[StradaRedlands]

Originally Posted by NikMN

Rear diff oil changed

It was time!

[NikMN]

Originally Posted by StradaRedlands

It was time!

Car was dealer maintained and because of the lifetime fluid bs guessing it was never done. Note make sure car is level and you have 14mm hex handy. Pretty easy job otherwise took a little unter 1L of fluid

[M_Bimmer]

Vehicle: F10
Engine: N55
MFG Date: 06/2014

My water pump failed back in May of this year with 50K miles on the odometer, which made the radiator fan run on high for short bursts every 30 seconds to 1 minute intervals while driving, and finally got tired of listening to it. Everyone outside the car could hear the fan too...got lots of stares at red lights.

Pulled the pump off and it's MFG date (5/22/2014) exactly matched 10 years to the day that the pump failed (5/22/2024). Hmm.

I was able to slide the pump out from under the car after removing the front sway bar. Just need to rotate the orientation of the pump by 90 degrees, and walk it along the steering rack to the left side of the vehicle, which can also be done on a 4-wheel drive F10 as well. No need to remove the radiator fan.

Bled the system, twice, and with a 13VDC Power Supply, the max current draw was no more than 25Amps, so my Sorenson XHR3333 had plenty of overhead.

Had to add to add a cheap set of $17 e-torx sockets to my toolkit in short order....didn't realize BMW used this type of fastener head on so many items. Guess I can retire my $1000 collection of 6-point sockets. (I actually needed the 6mm socket for the hose clamps)

BTW, the original BMW pump body was hard mounted to the engine block, and now on the newest version, the pump body is rubber isolated. Not sure I can tell a difference, but it did require new longer bolts.

BTW, if you are a weekend DIY'er and need a good impact wrench, Home Depot has the 14040 In lbs (1,170 Ft lbs) with the large 4Ahr battery, and charger, on sale for $159.00. This thing is a monster. I tried to remove the sway bar bolts with a breaker bar, and it did not budge. A quick pull on the trigger of this impact wrench and the bolts came off like butter....almost made this project enjoyable.

[Unspec]

Originally Posted by M_Bimmer

Vehicle: F10
Engine: N55
MFG Date: 06/2014

My water pump failed back in May of this year with 50K miles on the odometer, which made the radiator fan run on high for short bursts every 30 seconds to 1 minute intervals while driving, and finally got tired of listening to it. Everyone outside the car could hear the fan too...got lots of stares at red lights.

Pulled the pump off and it's MFG date (5/22/2014) exactly matched 10 years to the day that the pump failed (5/22/2024). Hmm.

I was able to slide the pump out from under the car after removing the front sway bar. Just need to rotate the orientation of the pump by 90 degrees, and walk it along the steering rack to the left side of the vehicle, which can also be done on a 4-wheel drive F10 as well. No need to remove the radiator fan.

Bled the system, twice, and with a 13VDC Power Supply, the max current draw was no more than 25Amps, so my Sorenson XHR3333 had plenty of overhead.

Had to add to add a cheap set of $17 e-torx sockets to my toolkit in short order....didn't realize BMW used this type of fastener head on so many items. Guess I can retire my $1000 collection of 6-point sockets. (I actually needed the 6mm socket for the hose clamps)

BTW, the original BMW pump body was hard mounted to the engine block, and now on the newest version, the pump body is rubber isolated. Not sure I can tell a difference, but it did require new longer bolts.

BTW, if you are a weekend DIY'er and need a good torque wrench, Home Depot has the 14040 In lbs (1,170 Ft lbs) with the large 4Ahr battery, and charger, on sale for $159.00. This thing is a monster. I tried to remove the sway bar bolts with a breaker bar, and it did not budge. A quick pull on the trigger of this torque wrench and the bolts came off like butter....almost made this project enjoyable.

BMW uses torx on 90% of its bolts, it's actually quite nice since torx doesn't strip as easily if you have to socket properly seated on the head.

On a slightly different note, the thing you linked is not a torque wrench it's an impact wrench. Torque wrench typically refers to ratcheting wrenches used to set torque, like this:



One word of warning: when doing my diverter valve, I had to take off the bolts for the water pump so I could wiggle it around, and noticed that the thread holes for the water pump strip pretty easily - I could feel it deforming when I got lazy and tried to hand torque it. So be careful.

[M_Bimmer]

Unspec thanks....was too busy writing the post....fixed in my original post.....

[M_Bimmer]

Originally Posted by Unspec

One word of warning: when doing my diverter valve, I had to take off the bolts for the water pump so I could wiggle it around, and noticed that the thread holes for the water pump strip pretty easily - I could feel it deforming when I got lazy and tried to hand torque it. So be careful.

The water pump is mounted on a bracket which if the water pump attach points get stripped out, then you can replace it....P/N 11517629911.

I included a picture with my endoscope of the top mount, and the bottom forward mount (white arrow).

With the new rubber isolators, the bolts merely fasten down on metal spacer tube in the middle of the isolator...which I used my 1/4" drive "calibrated" torque wrench on...

The water pump ASA bolts, Qty 3, PN 11-51-7-602-123, M8X26-8.8 ZNS3, are torqued to 10Nm, then 90 degrees.

[StradaRedlands]

M_Bimmer You may want to replace the ground bolt while you are down there: https://www.fcpeuro.com/blog/bmw-n55...lt-replacement

[M_Bimmer]

Originally Posted by StradaRedlands

M_Bimmer You may want to replace the ground bolt while you are down there: https://www.fcpeuro.com/blog/bmw-n55...lt-replacement

So I took it off....moved it out of the way of getting the pump out...I've seen the FCP Euro video stating that the ground bolt shears on some N55 vehicles (F15 I think was in the video)....but mine was pretty solid. Still might change it when I do the oil pan gasket (or the front control arm bushings, next week).

I pulled the old pump apart, as it was still pumping water, but it had no comms to the DME, and I could NOT start the self bleed process on the old pump.

There three main electronic assemblies....

1. External connector assembly, that is wire bonded to the MCU board
2. The MCU CCA, which was epoxies into the pump, which was wire bonded to the CAP board
3. The Cap board was epoxied into a cavity in the pump

All the wire bonds looked intact, and all the electrical weld tabs were intact. All seals intact, no water in the electronics cavities, so I assume that $600 was all because the MCU CCA communications transceiver was toast.

[StradaRedlands]

Originally Posted by M_Bimmer

So I took it off....moved it out of the way of getting the pump out...I've seen the FCP Euro video stating that the ground bolt shears on some N55 vehicles (F15 I think was in the video)....but mine was pretty solid. Still might change it when I do the oil pan gasket (or the front control arm bushings, next week).

Oh good, you've already seen it, good deal. FWIW I tried unscrewing the original on our '13 X5 and and sheared right off. I presume it was already starting to go as I barely put any pressure on it. Installed the new steel one and fingers crossed no galvanic corrosion from it!

[zener]

Originally Posted by NikMN

Rear diff oil changed

Need to do the same.

[T-Dubbs]

i deleted my rear bumper reflectors with the painted IND ones, for a cleaner look

[s_ribs]

Finally did a full paint correction. PO clearly liked full-touch car washes and the paint was just dull.

First step was decon, both chemical and mechanical.
I started by getting all of the bugs and grime loosened up. Gyeon Bug & Grime and Adams Strip Wash in the foam cannon.

• Iron Remover - Turtle Wax Rapid-Decon
• Contact Wash - with Adams Strip Wash (honestly can't tell if this did anything- water behavior was the same post wash)
• Clay Bar

Since the paint was hammered I did a cut and polish.

• Cutting - Lake Country microfiber cutting pad + Sonax Ultimate Cut 6+
• Polishing - Lake Country microfiber polishing pad + Sonax EX 04-06
• Machines - Bauer 21mm DA for most of the work (this is shockingly good machine for the price). An old Porter Cable 7424 with 3" pads for smaller areas.

Just starting the polishing step here:


Last I did a panel prep wipe to get ready for a coating.

• Paint - DIY Detail 3-year Graphene coating
• Headlights/Taillights - Gyeon Trim Evo

Final Results:



Overall I'm thrilled with the results and I finally can see the full depth of the Carbon Black Metallic paint. It's not perfect but it's miles better than before.

Side note- I'm not new to detailing but I haven't used paint coatings until this year. I did a ceramic coating on my wife's rig the previous week so that experience was still fresh. No high spots on that car but I did see two small spots on my car this morning. Who knows, there could be more but the light has to be just right to notice them.

Heres what they look like:


Found a trick from the DIY Detail crew (if you've gone past the 12 hr mark, <12 just reapply)- grab some light polish and a mf towel. Hand polish ever so lightly until it's done. If you are gentle enough it should not require re-coating the section. Seems to have worked perfectly (literally took a few seconds). Time will tell if that area fails early.

[NikMN]

Looks great. Paint correction is chore to do but results are worth it

[M_Bimmer]

Originally Posted by s_ribs

Finally did a full paint correction. PO clearly liked full-touch car washes and the paint was just dull.

Metallic paint is amazing after paint correction.

[ctcarbonari]

Originally Posted by s_ribs

Finally did a full paint correction. PO clearly liked full-touch car washes and the paint was just dull.

Looks Great!

I love the GYEON product line.

[ctcarbonari]

Originally Posted by M_Bimmer

Metallic paint is amazing after paint correction.

Man....I love that color!!!
Is that the night vision camera in your kidney grill?