You actually replace it from the top. It's kind of tricky so be SURE to remember where the belts go before you take it off. To get the belts off, you need to first remove the fan. Use an allen wrench with a hammer to unscrew it first. Afterwards, use a socket wrench on one of the smaller black pulley to loosen the belt just so you're able to slide the belt out. There are two belts so there are also two smaller black pulleys. The pulley will move when you turn the socket wrench. Let me know if you have any other questions? I wish I had pictures to show you which pulley to do this on.

 

i recently replaced mine, and went from the bottom. I found it easier to access the tensioner from there. There is a nut/bolt on the tensioner, when you put a wrench on it and push (or is it pull) you release tension on the belt. I'll try to attatch a diagram of the belt routing, which i someone once posted here on the board.
Mike

 

Replacement is pretty simple. All work is done from top of engine. Here are the steps, including optional ones:

1. REQUIRED: Remove radiator fan with clutch by detatching from water pump.
-you can use special tools 11.5.050 and 11.5.040 to do this (see pic1) by securing the waterpump pulley with the 050 tool and using the 040 tool to loosen the fan clutch nut from the water pump. PM me if you need the pricing for the tools.
-In reality, there is an easier, cheaper way to do this. Use a 32mm/1 1/4 inch open ended wrench and place it onto the fan clutch nut (see pic2). Using a good solid hammer (rubber mallet will not work), hit the wrench HARD, towards the driver's side of the car to break the threads loose. (see pic3) Remember, the fan clutch is REVERSE THREAD. After a few solid strikes (might take a "few"), the thread will loosen, and you can remove the wrenchn at this point to just remove the fan by spinning the blades by hand. Continue until it falls of the threaded post of the water pump.

2: OPTIONAL: Detach and Remove intake elbows and MAFS from the plenum. This will give you more room to work and allow more light, but is not necessary.

3. OPTIONAL: Remove the fan shroud. I don't recommend this, since it is not worth the work to put it back in. Just wear a long sleeve shirt to protect your forearms from getting scraped up on the upper edge of the fan shroud, and you should be fine.

4. REQUIRED: Remove alternator belt first. Some cars have a plastic dust cap on the tensioner pulley. just pry off with a small flat blade screwdriver Use a 15mm socket on the tensioner pulley and TIGHTEN it as much as you can (see "1" in pic4). You will notice that the tightening motion will compress the hydraulic tensioner and loosen the belt just enough for you to get it off. You can exert as much force as you want on these pulleys, as long as you STOP when the tensioner stops moving. Observe the proper routing of the belt (see pic4).

5. REQUIRED: Remove A/C compressor belt. Same deal as above, just easier. See pic5 for location of tensioner pulley (marked "1") and belt layout.

6. REQUIRED: Replace belts. Process is reverse of removal. A/C belt must go on first. Always make sure to check that the ribs of the belt are properly aligned on ALL of the pulleys. This can usually be done just by look at them carefully, sometimes by feeling the bottom of the pulleys.

7. REQUIRED: Replace fan. Slide the fan back into position, then just turn the fan counterclockwise until the nut bites the thread on the water pump. Be patient, it WILL go on. Once it bites, just spin the fan counter-clockwise quickly until it stops. Tightening torque is 40nm on this nut, but since it is reverse thread and the waterpump pulley's spinning will keep it constantly torqued, just use the open ended wrench and give the hammer a good swing in the opposite direction to tighten. If you opted to buy the tools, the 040 tool will allow the use of a conventional torque wrench.

This all sounds harder than it really is. Typically, both belts can be replaced within 10-15 minutes or so. The system is designed so that you cannot misroute the belts. They will either seem way too long or way too short if the routing is wrong, so check the pictures if you cannot get them to fit. These instructions apply to all late model BMWs with hydraulic tensioners. The best part is not having to worry about deflection and belt tension, as the tensioners set that for you automatically.

Any questions?

 

Thanks for these photos. Going to replace them soon. Do the tensioners and pulleys need to be replaced?

 

BTW, a cool trick for doing any intricate work on the front side of the engine if the radiator is not removed (not needed for belt replacement) is to place a sheet of shiny aluminum against the finned surface of the radiator. This will protect the radiator from dings, your fingers from scrapes, and best of all, reflects an enormous amount of light onto the entire face of the engine. A small sheet of shiny steel/aluminum can be purchased at your local Lowe's or Home Depot for under $10.

 

Don is the man! He's the one who replaced the belts in my M5! :cheers:

 

We're talking about replacing the belts right? You do not need to do any of this stuff guys (no disrespect meant). Jack and support the car, remove the belly pan, you can get at everything from below, removing nothing else. I'm serious! No need to remove the fan etc. I replaced my belts (both of them) from below, and it took longer to boot up my lap top to look at the routing instructions than to get the belts on and off.

Replacement is pretty simple. All work is done from top of engine. Here are the steps, including optional ones:

1. REQUIRED: Remove radiator fan with clutch by detatching from water pump.
-you can use special tools 11.5.050 and 11.5.040 to do this (see pic1) by securing the waterpump pulley with the 050 tool and using the 040 tool to loosen the fan clutch nut from the water pump. PM me if you need the pricing for the tools.
-In reality, there is an easier, cheaper way to do this. Use a 32mm/1 1/4 inch open ended wrench and place it onto the fan clutch nut (see pic2). Using a good solid hammer (rubber mallet will not work), hit the wrench HARD, towards the driver's side of the car to break the threads loose. (see pic3) Remember, the fan clutch is REVERSE THREAD. After a few solid strikes (might take a "few"), the thread will loosen, and you can remove the wrenchn at this point to just remove the fan by spinning the blades by hand. Continue until it falls of the threaded post of the water pump.

2: OPTIONAL: Detach and Remove intake elbows and MAFS from the plenum. This will give you more room to work and allow more light, but is not necessary.

3. OPTIONAL: Remove the fan shroud. I don't recommend this, since it is not worth the work to put it back in. Just wear a long sleeve shirt to protect your forearms from getting scraped up on the upper edge of the fan shroud, and you should be fine.

4. REQUIRED: Remove alternator belt first. Some cars have a plastic dust cap on the tensioner pulley. just pry off with a small flat blade screwdriver Use a 15mm socket on the tensioner pulley and TIGHTEN it as much as you can (see "1" in pic4). You will notice that the tightening motion will compress the hydraulic tensioner and loosen the belt just enough for you to get it off. You can exert as much force as you want on these pulleys, as long as you STOP when the tensioner stops moving. Observe the proper routing of the belt (see pic4).

5. REQUIRED: Remove A/C compressor belt. Same deal as above, just easier. See pic5 for location of tensioner pulley (marked "1") and belt layout.

6. REQUIRED: Replace belts. Process is reverse of removal. A/C belt must go on first. Always make sure to check that the ribs of the belt are properly aligned on ALL of the pulleys. This can usually be done just by look at them carefully, sometimes by feeling the bottom of the pulleys.

7. REQUIRED: Replace fan. Slide the fan back into position, then just turn the fan counterclockwise until the nut bites the thread on the water pump. Be patient, it WILL go on. Once it bites, just spin the fan counter-clockwise quickly until it stops. Tightening torque is 40nm on this nut, but since it is reverse thread and the waterpump pulley's spinning will keep it constantly torqued, just use the open ended wrench and give the hammer a good swing in the opposite direction to tighten. If you opted to buy the tools, the 040 tool will allow the use of a conventional torque wrench.

This all sounds harder than it really is. Typically, both belts can be replaced within 10-15 minutes or so. The system is designed so that you cannot misroute the belts. They will either seem way too long or way too short if the routing is wrong, so check the pictures if you cannot get them to fit. These instructions apply to all late model BMWs with hydraulic tensioners. The best part is not having to worry about deflection and belt tension, as the tensioners set that for you automatically.

Any questions?

 

Mottati is correct in that everything can be done from underneath the car.
However, if you only did the "required" steps in the above procedure, you will find that the only part to remove is the fan (takes about 3-5 hits), which you will find takes less time than just getting a jack under the car and lifting it. By the time you have properly supported the front 2 jackpads of the car, the fan would have been off already. The time required to remove and replace the covering pan under the car (a bit longer than it takes on all non-M bumper E39s) does not justify belt replacement from the bottom.
As I recall, the pan itself has 2 10mm screws as well as 10-12 "half-turn" locking screws. Unless you are on a lift or can jact the front of the car up REALLY high, you will need to remove an additional 5 10mm screws on each side to loosen the plastic covers under the fogs to avoid having to force the center pan back in place when reinstalling it.
Add lowering the car and putting the jack and stands away, and you've taken enough time to remove a whole bunch of radiator fans

For this reason, BMW has chosen to use this method when replacing belts. The labor allowance is only 0.4 hours for the entire job (under warranty labor allowances), which is why the pan removal is not part of the "official" procedure.

I listed the "optional" steps for those out there who are willing to sacrifice the time of the job for the sake of easier access to the parts. Either way, the system was designed to be serviced from the top.

 

You make a good point here Don. I already had the belley pan off for something else, what else was i doing..... :3:

Mike

Mottati is correct in that everything can be done from underneath the car.
However, if you only did the "required" steps in the above procedure, you will find that the only part to remove is the fan (takes about 3-5 hits), which you will find takes less time than just getting a jack under the car and lifting it. By the time you have properly supported the front 2 jackpads of the car, the fan would have been off already. The time required to remove and replace the covering pan under the car (a bit longer than it takes on all non-M bumper E39s) does not justify belt replacement from the bottom.
As I recall, the pan itself has 2 10mm screws as well as 10-12 "half-turn" locking screws. Unless you are on a lift or can jact the front of the car up REALLY high, you will need to remove an additional 5 10mm screws on each side to loosen the plastic covers under the fogs to avoid having to force the center pan back in place when reinstalling it.
Add lowering the car and putting the jack and stands away, and you've taken enough time to remove a whole bunch of radiator fans

For this reason, BMW has chosen to use this method when replacing belts. The labor allowance is only 0.4 hours for the entire job (under warranty labor allowances), which is why the pan removal is not part of the "official" procedure.

I listed the "optional" steps for those out there who are willing to sacrifice the time of the job for the sake of easier access to the parts. Either way, the system was designed to be serviced from the top.

 

Thanks! Dayco Belts OK?

Thanks, gents! I learned a lot from your candor and advice. Thanks for the routings and photos, too!

I'll order the belts tonight on the net. Rockauto.com seems to have great prices. Looks like Conti or Dayco is the choice. Dayco seems to have the reputation for longevity. Anyone have a comment?

Norcal M5

 

Personally, I would stick with CONTI, as they are the original supplier to BMW. However, buying CONTI aftermarket (without the BMW printed on the belt) may be different. The belt designs have changed since the car's initial introduction. The current "real" BMW belts are flocked with felt on the friction side, so make sure to check when you get the belts that they are a little "fuzzy" on the ribbed side.

The BMW p/ns are 11.28.7.833.264 (Alternator) and 11.28.7.833.266 (A/C compressor). MSRP is 45.42 and 31.96 respectively.

 

What is the maintenance interval on the belt?

I have a 2000 M5 with 120,000 miles. I did not see belt replacement in Inspection I or Inspection II. Visually, the belt doesn’t look bad, just some minor cracking. Is their a preventative maintenance interval?

 

any cracking in the belt means you should replace them. Belt inspections are always visual anyway. I check mine every 1-2 oil changes

 

any cracking in the belt means you should replace them. Belt inspections are always visual anyway. I check mine every 1-2 oil changes

Thanks lads for this info, I just finished fitting a new belt following your instructions (From the top with fan removed) My belt disintegrated at 8am this morning on a cold and wet Irish back road. I was doing excessive speed into a damp off camber corner when the steering wheel went rigid without any warning. 12 hours and €20 later we were reunited. It took me 10 hours to find a belt, 1 hour to collect the belt, 30 minutes to remove/unwind all the bits of the old belt, then 5 minutes to remove the fan, then 10 minutes to fit the new belt. Go raibh maith agat go leir a cairde (Irish for "Thank you all my friends")

 

I have 60K miles on my car and the belts need to be repaced. Should I consider replacing the tensioner pulleys as well? What is the life expectancy of the pulleys?

Thanks,

Wayne

 

Under normal circumstances, the pulleys should never really fail. The component that may fail, leading to the breakdown of the bearing inside the pulley would be the hydraulic tensioner unit (very rare). Since the tensioner provides give, there really isn't much stress on the pulley bearing.
I've seen the mechanical tensioner assemblies (found in many I6 cars) fail, no longer keeping enough tension, but the M5s shipped with the hydraulic units only.
When you remove the old belt, spin the tensioner pulleys. If they are free and smooth, they are fine.

 

I just had mine replaced. My 2001 has 57K miles on it and the belts were cracked pretty bad. The tensioners, I believe there is three?, don't need replacing with the belts but you might as well since your there, if one seizes on you, you wish you had.

 

Guys,

Tried the whacking the thing with a hammer trick to no avail. I'm a big guy and hit the crap out of it, but it wouldn't do anything but turn the pulley with the nut. Anyone else have a way to hold the pulley still without resorting to buying the tools? I need to do an oil change this weekend and it sounds like it can be done from under the car without taking off the fan anyway, so maybe I'll just do that.

Thanks

Derck

 

Releasing the Tension on the Belt

Derck:
That pulley is the screwiest design! Try this - Take a big screwdriver and hit the nut (making sure you're going the right way) off-center enough to turn it. This works because it is the hit that makes the difference, not leverage. The screwdriver should bite into the nut, but it won't leave much of a mark. As you can see, this method is better than a wrench on a stuck nut -- leverage just turns the pulley. You may also want to gently put some vice grips on the edge of the pulley being careful not to deform it. When you re-assemble, put some anti-seize on the threads.

Guys,

Tried the whacking the thing with a hammer trick to no avail. I'm a big guy and hit the crap out of it, but it wouldn't do anything but turn the pulley with the nut. Anyone else have a way to hold the pulley still without resorting to buying the tools? I need to do an oil change this weekend and it sounds like it can be done from under the car without taking off the fan anyway, so maybe I'll just do that.

Thanks

Derck

 

My bad...I'm talking about the fan. I can't get the nut to break free from the water pump. The whole assembly turns no matter how hard I hit the wrench with a hammer.ouich

Derck

 

Breaking Loose the Fan Nut

No prob, Derck. That's what I gave you. See above.

I'm messing with you -- I saw after the post that you were talking about the nut and revised my post. Hey, how many times in life do you get a "take back?"

Norcal

My bad...I'm talking about the fan. I can't get the nut to break free from the water pump. The whole assembly turns no matter how hard I hit the wrench with a hammer.ouich

Derck

 

just do it from below and leave the fan on, easier to reach the tensioner that way anyway...

 

Doh!:hihi:

It's all good. I think I'm just gonna stick with trying Mottati's way. Like mentioned, I'm gonna change the oil this weekend and will be under the car anyway. Also I'm gonna look at fixing my powersteering lines...

Derckcherrsagai

 

Glad this popped up. I'm at 62k, and when I was changing my oil I noticed a few cracks. Time for new ones...

 

I too can't get the fan off using the provided method...

I agree that there is more room to work, when approached from below, however, it appears (and correct me if I'm just being stupid) that the fan must come off anyway, that or.. you have to thread the belts around the fan in-order to get them on and off..

I might be missing something but it looks like the fan is in the way.. either way you approach it.

- Tim

 

I too can't get the fan off using the provided method...

I agree that there is more room to work, when approached from below, however, it appears (and correct me if I'm just being stupid) that the fan must come off anyway, that or.. you have to thread the belts around the fan in-order to get them on and off..

I might be missing something but it looks like the fan is in the way.. either way you approach it.

- Tim

Hi Tim,
I got a good long spanner onto the fan nut, I then held the spanner upright and hit it for all I was worth with another spanner. The reason I hit it with a spanner was to transfer as much speed as possible to the other spanner, hit the spanner as far from the nut as possible in order to gain the largest moment of force (Torque)
Frog.

 

Frog

Thanks buddy, persistence paid off and I finally got the bugger off..

Pertaining to the fan's clutch: when the fan is off and in your hands, how free should the action of the clutch be? mine turns in your fingers, but it takes a little bit of torque. (it's not just free-spinning)

- Tim

 

Frog

Thanks buddy, persistence paid off and I finally got the bugger off..

Pertaining to the fan's clutch: when the fan is off and in your hands, how free should the action of the clutch be? mine turns in your fingers, but it takes a little bit of torque. (it's not just free-spinning)

- Tim

There should be a slight resistance AFAIK

 

for 170 bucks.. I think it's worth replacing.. (just cleared 80k) even if just to be on the safe side. I don't want a fan exploding under my hood!

 

I am changing my belts from underneath this week as I have to do the oil anyway. Besides, when the instructions say "get a large hammer..."

BTW both belts from rockauto.com $us36 delivered.

BTW, you guys who are beating on a steel wrench with a steel hammer or another steel wrench really need to go out and buy a proper copper or brass hammer. Steel bounces off steel, copper and brass are deadblows. You can hit gently and deliver more force and the hit wrench doesn't fall off the nut. And the soft metal hammers are definitely the primary tool of choice for removing stuck brake disks as well.

Steve
00 M5

 

Is there a reverse to tightening the tensioner pullies down to get the belt off? Do you loosen them again? if so, how much?

 

Is there a reverse to tightening the tensioner pullies down to get the belt off? Do you loosen them again? if so, how much?

To be honest it was 8 months ago so I dont really remember, besides my belt shredded itself. Read all the previous threads carefully, everything you need to know is there.