What is it?...

[RX7guy]

What is it in the pics that I'm posting? What does it do? And why is it making a horrible expensive sound of death?

The car is a '95 540/6 with almost 137k miles. It only makes the sound when the engine is on. It started intermittently last weekend, now it does not stop. I can hear it straight through the dash. No drivability problems yet.


Unrelated note: My driver side door panel let loose, where can I get replacement clips?

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh154/impulsive-rx7/DSC00877.jpg
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh154/impulsive-rx7/DSC00875.jpg
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh154/impulsive-rx7/DSC00874.jpg
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh154/impulsive-rx7/DSC00872.jpg

[MBXB]

Aux water pump and coolant valve

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=HE63&mospid=47410&btnr=64_0114&hg=64&fg=18

[RX7guy]

I just drove to the barber shop. When I started the car, the sound was as loud as it's been yet. I turned on the heat just to see what would happen. The sound dropped in pitch and then stopped all together, then I heard a rush of fluid and then it was all normal.

[Ross]

Might have been air trapped in the valve. ?

[leicesterboy15]

Door clips on ebay or from the dealer....

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/bmw-door-card-clips-m3-m5-m6-e36-e34-e28-3-5-7-set_W0QQitemZ310039280712QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item3 10039280712

[shogun]

Maybe the pump is broken like this one
http://dd.jpn.org/BMW_HP/20080408/index.shtml
That metal piece was DIY made here in Japan, no single parts available from dealer.
You can stop the aux pump motor by just disconnecting the connector plug there. No problem at all, only heating temp changes when car runs on idle. Auz water pump is just there to feed constant coolant to the heater core, so that heating is independant from the RPM of the engine, which drives the main water pump.