It's the water pump. I suggest you change out the thermostat as well since it's right there.

 

It is your waterpump or thermostat.


I changed the thermostat and water pump on my 2008 535xi this weekend for the exact same reason. 130k miles. Error popped when I was on the highway 10 miles from home so I was able to take breaks and drive the car slowly home without towing it. It was also 11pm, so traffic was light.


FYI - It was quite hard.

Basically I dont think with the 535xi (you said you have the 535i ,but just incase), you have any access to the back of the thermostat or pump.
Even with my indy, it took me 6-7 hours. I went to see him after 2 hours and he had barely gotten a few hoses off the thermostat and was struggling to find ways to reach the rest of them.

If someone is doing it on this car, I will suggest buying backup hose tighteners because mine were facing in a direction that could not be reached by any tools. Much easier to cut the tightner and replace it with a new one.


Maybe everything was so tight because of the wear and tear of the high mileage. I dont know. I am just glad I did not decide to do it all myself in my driveway.

 

xi is definitely harder than non-xi, but both are doable with some time and patience

 

ok, I got the car back last week after the water pump and coolant/oil& filter replaced. Next day, it gives me the battery is low. I decided to take the car to the nearest BMW dealer ship. They confirmed the artery is low and unfortunately was oil leak from the gasket. They changed the battery and installed the new rubber gasket. Looks good so far. The question is how often I should replace the ayer pump to avoid such event that I had last 2 weeks. Second, Is that normal to have oil leaks at 60K??.

 

Is it normal? Yes this is very normal. You probably had an oil leak the first time you got your oil change. LOL This is the first of many to come.

 

did he use BMW coolant? the pumps I have heard can be temperamental with other coolant as the viscosity is different.


I do not understand "he chafed again"--you are paying him! also the water pump is difficult but not impossible to do at home.


if you have a 535ix , then it is impossible to do at home, you have to remove the sub assembly to get at some of the bolts and support the engine....a mess

 

I don't think it is normal to have il leaks at 60K. I'm at 70K and I don't have any leaks.

 

Are you saying that because you have no oil on the ground or you actually do the work on your car and you have not seen it physically.

 

The reason why we have oil leaks on our BMWs is because these cars are manufactured in Germany. The gaskets that are put on the engine are made to expand with heat. Which is perfect if you are driving on the autobahn everyday but we do not drive are cars that hard because we have speed limits on every road. Our gaskets just fail. But after you put gaskets that have the material to seal initailly rather expand to seal it goes away.

I have had oil leaks from almost every place it could starting at 47K. Im not saying it will happen to everyone but it does happen to the majority of us.

 

I see no evidence of leaks on my car. 535xi touring. I change the oil every 5000 miles.