Two problems related to water pump have been reported for the 2008 BMW 3 Series. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
I experienced a break down when I was driving on a city street. My car was then towed to the local dealer and dealer discovered water pump was bad so it was then replaced under warranty. 3 years later my car broke down again and was towed to local dealer an again the water pump was determined bad and replaced. I contacted BMW north America to see if they would help considering the water pump has broken twice but no help from them.
When travelling on harlem river drive middle lane, my car all the sudden displayed an engine overheat light yellow that turned red within 3 seconds and started losing power (from 50-60 mph to 1 mph) within 5 seconds. . . The car had to be towed to the nearest dealership. This is an extremely dangerous situation, as I did not have enough warning time to pull to the shoulder. The dealership is stating that this is a water pump failure. I am aware that there are recalls on x5s but not on my car. My friend who owns the same car and year had the exact same problem resulting in the same cost of repair ($1600). My vehicle already has many recalls including seat belts, air bags, and high pressured fuel pumps. This should not happen to a car that has been maintained by BMW and just out of warranty (less than 60000 miles). Not even 4 years yet. I have owned many Bmws and other cars and never had a water pump failure that caused a danger of this magnitude. . . I would appreciate if you would investigate the situation to prevent this from happening to other owners.