Evosport Pulley Install - Tensioner Bracket Grinding - The Unofficial BMW M5 Messageboard (m5board.com)

britm3 · 16th April 2008, 21:53

Gentlemen, I am in the middle of this install and just questioning how much I need to grind down the tensioner bracket for the evosport replacement pulley to fit without making noise. The directions indicate to just remove the lip, is this enought??

Thanks.

SL

ECB · 16th April 2008, 22:50

Been there, done that. My Evo pulleys always made noise where the pulley was rubbing on the tensioner bracket so I removed them, replaced them with the Rogue set which came with a tensioner pulley bracket/pulley already installed, and no problems since. With the Evo, I ground my bracket down with a dremel until it didn't seem to rub, but I guess I didn't grind enough. I was not impressed with a kit that cost that much but still required grinding metal to get it to fit. The Rogue was a bolt on product which was much easier to deal with.

rneedham1979 · 16th April 2008, 22:58

It is a very easy fix....

Get a dremel place the pulley on the tensioner. You will see that it will not fit flush. Grind where the pulley was making contact. Once the pulley sits flush without touching the tensioner body you are done. it is very easy and take maybe 10 minutes at the most

Ryan

Quote:

Originally Posted by britm3

Gentlemen, I am in the middle of this install and just questioning how much I need to grind down the tensioner bracket for the evosport replacement pulley to fit without making noise. The directions indicate to just remove the lip, is this enought??

Thanks.

SL

britm3 · 17th April 2008, 03:05

Guys thanks for the feedback, I just picked the kit off another board member and it had been grinded down, but I can see high points on the tensioner that do contact the pulley, so I'll just keep wearing it down - was using an air powered grinder which may have been overkill - so I thought I was going too far.

As a side note, my craftsman "professional" air ratchet wrench with 65 ft/lbs of torque only just released the nut on the alternator pulley - I was about 5min away from pulling the radiator to get an impact gun on that nut.

britm3 · 18th April 2008, 23:54

OK, just to make a final note for anyone else that runs into this install:

Tools that really are needed for the job outside of sockets etc:
3/8 Air Ratchet - Needed for alternator bolt.
1/2 Impact Air Gun - Needed to remove tensioner pulley from bracket.
Air driven die grinder with carbide burrs - will go through the bracket like butter.
Dremel with carbide cutting tip - if no die grinder buy multiple tips.
32 MM Open ended wrench for the clutch fan
T50 torx for tensioner bracket bolt.

How much to grind/remove:
Remove as much as the lip surface as possible, it really isn't possible to remove too much in this case - do not hold back!
With this approach the new undersized tensioner pulley does not bind at all = no noise and smooth operation.

M540i · 22nd April 2008, 23:54

Does anyone know whether this problem would apply to a 540i as well? Which kit was being used from Evosport to have this happen? Audiophile kit or the Power Pulley kit?

I planned on doing this mod to the 540i while I was replacing the water pump, alternator, belts, hoses and belt tensioners. If this is going to be a hassle to do, please count me out or show me an alternative...

britm3 · 23rd April 2008, 00:05

This was the Evosport audiophile kit, the only difference being - do you grind one side of the bracket (audio kit) or both sides (power kit). I would not let this need discourage you as a dremel with the right carbide cutting tips would work fine. A die grinder with a larger carbide tip makes short work of it. So 10-15 min of grinding/smoothing and you are all set. The bigger hassle in my mind was removing the alternator pulley (you need to do this with any kit) an air ratchet was the only thing that worked for me.

Quote:

Originally Posted by M540i

Does anyone know whether this problem would apply to a 540i as well? Which kit was being used from Evosport to have this happen? Audiophile kit or the Power Pulley kit?

I planned on doing this mod to the 540i while I was replacing the water pump, alternator, belts, hoses and belt tensioners. If this is going to be a hassle to do, please count me out or show me an alternative...

M540i · 23rd April 2008, 00:53

Would it be a bad idea to take a Dremel to the inside of the dampener to take off some of the surface rust? Or is this a bad idea as it would throw something out of balance? I would like to sand it down then repaint the front, open portion...

Really and truly, if I have to take a Dremel to new stuff that should fit without issue, then something is definitely wrong.

britm3 · 23rd April 2008, 02:49

On the dampener, I believe you are referring to the balancer connected just behind the crank pulley - you could lightly sand that, not sure it I'd use a dremel for that type of surface.

On the grinding involved with the evosport, you are not grinding any part of their kit down, you are grinding part of your existing tensioner bracket which is a solid piece of metal - this only seems to be an issue in 2002 + M5's from what I have seen on this board, prior to 02, it seems that existing bracket and the smaller evosport tensioner pulley worked fine.

Quote:

Originally Posted by M540i

Would it be a bad idea to take a Dremel to the inside of the dampener to take off some of the surface rust? Or is this a bad idea as it would throw something out of balance? I would like to sand it down then repaint the front, open portion...

Really and truly, if I have to take a Dremel to new stuff that should fit without issue, then something is definitely wrong.