Water Pump Failure

[t_marat]

I think I have the famous water pump failure.
I can drive the car gently, it will not overheat. But If I press a little harder on the gas, the temp gauge starts crawling towards the red zone. I don't even need to be driving, just revving up the engine in idle is enough, temp starts rising quickly. The cooling hoses that go to and from the thremostat, they seemed like empty. I couldn't feel any fluid in them.
So is it correct to say the water pump is about to die completely? Is it safe to drive around gently till I get the pump with metal impellers? My work is only 5-6 minutes of driving from my home.

I don't know if the previous owner replaced the water pump, probably not.

[ironie]

Yes it probably is, provided your resivor is properly full, though it could be a failed thermostat, keeping higher revs in lowers gears, (like in second at 30 miles a hour, maybe 3k-3.5k or so) should cool it down if the thermostat is opening properly. Remember, overheating kills heads.

[t_marat]

The reservoir is full.
I didn't try rasing the rpm intentionally when the temp started rising. Its just too scary, the temp rises very quickly. And it starts rising the moment I rev up the engine.

[winfred]

not safe to drive, if it is a failed plastic impeller or a bad thermostat things can go bad quickly and change a $100 repair to a $1000

[ironie]

Winfred makes a good point actually. Thatr plastic impeller is specific to BMW.
I have never seen another car with it. Traditional water pump failures are usally pretty obvious due to the fact that they leak from the shaft. My M50 has almost 170k on it and had had the water pump done at least once, and when it failed it failed in the traditional manner, I had no fear of increasing the revs as opposed to sitting in traffic on a hot day idleing, Heat builds up quicker and is disipates more slowly at low revs. Reving the engine up forces the water through the system faster (if you have a impellor left)
The plastic impellor really is one of BMW dumber ideas. I assume they figured this out as well and gave it up in later models

[632 Regal]

could be a water pocket, try bleeding it correctly?

[t_marat]

I have driven the car in traffic jams at about 45C (100F) hot weather, and didn't have any overheating problems. I don't think it is something related to air trapped in the system. I just press the throttle a little harder and the temp gauge goes towards the red zone.

[t_marat]

Which one would you recommend?
http://www.bmaparts.com/epcvsoapimc....entid=bmaparts

[winfred]

hepu and graf have been good to me

[Bill R.]

Not quite, a number of car companies now use a water pump with a plastic or composite impeller, mercedes, vw, bmw and a number of others now are starting to use more and more plastics. They don't seem to have the problems that they did in the past.

Winfred makes a good point actually. Thatr plastic impeller is specific to BMW.
I have never seen another car with it. Traditional water pump failures are usally pretty obvious due to the fact that they leak from the shaft. My M50 has almost 170k on it and had had the water pump done at least once, and when it failed it failed in the traditional manner, I had no fear of increasing the revs as opposed to sitting in traffic on a hot day idleing, Heat builds up quicker and is disipates more slowly at low revs. Reving the engine up forces the water through the system faster (if you have a impellor left)
The plastic impellor really is one of BMW dumber ideas. I assume they figured this out as well and gave it up in later models