[rambalu80]

6 months in and 4,800 miles on the odo, issues with the new B58 engine are starting to show.

Drove back home from work yesterday, my usual 30 mile commute, and noticed drops of blue liquid on the driveway and garage. Look underneath the car and coolant was dripping down quite rapidly. Luckily, I had a half gallon jug of BMW coolant from a previous purchase in the garage, with which I filled up the coolant bottle and drove off to the dealership (12 miles away) to drop the car off without an appointment. Halfway to the dealership, the 'low coolant' warning came on but the temperature stayed normal until I got there.

Here's a video after I parked in the garage yesterday: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpAayQaefxg

Received a call from my SA a few minutes back and he informed me that they diagnosed the issue to bad water pump and a replacement would have to come from Germany, which would be 1 - 2 weeks depending on customs clearance. They were out of loaners when I got there but fortunately, although I didn't have an appointment, my SA and the Service Manager got me into a brand new 2016 328i loaner that they decided to pull off the lot for me. The service manager also instructed the SA to assign a shop foreman to my car and make sure they limit the mileage on the test drive (see here for backstory).

[yoandry]

Sorry to hear that, but it is a new platform so, issues will arise. That's why I dont buy any first model year.

[NICKTENN]

Sucks to be you!

Sorry, trying to make light of a shitty situation.

[bimmernole]

Sorry to hear that. I hope it isn't a major issue with everyones 340's. However I don't get the first year jitters from some people. There are countless problem threads from people who have the old engine. So what's the difference?

[bimmercar]

sorry to hear that! i am 5 months and 6,000 miles on my 340xi SA, engine seems to be okay for now

[lens]

Originally Posted by bimmernole

Sorry to hear that. I hope it isn't a major issue with everyones 340's. However I don't get the first year jitters from some people. There are countless problem threads from people who have the old engine. So what's the difference?

http://www.bimmerfest.com/news/87246...ents-from-n55/


Basically, they reverted to the mechanical water pump instead of electrical.

Also a couple other major/minor changes.

Most people usually hold off a year or two after a new engine is released due to problems, and usually by the second year or third, everything is usually fixed.

[RedKloud]

I had a water pump failure in my 09 E60, which I believe was the last MY for that car.

[bimmernole]

Originally Posted by chaungo

http://www.bimmerfest.com/news/87246...ents-from-n55/


Basically, they reverted to the mechanical water pump instead of electrical.

Also a couple other major/minor changes.

Most people usually hold off a year or two after a new engine is released due to problems, and usually by the second year or third, everything is usually fixed.

Yea I get it. I'm just saying that no matter what, your car might have a problem.

[yoandry]

Originally Posted by RedKloud

I had a water pump failure in my 09 E60, which I believe was the last MY for that car.

Originally Posted by bimmernole

Sorry to hear that. I hope it isn't a major issue with everyones 340's. However I don't get the first year jitters from some people. There are countless problem threads from people who have the old engine. So what's the difference?

We are not saying that a 2 or 3 years proven engine won't have any issues. Just that after every first model year, they will correct some of issues in the next years.

Better the devil you know than the devil you don't know

[rambalu80]

Originally Posted by bimmernole

Sorry to hear that. I hope it isn't a major issue with everyones 340's. However I don't get the first year jitters from some people. There are countless problem threads from people who have the old engine. So what's the difference?

Agreed. My previous car (2007 E90 328i) had the N52 motor that had been out on the market in different variations for 3 years before mine was produced and yet, my car was at the dealership for 3 weeks to fix the dreaded valve lifter ticking issue in less than 18 months since buying the car. So, new or old, there have been, are and will be issues. Just like there are Honda and Toyota lemons out there, my opinion is that it all comes down to your pick of the lot.

I bought the 340i knowing fully well that it is a 1st year motor and that I will be taking a risk with it, just like so many others have done with their 340is. The dealership is taking care of it and I'm not without a car. So, we just have to see how soon they can fix it and hopefully it is not a widespread issue on the B58 motors.

[pocky]

Holy leaky batman! No other info aside from just a failure?

[DrifterX]

Any belt driven water pump has seals which are prone to failure, it's not like this motor uses some new leading edge water pump design that's never used in another vehicle before... I highly doubt this has something to do with the "new platform" lol

[rambalu80]

Originally Posted by pocky

Holy leaky batman! No other info aside from just a failure?

No other information at this point. I'll have to ask my SA for more information when I see him.

[Billfitz]

Originally Posted by DrifterX

it's not like this motor uses some new leading edge water pump design that's never used in another vehicle before..l

The basic design wouldn't be new, the part itself might be. Designers prefer to use existing off the shelf components, but sometimes they have to start from scratch. That's usually the case with a new block. If you had the part number you could search to see if it's used in older models. Since the dealership doesn't have them in stock that could mean it's a new part, or it could mean it's a old one that doesn't fail so often that they'd bother to stock it.

[eluded]

where was your 340 built? Germany or South Africa

[BavarianFanatic]

Originally Posted by rambalu80

"issues with the new B58 engine are starting to show."

This is just a tad overly dramatic. Sorry for your luck, but your sample of one isn't really indicative of a broader "issue". Components fail. They get replaced. Life goes on. It sounds like you've got a good dealer that's taking care of you. Best of luck.

[paul e]

Originally Posted by eluded

where was your 340 built? Germany or South Africa

All motors built in Germany.

[eluded]

really? I thought the new modular motors were build in Steyr

was curious where the OP's car was assembled.

Originally Posted by paul e

All motors built in Germany.

[rambalu80]

Originally Posted by eluded

where was your 340 built? Germany or South Africa

Assembled in Germany, July 2015 production.

[rambalu80]

Learned this morning that the coolant pump is different for production dates Sep 2015 and later. Old part number (11 51 2 379 782) appears to have been superseded with a new one (11 51 7 643 067) on RealOEM and a couple of other websites.

[KGB_123_99]

Why would BMW switch from an electric water pump back to a belt-driven one?

[gomichaelkgo]

Originally Posted by KGB_123_99

Why would BMW switch from an electric water pump back to a belt-driven one?

I'll give you a reason-- My husband ditched his '09 335 because its electric water pump just quit in the middle of the freeway on a hill without warning. He began rapidly losing speed and the engine cut itself off in self protect mode. He was able to restart it and get over to the shoulder after nearly getting rear ended a few times.

Turns out that the water pump had been throwing fault codes for quite some time (months) without ANY indication to the driver that something could be wrong. No lights on the dash, nothing. And then the car put him in danger.

He lost trust in that car and the BMW brand that day. BMW could have designed the car such that the driver could get more than a few seconds warning of critical failure when the fault code log that has to be scanned in the shop showed a clear and definitive pattern of impending failure.

At least with a mechanical pump there are obvious signs that it's going bad.