The electronic water pump on the car is a horrible design. It failed right around 60,000 miles and failed with little warning and left me stranded on the side of a highway when it failed. The location of the pump is under the engine between the frame and cross member. The electric pump is a $600 item and takes 4-7 hours to replace due to the location. This is a horrible design. The pump is an electric pump and could have been placed anywhere but for some reason BMW thought under the engine was the best place. I could understand replacing a water pump if it had 100,000 miles but not 60k and not a complete failure with NO WARNINGS leaving you stranded.

The electric water pump on these vehicles is common failure, the real PROBLEM is it happens with no warning. All of a sudden there is a RED light on the dash. If you don't pull over immediately you will severely overheat the motor and need to replace the motor and the water pump. THIS IS COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE. There are no gauges or prior indications of high engine temperature. I have never owned a car without a temperate gauge and never will again. But don't worry, you have a gauge for your oil level you can check while driving, but no dip stick to check when the sensor fails. Genius.

Add to that the high cost and horrible location of the water pump and you start to understand the Myth of German Engineering. What could be a simple, straight forward 30 minute repair job, turns into several hours because the remote water pump is located between the engine cradle and engine.