A few weeks ago I posted about a 2018 Mini Cooper S (2 liter twin turbo I-4) with a “drivetrain error” and OBDII codes P13C9, P054B, and P0015 and a check engine light. (Link to this post is below). My mechanic replaced two VANOS solenoids/sensors (not sure the exact names of the parts). On the way home the same errors came back, and it began to idle very rough and lack power, indicating that the timing was off. This was about a month ago, and since then the car WAS running, idling and driving fine but the same OBDII codes are there. Two days ago on the highway, it suddenly stalled and lost all power…. no brakes, nothing. About ten minutes later it started and I drove the one mile home. On the way home I got a message that the battery was not charging and that it was running hot. To make a long story short, after the car cooled down I noticed that the serpentine belt sheared off. I am nearly certain that the water pump was leaking and it seized, causing the belt to seize and shear off. When the car died it dumped all of the coolant. The car did NOT overheat and doesn’t have a bad head gasket, and the engine oil is normal color and shows no signs of cross contamination with coolant.This car has been a nightmare and a constant source of problems despite us doing the correct maintenance and oil changes. We are seriously considering getting rid of it, but I'd like to know if someone with experience with these cars could give me a "ball park" idea of the parts and labor for replacing the serpentine belt and water pump. (I am in the USA on the west coast). The breaking point is $1,000 - if the repairs exceed that, then bye-bye Mini Cooper!

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ml#post4708755

 

Getting the water pump changed out on mine -- labor $ fluids alone (I supplied an upgraded pump) were over $1k. Also, California is pricier than the rest of the US, and I'm in less-pricey-than-California space.

The labor cost is not gouging. On the engine in the F56, coolant flows through the alternator mounting bracket. The water pump and thermostat housing are bolted onto the alternator bracket in addition to the alternator. BMW sells the alternator bracket, water pump, and thermostat + thermostat housing as a single part. Net, you have to remove all those parts to do a water pump replacement. Just to add insult to injury, there is no usable clearance in the engine front (which faces the passenger front tire) for this work.

So you have to remove the alternator, serpentine belt, alternator bracket, and the attached-to-alternator-bracket water pump -- may have to remove the cooling fan to provide space to work alternator-side to get into doing all that -- and, well, that's a lot of work. Hence labor time at whatever the per-hour rate. Then you have to do coolant refill and pressure test after putting everything back together. All that is at least 4 hours work based on what the shop I saw went through and I'll back the time spent, knowing personally what it takes to navigate all that. So call it 4 hours if you have a supermechanic who is someow faster than almost everyone else; then bill that at $271/hour, the average labor rate for auto repair in California -- you're already at $1084.

And that math doesn't even include the cost of parts.

If $1K is your ceiling, you're over-ceiling on this repair, and that's conservatively presuming that replacing the water pump and serpentine belt is the only work that needs to be done. Unfortunately.

Wish I cold tell you better...