[Ivanhoe]

Hi guys, thanks so much for the DYI. I started to replace the parts and what I found on my son's car, the PO ( aka motherF*** ) damage the bolt.

I do not know what to do now

Any advice will be very much appreciate, thanks.

[dbjb]

Originally Posted by Ivanhoe

Hi guys, thanks so much for the DYI. I started to replace the parts and what I found on my son's car, the PO ( aka motherF*** ) damage the bolt.

I do not know what to do now

Any advice will be very much appreciate, thanks.

What did you do to fix? Screw extractor?

[Ivanhoe]

Yes, was the only way.

If any of you guys are using ANYTHING but a breaker bar to release the tension on the tensioner your working WAY to hard.

[dbjb]

Originally Posted by index1489

If any of you guys are using ANYTHING but a breaker bar to release the tension on the tensioner your working WAY to hard.

I used a torque wrench. In doing so, I found that it was originally torqued to around 55lbs. So that is the tightening torque setting I used on the idler pulley. I used a smaller ratcheting wrench on the other 2 pulleys. I installed using the same force needed to remove... I would guestimate around 30lbs.

[Ivanhoe]

Originally Posted by index1489

If any of you guys are using ANYTHING but a breaker bar to release the tension on the tensioner your working WAY to hard.

Its not to hard, you will be ok with a breaker bar, just remember that is counterclockwise to release the tension and then you can take out the screw. Be gentile not to damage the head using the proper die.

[Rodny]

thanks Guys!!
Just replace it on my car. Not a bad job if you have the correct tools.
Purchased my kit from ecs.

The problem on my car was the belt pushing out on the pulley about a 1/4 inch. I guess the tensioner was bent.
I can see the belt center on the pulley now.

[Ph0zenstone]

Thanks for the diy...it was an Easy job...was doing it just as preventative maintenance but upon inspection realized that my tensioner pulley bolt is also slightly bent/angled causing the belt to start slipping off. It's so slight that it probably just started bending. I'm at 65k miles now

[neyshule]

where can I see the pictures？

[mmurray]

Originally Posted by neyshule

where can I see the pictures？

Same question here. Want to do this preventatively, and the original DIY seems thorough but the links aren't hosted anymore.

[bvanderhaar]

Thanks for the DIY - this only took me 30 minutes and I'm not very mechanically inclined. My best advice is to have all the parts and all the tools mentioned - T60, E12, 17mm and breaker bar.

I didn't have noise at startup, but the old idler did spin freely. Just turned 90K miles.

I have a mysterious and random thump at idle that results in RPM fluctuations 1-2 times per trip; thought this might fix it. The thump is still present.

[tsuma]

Originally Posted by 09E90utah

Could you provide the torque specs on the idler and tensioner? Since the tensioner is aluminum, I'd hate to over tighten.

It's 25 Nm then 90 degrees torque angle.

[Kiwi Ian]

Just completed this project and due to some minor stripping on the tensioner Torx bolt head, I could not make the E14 Torx socket sit cleanly. So I took out the fan assembly to allow for better access and determined it made the entire job easier. The radiator fan assembly comes out with two torx screws removed (top and bottom) and lifting it up without any problems. This allowed for over 8 inches of clearance between the engine and radiator, which allowed for me to slightly tap the Torx socket onto Aluminum Bolt head without issue. With the fan assembly removed, there was easy access to R&R both the tensioner and idle pulley and route the new belt without any problems. This is a suggestion if you want more work area while doing the easy project

[Sparkee]

Thanks for the DIY guide. I just replaced mine (tensioner, idler, and belt) as preventative maintenance at 75K miles. Because I was also changing the engine air filter during this service, I took out the air cleaner box (In addition to the inlet from the snorkel which is mandatory) before doing the belt. That made doing the idler pulley a bit easier. The whole job would have been really easy had I not dropped one of the two bolts for the air cleaner box onto the under body cover. Fortunately I was also doing a coolant flush so that cover was coming off anyway.

I got the impression from some of the posts herein that the belt was supposed to ride in the center of the tensioner pulley, but after replacement the new belt sits basically flush to the outer edge (maybe 1mm inward) which was right about where the original was running. That must be normal, at least in my car. But, I'll be keeping an eye on it.

[ayous]

Thanks for the DIY. I just did mine because the belt was walking off the tensioner.

The belt on the new tensioner still sits on the outer edge of the tensioner. It is not off pulley at all. It is just not centered on the pulley and the edge of the belt is just aligned with the outer edge of the pulley.

Is this Ok?

The part I got was manufactured 1 year ago. Does the spring go bad in storage due to be squeezed for a long time?

Could I have messed with the installation? ( I just fitted tensioner in the spot and it could not fit anyother way. Yet tensioner could play a little in its hole and I did not do anything special about that. I just tightened the bolt)

Does slight under torquing might let the tensioner angle off?

[Imalabil]

Has anyone tried this on an E70 (X5)?
It looks like there is a cross member that needs to be moved out of the way, also perhaps the electric fan assm.

[konradsa]

Thanks, just did on my N51. Relatively easy, can't believe the dealership wanted $400 for it. This shouldn't take a real mechanic more than 30 minutes, and parts should only be about $50 for dealership. The only issue I had is that unloading the spring (step 3) to get the belt off was quite of a problem. Don't know if the spring was seized, or my ratchet wasn't quite long enough, but I ended up stripping the socket even though I was using a T60. Ended up just cutting the belt, since I was going to replace it anyways. Need to buy a bigger ratchet/breaker bar though. The rest was pretty easy-peasy.

[dopke]

Any comments on using this? Believe Contitech is OEM for this anyways?

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw...t-kit-adk0022p

[overdrivex]

I was thinking of doing this on my own, but my biggest concern is getting the belt back onto the pulleys. Is it hard to get it back on there? On my N52, it looked like where the AC compressor pulley is, theres a metal hose amongst other hoses all around there that makes it look very hard to get it onto there. I've never done anything on my car by myself, I've always taken it to the shop. Do you guys have any tips on getting the belt over onto the AC compressor pulley?

[Yangorang]

Has anyone tried using the Gates Racing belt?
https://www.ecstuning.com/BMW-E90-32....0L/ES2836655/
They look tougher and I wonder if they would last longer than the OE belt.

Also what's a good way to measure the torque angle? I believe this is required for the tensioner installation.

[mys_iii]

and thanks to all the great info on this site, it was pretty straightforward to do. I checked the torque on the tensioner and idler before removing them and they were both around 30 ft lbs. Some have mentioned on here that the idler bolt torque is 59 ft lbs but I think that may be a misprint. It seems too high as it is almost double the torque on the original bolt. Interestingly, the 25nM + 90 degree turn on the tensioner bolt seems to yield around 30 ft lbs. This makes a lot of sense as I would expect the tensioner and idler torques to be the same or very close to each other.

[DIABLOW]

Something missing here, no belt diagram.