Water Pumps???

Any difference between OEM or other aftermarkets like Graf or Meyle???

oem vs aftermarket is the quality. if going aftermarket choose stewart water pump..

Well I just replaced my water pump this past weekend, the Oem one was made of plastic while the one I bought on eBay (yes eBay) was made of metal. Box said hamann (not sure if that's a brand or not)

Oem or Stewart

^^ +1 what he said ^^

+2

Originally Posted by 330iBlue

Any difference between OEM or other aftermarkets like Graf or Meyle???

Absolutely no reason to put a high $$, low drag, water pump (stewart) on a 7yr old car unless you want to burn the money.

The problem with these from the factory is the plastic impeller has a history of failing. Get a pump with a metal impeller and you'll be fine. I don't advocate buying the cheapest pump you can find but there is no need to spend $160-$200 on the stewart. It's a want, not a need.

Originally Posted by greydart

Absolutely no reason to put a high $$, low drag, water pump (stewart) on a 7yr old car unless you want to burn the money.

The problem with these from the factory is the plastic impeller has a history of failing. Get a pump with a metal impeller and you'll be fine. I don't advocate buying the cheapest pump you can find but there is no need to spend $160-$200 on the stewart. It's a want, not a need.

QFT.

No reason to spend 4 times the money on a Stewart pump unless you're tracking. A few comments about other pumps:

1. OEM: good construction, but composite impeller that is prone to fail. Pass.
2. Graf: Used to be a good brand back in the time, but cheap construction of the impeller makes it a no go. There has been some reports about impeller disintegrating. I am running this though with no problems so far (very good flow at idle). I'd go with the another brand next time.
3. Geba: This pump needs to get the attention it deserves. It is German made, very well constructed, solid metal impeller. I bought this one as a back up. Some report say that it doesn't have the idle flow that you'd get from, say, Stewart, which is probably true, but it does seem to have similar size openings to that of the OEM.

I think Geba is the best combination of them all.

The Geba is my personal preference for stock style replacement as Sean said it's a very well constructed pump. If you're going to go all out though, the Stewart is hard to beat. Stainless construction, increased flow, and a life time warranty make it the last water pump you'll ever need to by for your car.

I agree with Graydart and Sean. Spending $$$ extra on a pump for a car that drives me to work and back on traffic most of time not necessary. I went with OEM. The car is 90,000 plus and the original pump is still working. Only reason I am changing it along with therm. is cause the idler pulley exploded on me . Since I am in there already , figured take care of rest of pulleys, pump, thermo and lower rad hose, which was leaking at the sensor. The car had the lower rad hose once already back in 2009 so surprised it was leaking again??? Thanks for input guys.

Originally Posted by ECSTuning

The Geba is my personal preference for stock style replacement as Sean said it's a very well constructed pump. If you're going to go all out though, the Stewart is hard to beat. Stainless construction, increased flow, and a life time warranty make it the last water pump you'll ever need to by for your car.

Lifetime warranty, hmmmm...

I don't agree that Stewart is too expensive for a 7 year old car or that it is justified only for track cars.
In fact, the plastic impeller is not a problem for most E46 models, they came either with a metal or with a composite impeller. Both are fine.
The bearing is by far the most frequent problem. In case the car has a mechanical fan, the water pump bearing failure can be quite spectacular. I've seen this this, happened to friends' 2001 z3 3.0 (M54B30 engine, water pump with a composite impeller) at 80K miles. He is the original owner and tracked the car just once when it was brand new.
When we started fixing the damage, I told him I've replaced my original water pump with one that has an upgraded bearing. He didn't ask "is it more expensive than OEM?"
He asked "will it fit in my car?"

By the way my car will be due for another cooling system overhaul about a year from now. I'm not going to replace the Stewart pump this time.

Originally Posted by SeanC

QFT.

No reason to spend 4 times the money on a Stewart pump unless you're tracking.

Also, mechanical fan is on autos, another reason not to get a slush box. Just get a $50 Geba if you are driving a 7 year old car. It will still outlast the car itself.

I wish Stewart made a wp for the E30 as well. I've gone through 12 water pumps so far on my E30 and all of them failed where I needed the car most. My E46 waterpump bearing failed at 65k miles and was never tracked. The rubber seal was also like plastic when I took it off. It did however, had the composite impeller, which I found very difficult to break even with a 4ft drop to the ground.

A component with 5 parts good and 1 prone to failure (i.e. bearing), is not a "pass" solution, so I'd get the Stewart (and I have) any time. Even if they come up now and offer one for my E30 I will also get it even if it's a 23 y/o car.