Water pump OEM BMW or GRAF

It ended up being the water pump seal. They replaced the water pump and thermostat free of charge.

Graf here. 15k miles/ 2 years, no problems.

I use on my 12v and 24v VR6 engines, Eurowise aluminum thermostat housing and 42DD stainless steel crack pipe. Water pump I use GRAF or Hepu for its metal impeller.

I paid similar for a BMW TBF, however, another garage told me that the garage I went to was known for charging high prices. I always shop around when the price is in the hundreds so I'm confident I wasn't ripped off.

I had my 2008 BMW 135i E88 for going on 14 years, it's about to hit 70k miles and looks like new. I've done a couple bolt-ones (IC, charge pipe, Cobb tune). It's been a great car and a blast to drive. I did replace the water pump this past summer otherwise normal maintenance.

I’m on year 3 of a 2020 M240ix and it has cost me nothing besides regular maintenance and premium fuel. Now I expect that to change soonish, as at my last oil change I was told my water pump has a very slow leak and, at some point, will need to be replaced to the tune of $2k.

I've also had a Graf I think it was, it did have a metal impeller, which started leaking after 7 yrs.

I had an 2001 740iL that I traded an old truck for. The electronics are kind of a nightmare, the water pump has a plastic impeller that likes to randomly explode and shoot plastic all through the cooling system. You can buy one with a metal impeller that solves this.

what I had problems with is with Graf water pump, that was included as part of FCP euro cooling system kit, water pump seal around the bearing started pouring coolant like a waterfall after only 11k miles, I replaced it with a Stewart pump

The cooling system is the major weak point (ask me how I know) - water pump failed before 70k (changed under warranty)