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Thread: *DIY M60 Water Pump Replacement

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
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    Omaha, NE
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    My Cars
    540I/A 540I/6

    *DIY M60 Water Pump Replacement

    Fairly straightforward procedure, but I figured after the second time I did it, I might as well do a write-up for anyone else interested in tackling it themselves.

    What you'll need from the parts store:
    1: New water pump Here*
    2: Coolant Pipe O-rings Numbers 5 and 7
    3: Coolant Here

    *This water pump uses a plastic impeller. It is recommended that you use a pump with a metal impeller. Also, it is recommended at this time that you also replace your thermostat, belts, and fan clutch. I am writing this writeup for the pump only, as that's what I did.

    What you'll need from the tool store:
    1: 32mm open ended wrench Here
    2:Elbow Grease Here

    Some members have reported needing a special tool to hold the water pump in place while they remove the fan clutch nut. I did not need to do so, so I did not purchase the tool. They are available from a number of suppliers, including Pelican.

    Removal:
    1: Disconnect the negative battery cable.
    2: Drain the coolant from the radiator, the drain plug is on the bottom left side of the radiator.
    3: Remove the fan shroud, by removing the plastic rivet on either side of the top, and lifting straight up.
    4: Remove the airbox and intake assembly by loosening the clamps, unhooking the MAF sensor connector, and removing two 10mm bolts from the airbox.
    5: Remove the plastic cover to the right of the radiator by removing the plastic rivet and pulling it out.
    6: Remove the two coolant hoses by loosening the clamps on either end, twisting to break free, and pulling out.

    7: Remove the radiator by unhooking the sensor on the right side, carefully removing the clips on the top, and lifting straight up.

    8: Place the 32mm wrench on the fan clutch nut, and strike it sharply to break the bolt free. REMEMBER: THE BOLT IS REVERSE THREADED, so loosening it means turning it CLOCKWISE when viewed from the front of the car. Remove the fan and clutch as an assembly and set nut-down in a safe spot.

    9: Loosen the two drive belts by loosening the center bolt and slider bolt on each, and remove the belts.
    10: Remove the harmonic balancer by removing eight 13mm bolts from the center of the balancer, and tap lightly with a deadblow or mallet to remove.

    There is no need to remove the large center bolt in the balancer.
    11: Remove the six 10mm bolts from around the perimeter of the water pump, and tap the pump gently to break it free from the gasket, then gently pull straight forward to get the two metal coolant pipes out the back.

    12: Remove the thermostat housing, thermostat, and pulley from the old water pump, and transfer to the new pump, or replace with new units.


    Now, this is where you get to make a judgement call. If you were very careful, and remove the coolant pipes without damaging any o-rings, and you're confident you can replace the pipes without damaging the o-rings, then you may begin reassembly, as outlined in step 13. If you are NOT confident, or you'd simply rather be on the safe side, then at this point, refer to my write-up on changing out the o-rings to replace them.

    13: Scrape the block clean at the gasket mating surface for the water pump.
    14: Making sure the coolant transfer pipes are seated firmly in the coolant manifold in the rear of the engine, gently press the new water pump into place, taking care to keep the pipes at a 90º angle to the pump and manifold in the rear.
    15: Install the bolts in the locations they came out of(there are two different lengths), and snug them up finger tight.
    16: Using a torque wrench, tighten each bolt to the recommended torque(I'll update this when I get my laptop back and can look up the torque) in a criss-cross pattern.
    17: The remainder of the installation is basically the reverse of removal. The harmonic balancer only fits on one way, as do the belts and hoses, so just take your time and check each step twice.
    18: Add coolant! You'll have to do this in several steps if your car is like mine, with the final addition done after the car has warmed up and been allowed to cool down again. When you get done, it's not a bad idea to pressure test the system with a tester, avaiable as a loaner tool from Advance Auto Parts, and Autozone, for approximately $180 and $75, respectively.
    19: ????
    20: Profit.

    Any questions, feel free to contact me, I had to do this job several times my first go, for various reasons, so I daresay I'm familiar with it. Happy to answer questions/offer assistance.

    I'll update with additional pictures and the missing torque specs when I've got access to my laptop, probably later today. I just wanted to get this writeup out of the way while I was still motivated. Expect the intake manifold writeup, and the coolant o-ring writeup within a few days.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
    Location
    San Antonio TX USA
    Posts
    19
    My Cars
    1994 530i

    radiator removal

    I just found a leak in my water pump and am looking to replace it this weekend. Is it necessary to remove the full radiator? Or did you just do that so you have more room?

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    Marlton, NJ
    Posts
    323
    My Cars
    94540/ 540/6msport:)
    Quote Originally Posted by backdoorbimmer View Post
    I just found a leak in my water pump and am looking to replace it this weekend. Is it necessary to remove the full radiator? Or did you just do that so you have more room?
    i just did mine, You dont have to take the rad out but its alot easier if you do and it is Very simple for the rad to come out.

    If you have a set of gear wrenches you dont have to touch the crank pulley just reach behind it with a gear wrench.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Location
    Whitehall, PA
    Posts
    83
    My Cars
    '90 325ic, '95 530i
    Thanks for the tut! my water pump's bearings appear to have gone and it wrecked my serpentine belt, my fan (one of the fins broke off) an air hose, whole bunch of crap and i'm working on it now.

    I do have a question though. In the picture below, #4 (air pipe) is right in front of the water pump and i see no easy way to remove. Strange thing, on realoem.com they have 2 schematics on that page ( "Exhaust Manifold" ) that are nearly identical. The difference i see is that the one shows that #4 air pipe can be separated in the middle while the other schem. is one large pipe. Mine has one large pipe... did you have to remove it for yours?



  5. #5
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Location
    Land O Lakes, FL
    Posts
    1,077
    My Cars
    1986 535i, 2012 X5 50i
    Ahh the joy of owning an M60B30 with a secondary air injection system! i haven't changed the water pump in my car but I had te remove this pipe to fix an exhaust leak. It is held in place by a single screw in the passenger side in the middle of part #6 and what this diagram fails to show is that it behind the oil filter housing. There is a screw about 4" long that threads through the housing and then pushes in the pad on the elbow of that pipe. I also ordered two new seal washers (part #5).
    Jimmy Moreno
    BMW CCA 115551
    1986 535i, Arctic Blue
    2012 X5 XDrive 501, Sparkling Bronze Metallic

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Location
    Omaha, NE
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    540I/A 540I/6
    Yeah, I just removed the radiator for additional room. Honestly, though, undo three hose connections, two clips, lift out. It's a little work for a huge gain.

    Also... with the gear wrenches and not removing the crank pulley, for me anyways, it was infinitely easier to remove the crank pulley(couple bolts and a whack with a rubber mallet) than to get the gear wrench in there and work the bolt out that way. I did it the first time with the gear wrench, and now, having done it both way, I can honestly say it was much faster and easier with the crank pulley removed.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Location
    Whitehall, PA
    Posts
    83
    My Cars
    '90 325ic, '95 530i
    ahh thanks jimoreno, found the 2 screws i needed.

    Still have a problem with that pipe though, the valve (#1) is mounted on the pipe with 2 10mm screws. the one closest to the front of the car was no problem but i cant get to the other one, my socket wrench just hits the oil dipstick pipe... guess i finally have to go out and get some wrenches.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Location
    Vancouver, Canada
    Posts
    3,397
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    95' 530i, 90' 500SL
    when i did my waterpump i never removed the radiator. Reading this i guess i should have to made things a bit easier. It wasn't a bad job to do at all though.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
    Location
    Quebec, Canada
    Posts
    733
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    1995 Bmw 540i
    how were u able to change the o-ring at the end of the cooling pipes (without removing the intake)? I removed the intake, and it makes the job alot easier! Also you can check while u are there if the knock sensors need to be changed!

    1995 Diamondschwarz 540i

  10. #10
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    IA
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    01 540i/6
    Quote Originally Posted by mhax View Post
    how were u able to change the o-ring at the end of the cooling pipes (without removing the intake)? I removed the intake, and it makes the job alot easier! Also you can check while u are there if the knock sensors need to be changed!
    We did remove the intake while doing this, just didn't get pictures up of it.
    It would have been VERY hard to do it correctly without removing it.



  11. #11
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Location
    Whitehall, PA
    Posts
    83
    My Cars
    '90 325ic, '95 530i
    I just finished mine today, didnt have to remove the intake but i didnt replace the o-rings on the accumulator.

    During this whole procedure you might as well replace both belts, thermostat (unless fairly new already), any pipes that are starting to show wear/blistering, and if you feel the need, coolant temp sensor(s) on the accumulator. I ended up replacing the thermostat, 1 air hose, both belts, and a coolant temp sensor.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
    Location
    Vermont
    Posts
    650
    My Cars
    95 540i - e30/m50
    Awesome right up man, but you said something about an o-ring write up but I can't seem to find it...

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