I wish I had a mechanic that I trusted.

Nevertheless the local dealer and a separate BMW non-dealer service center both mentioned to me that my passenger side axle seal is leaking. Neither mentioned how bad it is but were eager to fix it. Is there a general eye test to see know bad it is? Also, is it not recommended to use something like ATP AT-205 Re-Seal? Too good to be true?

The BMW service center also mentioned to be that the rubber water pump pulley is cracked. Is this something to worry about? I've read places that the rubber cracking is normal and does not affect the grip on the belt.

Any advice is appreciated.

 

Probably a horrible Idea to use any sort of stop-leak junk....plus the transmission doesnt exactly have any sort of easily accessible fill port. At least my All4 certainly doesnt.

If the leak is bad enough youll have transmission fluid (red) on the ground. If they are just seeing some staining on the transmission, it may be ok for a bit longer. I think this can be only a few hundred bucks at a shop to do.

The pulley is rubber on metal...so it really depends how bad the cracks are...if its just superficial little cracking, then you also may be ok. I would wait until you inevitably have to replace the water pump, thermostat, and the POS plastic pipe that connects the two.. Thats a 12-1500 job in itself (at a shop).

 

How does one know when the water pump and thermostat need replacing? My pulley wheel and belt are showing cracks.

 

Well just the pulley with minor deterioration...probably ok... overheating these engines is a recipe for all kinds of worse things, valve seats dropping comes to mind. Indeed, virtually all the plastic coolant related pipes are suspect/subject to fail randomly and never at a good time. The themostat housing that bolts to the head, the water pipe that runs between the thermostat housing and the water pump, and any tee-fittings/elbows that are plastic...are all a not great thermoset plastic that ages with heat cycling and cracks, sometimes spectacularly. They're easy enough to replace with special hose spring-clamp cable-actuated pliers. In my humble opinion it's better to just do it than pay a tow truck in addition when they go and pour coolant everywhere. There is no "date" on when any one of them will go bad. When I rebuilt my motor, I replaced the thermostat housing and water pipe, and kept the rest. A few months later BOTH a coolant tee fitting and an elbow randomly let loose in a gas station parking lot, no warning signs. Just the water pump pulley though, it's not labor intensive and might as well let them do it if you choose them. If you want to replace them all yourself, a long weekend is all it will take if you have the tools.

I also agree not to use snake oil stop-leaks in a transmission. Some people have such great luck with them, on coolant, oil, etc., but I never have. For me they've always caused more harm than good. You add some stop leak to the trans, fix the axle seal via snake oil, and gum up the trans valve body, is what would happen to me, smoke the entire transmission. To the person I'm quoting above, there is a procedure for refilling the automatic trans through the drain hole if the "stand pipe" is present inside of that hole, but that is a nightmare to have to do. I got to learn that when I accidentally removed the trans drain plug instead of the oil drain plug, because I'm an idiot. But supposedly there is a transmission fill hole somewhere further than I was able/willing to find...biscuits maybe that was on a manual trans car though.

Don't be like me, be smarter....I don't set a high bar.

 

How many miles are on your mini??