e39 water pump problem, how much damage?

[andy g bmth]

My water pump broke and detached itself whilst on motorway which resulted in one of the belts coming off and steam,smoke pouring out the back.

I was on the way to the airport on holiday so won't know what damage has occurred for at least another week.

will it have cooked the engine or is it just a case of relacong the pump. (i did lose power whilst trying to get to the hard shoulder.

ps its a 528

cheers Andy

[ian_cab28]

steam and smoke out the back sounds serious unless just passing to the back from the front in the airflow, the pump must have seized to throw the belt, if it didn't over heat for a prolonged period it should be fine but it sounds a bit more disruptive than the usual overheat. good luck.

[blackspider]

The worst I have seen is a water pump,pump pully,viscous coupling,fan,fan housing,radiator, and belt.
Even though they boil over they never seem to damage the engine-unless its driven to destruction.Their strong little fellas