quite a bit but the light hadn't come on yet so I topped that off and am going to get under the car later to inspect it. I'm guessing it might have mixed with oil or something and turned the blue coolant green. Anyway, my first thought is that it's my water pump. How do I know for sure the water pump is bad and not just a bad gasket? Did you have a green puddle on your garage floor as well?

I looked up the o rings it's asking x3 automatic or x5 manual what o rings do I need or how can I get the right one. It's first time working on a bmw. Thank you for your help

My M54 in my X5 goes through an autozone water pump every 10k, I had to put the Stewart one in for that piece of mind this last time.

Hey!what's the common failure when you have oil in coolant reservoir bmw e46 but not water in the engine.

Aluminum water pump pulleys exist. I think they're cool.

I’m going to do this soon, is it possible to reuse the coolant that I drain as I recently did a total flush (2 weeks ago) and didn’t realise my water pump needed changing

You make these belts look a lot easier that what it is 😭

I have a e46 325ci my rpms drop around the 1500-1700rpm range and then a shaking happens then rpms increase then drop again and it goes away when I accelerate any idea ?

The anti freeze that you drained out. Looks more like its water???

the hydraulic tensioner pulley screw is 8mm hex :)

146k miles mine is failing today, leaking coolant and wobbling. Caught just in time!

Isn't the OEM water pump one of e36/46 biggest weaknesses though cause its made of plastic?

I keep hearing not to let the water pump run without coolant for it would break its mechanical seal. So how does it survive in the initial start up while the t-stat is still closed? I’m also clearing out the old coolant thru distilled water dilution method (several cycles and drain until clear), how do you ensure not to introduce cold water to a hot engine which could warp it? Thanks in advance!

Only get the BMW OEM Water Pump, i got the Metal one, thought i was cool, when it failed in 2.5 years it seized up blowing both rad hoses, thermostat, belt busted, and blew my transmission cooler lines, not a fun repair. The original only leaked coolant increasingly visible, but never got hot.

Great vids! Wrong link for the o rings. links to a x5 bmw.

Holy crap. Dude must be getting paid by the word........

Reupload? I feel like I’ve seen this before 🤔

If only you were here in my country i would definitely get you to fix my BMW E46 323i.

Have you ever tried rockauto.com ??? Way cheaper and they have OEM parts.

This is indeed a very informative video but what is pissing me off the most is that everyone is implying that people must use bmw coolant, this is absolutely stupid as you can find much cheaper and incredibly good options out there! The only thing which should be considered is buying an HOAT coolant

Changing the pump isn’t that difficult till the housing with the threads decides to brake 😅 it then became a two man job, we used two small wooden blocks and crowbars to actually work the pump out... Nightmare

The have a bad return policy, dont get the package dirty or tear the box.

Why the heck would you want plastic?

You can drain the coolant from the engine block by removing a bolt from the engine near cylinder 2 under the exhaust side. Don't do what he did.

It’s not a T50 it’s an H8

I can’t get my belt off. Tensioner won’t budge.

Wouldn't it have been alot more convenient to have unscrewed the drain plug and then run the engine just for a minute or so first before you did anything else to have drained the system.? 🤷‍♂️