Water pump pulley grooved vs smooth

awdowns · 11-11-2023, 09:22 PM

New N63 owner here and I am changing the water pump on my 2011 X5 50i.

The pump I removed from the vehicle has a grooved pulley. The replacement I ordered from FCP Euro has a smooth pulley. Every replacement pump picture I have seen online has a smooth pulley including the drawing on RealOEM.

The way the belt was routed has the grooved side riding on the smooth water pump pulley. I've never seen a routing that has the grooved side of a belt riding on a smooth pulley before.

Can someone confirm if this is correct / normal?

jbash87 · 11-12-2023, 01:06 PM

Looks like a part number change from a 11517548264 to a 263 (superseded part is the 264 for some reason). If you google image search the 264 you can see grooves. The newer 263 doesn't have them.

tomjonesBT33 · 11-12-2023, 03:18 PM

Correct, the new pumps do not have grooved pulleys. I replaced mine last year and the original and replacement both have smooth pulleys. Both are/were original BMW parts. I’ve never seen this before either, but that’s how they are.

awdowns · 11-13-2023, 08:17 AM

Thank you guys for confirming.

This really had me scratching my head. I had never seen this before.

11517548264 does return images of a grooved pulley. Interesting they chose to do that. The grooved pulley pump I pulled off had "Gates 43015" stamped on the pulley and even a google search for that one comes back with images of a smooth pulley now.

11-11-2023, 09:22 PM	#1
awdowns Registered 0 Rep 2 Posts Drives: 2011 X5 50i Join Date: Nov 2023 Location: Minnesota iTrader: (0) Garage List 1999 BMW 323i [0.00] 2011 BMW X5 50i [0.00]	Water pump pulley grooved vs smooth New N63 owner here and I am changing the water pump on my 2011 X5 50i. The pump I removed from the vehicle has a grooved pulley. The replacement I ordered from FCP Euro has a smooth pulley. Every replacement pump picture I have seen online has a smooth pulley including the drawing on RealOEM. The way the belt was routed has the grooved side riding on the smooth water pump pulley. I've never seen a routing that has the grooved side of a belt riding on a smooth pulley before. Can someone confirm if this is correct / normal?
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11-12-2023, 01:06 PM	#2
jbash87 First Lieutenant 250 Rep 391 Posts Drives: 2006 M5, 2012 X5d, 2008 E91 Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: Seattle iTrader: (0) Garage List 2012 BMW X5 35d [10.00] 2006 BMW M5 [10.00]	Looks like a part number change from a 11517548264 to a 263 (superseded part is the 264 for some reason). If you google image search the 264 you can see grooves. The newer 263 doesn't have them.
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11-12-2023, 03:18 PM	#3
tomjonesBT33 Second Lieutenant 177 Rep 267 Posts Drives: 2006 Z4 M Roadster Join Date: Oct 2019 Location: VA iTrader: (0) Garage List 2012 BMW X5M [0.00] 2006 BMW Z4 M Roadster [0.00]	Correct, the new pumps do not have grooved pulleys. I replaced mine last year and the original and replacement both have smooth pulleys. Both are/were original BMW parts. I’ve never seen this before either, but that’s how they are. __________________ 2006 Z4 M Roadster - Silver Grey Metallic 2011 X3 xDrive28i - Deep Sea Blue Metallic 2012 X5 M - Monte Carlo Blue Metallic 2017 X1 xDrive28i - Alpine White
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11-13-2023, 08:17 AM	#4
awdowns Registered 0 Rep 2 Posts Drives: 2011 X5 50i Join Date: Nov 2023 Location: Minnesota iTrader: (0) Garage List 1999 BMW 323i [0.00] 2011 BMW X5 50i [0.00]	Thank you guys for confirming. This really had me scratching my head. I had never seen this before. 11517548264 does return images of a grooved pulley. Interesting they chose to do that. The grooved pulley pump I pulled off had "Gates 43015" stamped on the pulley and even a google search for that one comes back with images of a smooth pulley now.
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