Good news. You'll find the OE hoses have marks on them showing where the clamps should be placed. This is to allow maximum access for tightening and removal.

Which clamp did you cut off? I'm not picturing it.

 

It is the clamp on the hose on the engine inlet pipe. That hose that runs to the side-out connection on the water pump. About a 4" long hose. The pipe and hose are pictured and sold as a unit here: https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...e/11537516414/ Part #: 11537516414

The factory clamp is heavy spring steel, held on by spring force. Special piers are need to install and remove it, and you would need working room to do that. I have neither. Enter the Dremel. Worked great with the flexible extension.

I tried to attach a picture of mine to this message but it kept rejecting my efforts.

 

 

In the above picture, the hose was on the larger shiny pipe. I cut the clamp once from above and once from below. 180 degrees apart. One cut did not suffice. Would not let go. Super strong.

 

Ah. For some reason I thought you had the N54. Somewhat different arrangement. Still a PITA.

 

Yea, a real PITA, almost as bad as the timing cover gasket replacement on my Chrysler mini-van. That was a double PITA.

 

Well, I have it all back together, new water pump, thermostat, serpentine belt, tensioner, and idler pulley. Filled with BMW coolant, time to bleed. Ignition on, set to warm, held gas pedal to floor for 10 seconds, and the pump does not turn on. Repeated a few times, the pump still does not turn on.

My electrical connections to the pump and thermostat seemed good. Clicked into place. I did dis-connect the battery prior to doing all the work. It was disconnected for about a week. Anyone have any ideas why the pump won't turn on for the bleed?

 

Although I did not find the need to do it, I have read in several places that it is best to hook a charger up to the battery when bleeding the system. Could be that your battery is not charged sufficiently, and the computers that be will not allow the bleeding process to happen as a result.

 

Yes I had one attached, low setting, 2 amps.

The engine does turn over and starts. Ran only 2 seconds.

Very perplexing.

In addition, I now have a warning on the dash display of: "4x4" The triangle sign and a circular arrow around the "4X4"
Don't think I did anything to trigger that except that I did jack the back end of the car up from the differential to put ramps under it. I supported the car on ramps all around.

 

FWIW, I had to initiate the bleeding sequence a number of times until it engaged. Not sure what, if anything, I was doing wrong. Eventually, the process started.

I also had error conditions after hooking up the battery. I don't recall what it was specifically, but I was able to get rid of it by starting the car, turning the steering wheel from stop to stop a few times with the vehicle in park, and then driving it a short distance.