...or how you don't need a water pump!
Our 1993 CDE 2.0 16v machine has been through 215000 miles, when my girlfriend had the excitement of driving when it went 'dodgy'. She said that the steering went all 'funny' and was a pain to drive. She decided it would be wise to attempt to drive home (~15 miles) as the breakdown cover ran out the week before (oops!). When I looked at it the auxiliary belt had turned into tiny rubber fragments, hence no power steering/alternator/water pump. OK I think, replace the belt, and hope it was driving over a campsite that loosened it.
Oh dear, then I remember that driving 15 miles with no water pump is a bad idea, and surely this would overheat the engine. In fact, surely this would melt the head gasket, and the car would be a write off. So I was valiantly downhearted but cheering myself up by seeing dodgy carlssons going for £500 on ebay, and thinking I needed the turbo.
Turns out mr. local mechanic changes the belt and the pulley(which caused the belt break), and the bloody engine still works! Just the ticking from the out-dated timing chain, still battling on. What on earth will kill this engine? I can't use this as an excuse now to get excited about the idea of comparing prices of a 735i, 280SE, or a 9000
2.3T......Cheers