BMW M5 Forum and M6 Forums banner
Cancel
Create thread New Garage Forums

DIY - S62 V-belts replacement and fan clutch replacement.

1 reading
Jump to Latest
64K views 57 replies 42 participants last post by  Edgy36-39  
J
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
I've searched on the FAQ section and couldn't find the DIY for the belts replacement.

So thought I'd post some pictured I took yesterday when I replaced mine.


It started the week before where I was cleaning the leak from the Intensive Cleaning washer pump (apparently leaked and also a well known issue on E46 as well (same part)).
So I had to take the under belly cover off so I can take a look underneath and to make sure I clean all the sticky residue all the way to the bottom.

While I was down there I noticed the AC belt has some cracking, I didnt seem that major at the time.
So I ordered the part and few days later I got the new parts, and been reading some horror story with a seized fan clutch so I decided to replace the fan clutch as well (very cheap insurance to me considering the alternative).

One thing I notice when I try to perform the cold start test with newspaper to stop the fan, I can't even stop the fan with either old or new parts.
Make me wonder if there is a better way to check if the fan clutch still in a good condition ?




Enough chit chat,
so anyway let me start with the DIY.

I've decided to follow TIS procedure on this (from the top)
Some DIY can be very intimidating regardless how simple they are.
This job is very straight forward, and I hope after reading this DIY some of you who are having doubt will see how simple this is.
I have included a lot of picture to make sure each step is clearly understood.



To start this job I got the following parts:

V-belt - AC compressor (11287833266)
V-belt - Alternator/waterpump (11287833264)
Fan clutch (11527830486)


Image

Image



And here are the tools needed for this job:

1. BMW fan clutch tools (11 5 050)
2. 15mm socket with long handle (a breaker bar will do)
3. flat screw driver
4. 32mm open wrench
5. 5mm hex drive

Image




1. Remove the Fan assembly
Using the 32mm open wrench and the BMW tools I loosen the nut in 2 sec :)
(At first I've spent 2 min trying to loosen the nut without the BMW tools and finally I gave up. I was going to see how easy to do with the BMW tools).

Image


Closer look at the location of the nut and where the BMW tools is used.


Image

Image



2. Remove plumbing for the Air-Intake including the MAF and top part of the air box (per TIS)

I also wrapped the edges of the fan shroud using masking tape

Image



3.Remove the V-belts

a. Remove the V-belt for the alternator & waterpump first, then
b. Remove the V-belt for the AC

I've included the mock up picture below for a better illustration.

You need to turn clock-wise to compress the tensioner so that you could remove/install the belt.

Image



Here is another picture on the pulley-tensioner for the AC (I didn't snap one for the alternator since I couldn't find a good angle for it).


Image

Image




4. Install the new belts

The AC belts is very easy and more straight-forward.

The alternator belt is a bit tricky to install. The best way I find to install this is: to align the belt on everything except for the pulley-tensioner last.


Image




5. Check and make sure all the belts are aligned to the pulley groove.

Use your hand to check if the belt is right on the pulley groove. (make sure you feel this all around).


Image

Image





After I tripple-checked everything, I want to make sure everything can spin freely as it suppose to so I started the car (Don't do this if you don't have a PEAKE tools, as it will trigger SES since I have the MAF disconnected at this point).



6. Replace the old fan clucth from the fan and put it the new.


The old fan assembly ready to be dismantled.

Image



Using the 5mm hex drive remove the 3 screw hold the fan clutch and the fan together

Image




The new fan clutch is in and ready to go

Image



7. Install the Fan assembly

Try to rotate (counter-clockwise) it slowly (by hand !!!) and make sure it bites the thread. (It tooks me only 2 tries).

Image



And make sure you tighten it

Image




Now all is done and put together the intake plumbing, MAF and the airbox cover back

Image







Some observation:

If you look at this pictures you will see that my AC belts is cracked pretty bad. Considering the car has never been tracked and only has approx 48K I expect the belt would last longer.
The Alternator belt is in better condition

AC Belt

Image

Image




Alternator Belt

Image

Image





Lesson Learned:

1. Regardless a low mileage it is obvious that rubber material cannot withstand the test of time.
So if you haven't already, go out there and check your belt.
Considering the beast is a high powered car, I can't imagine what would be the consequences if these belts completely shredded.


2. Use masking tape around the fan shroud (it has fairly sharp edges which can cut your skin). I taped the top parts but not on the bottom, so I got minor cut on 2 of my fingers when checking the new belts alignment.


Hope this helps. :D


Regardz,

J Irwan
 
#5 ·
Just completed mine a few weeks ago. I wasn't so lucky getting the fan assembly back on. It took me about ten tries. Be very aware of the fan shroud, it got me a couple of times, of course big hands don't help.
 
Save
Reply Quote Like Like
M
#6 ·
J - What a great, detailed write-up. I appreciate this, and as with many other things I see forum, I now must order the parts and do this ASAP! Bookmarked. Thanks a lot ;)
 
  • Like
Reactions: J Irwan
Save
Reply Quote Like Like
J
#9 ·
Since I bought the belts and the fan clucth from Pelican so I also got the tool from pelican parts.

There are couple of places that sell the tool. In my opinion it is worth every penny (the fact that I can loosen the fan clucth nut in 2 sec).

Here is the link to Pelican Parts.

Here is the link to Bavarian Autosports and search for "BMW 3037"


Regardz,

J Irwan
 
J
#12 · (Edited by Moderator)
Rick that's interesting, is it possible that the fan falls apart due to the seized fan-clucth ?

If you look the attached picture the fan is pretty simple. It has metal brackety that is glued to the fan where the clutch would bolt-on.
I can see a seized fan-clutch could compromise the fan itself (even if the fan did not hit anything under the hood yet).

Image





As far as the fan shroud, I don't see how this part could be compromised.
Its just there as a "static" non-moving part, which job just to direct airflow.

Image






Regardz,

J Irwan
 
C
#15 ·
Can someone please help i am trying to release the tension on my alternator side belt and the pulley did initially move when turning clockwise now just the bolt is slowly turning.

I didnt put a massive amount of force on it.

Have i fecked the thread on the bolt ?

If i turn the bolt anticlockwise will this undo the pulley ? ( I should imagine this shouldnt be done with the belt still on ? )
 
L
#18 ·
Turning the bolt clockwise will tighten the bolt onto the pulley and release tension on the belt when bolt is fully tight.

Turning it counter clockwise will loosen the bolt and the pulley from the bracket. The factory used red loctite on that bolt, so be careful when loosening it so that you do not sheer the bolt head off. You can take the pulley off with the belt on, there isn't that much tension on it where things would go flying.
 
C
#17 ·
Ok well i managed to get belt & my initial job of removing the alternator too.

I had screwed the thread on the tensioner bolt it was due to a lack of knowledge of how it worked and i tightened it too much so im sure there arn't many people doing this job that dont know how they work but for a better understanding check out this clip

YouTube - BMW Serpentine Belt Replacement

i thought from reading a diy on here that you just kept tightening.
:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(

Oh well i only screwed the tensioner carrier.
 
C
#19 ·
I just did this job on my car recently as I work through my 90k to do list. I replaced the belt tensioner for the alternator belt (left the one for the AC for the time being). I didn't take any pictures of the alternator belt tensioner but if your belt is in good condition and it's making a lot of noise it could be a worn tensioner, mine had definitely seen better days.

Basically to do this I came from the bottom so didn't remove the fan at all. First you have to remove the covers at the bottom. Remove the belts from the bottom, the alternator belt first, then the AC. I fitted the new AC belt at this time too. The alternator belt tensioner is a very fiddly job, but basically you have to attack it from the top and bottom. The top nut (the top is a nut the bottom a bolt) can be got at with a bar and socket fairly easily (with pushing some pipes out the way), so I undid this first. To get to the bottom is more tricky and you need the hands a 5 year old really. I found the only way to do it was to remove the power steering pump from it's brackets and tie it up with something (at which point mine started to leak from the rubbish excuse for a pipe tie). After what seemed like forever I got the bolt off, fitted the new tensioner and re-tightened. It's not on that tight so I just gave it as much as it took to remove and a pinch for luck.

After that it's a case of refit the power steering pump, I had to get a new jubilee clip for it (much better than the crap that came off it) refitted the belt and there she goes. I also did the chain tensioner too (used vantam5s DIY for this), that was well worth it. With the belt tensioner, chain tensioner and new belts the car is noticably quieter.
 
R
#20 ·
Advisability to replace belt tensioners at the same time or not necessary?

Please confirm PNs:
H2O/Alternator tensioner = 11282248214 at $115.16 from GetBMWParts.com
A/C tensioner = 11281407520 at $115.16 from GetBMWParts.com
 
  • Like
Reactions: rickc007
Save
Reply Quote Like Like
C
#23 ·
I replaced my tensioner because the belt was in reasonable condition on replacement so the noise was the slight wear in the tensioner. Unless you have this issue I'd probably not bother. It's really a case of what else you're doing at the time and how much you have to spend.

IF (and it's a big if) you are replacing your power steering fluid at the same time and doing both belts I might be tempted to replace the tensioner if the car was getting close to 100k. But I'd only change the alternator belt tensioner and leave the other as it's easy to get to and can be done any time with very little effort. Because you have to remove the power steering pump, if you were planning on doing a fluid change you could remove the pump drain the system, replace the old rubbish clip on the pipe (you'll know what I mean when you see it) and do the tensioner while you have it in bits as it's a convenient time. But they're not massively cheap for what they are and I'd only do it if you either need to, or were doing a power steering fluid change (assuming car has 100k ish on it) and it would be a convenient time.. make sense? I'd leave the A/C tensioner till it's knackered.. it's so easy to get to you might as well wait till it's bust and replace it then.. it'll take about 5 minutes..
 
P
#24 · (Edited)
The belt tensioners aren't particularly cheap, so I didn't replace mine. Symptomatic of impending failure is belt noise, if you've already replaced your belt, of course. I did a search to inform my decision, and it doesn't seem like the S62 engines had common tensioner failures. Plus, I'm not sure that tensioners fail in a binary manner.

I managed to replace the Fan Clutch, Fan, both belts, and Chain Tensioner (while the patient is open) in 1.5 hours and it was my first time doing it. Everything was done from the top, and I would STRONGLY ADVISE that you put some masking tape on the edge or risk cutting your arm up.

The DIY is very accurate and thorough. Thanks.
 
Save
Reply Quote Like Like
S
#26 ·
Excellent write up. I will more than likely use this in the next 4 to 6 months. Thank you for taking the time to produce this.
 
Save
Reply Quote Like Like
P
#28 ·
Thanks for this write up. It was very helpful, especially the diagrams showing how to route the belts. :cheers: I changed the belts last night after having my indy shop tell me they need to be replaced. According to the records I have of my car, the last time they were changed was about 3 yrs / 35k miles ago. That seems like a short life, but it's not an expensive item to replace, so no problem.

I used the "whack the 32mm wrench" technique to get the fan loose since I didn't have the BMW tool and it took at least 5 good hard whacks with a hammer before it broke loose.

Maybe it was just my car, but when I went to loosen the AC belt tensioner, there was a Torx T-50 bolt under the plastic cap! Luckily my neighbor had a T-50 wrench I could borrow, but I was like WTF?! Can't just one job on this car be easy?! FML.
 
B
#29 ·
What a great thread!
I don't have a Beast(yet) but this is just the kind of stuff I need to learn about for work on my 'future' M5.

Thank you very much!!
:)
 
Save
Reply Quote Like Like
F
#30 ·
Set about to do this today (fan clutch change) and it seems I'm going to need the tool to hold the water pump. Bent a screwdriver trying that in the bolts (and dropped it down to the under engine cover, thank god for a magnetic tool :)), it seems it's well frozen. Tried the whack approach a few times and the pump was just slipping under the belt.

Where in the UK can you buy this tool? Or could anyone lend me one, happy to pay postage and a beer token or two. I would just buy the damn thing if I could find it in the UK, other than a dealer.
 
Save
Reply Quote Like Like
M
#32 ·
@ feeblebob

I found myself in exactly the same situation when i tried to take my fan off recently...

After a bit of thought i came up with a cheap and quite elegant solution. Grab yourself one of those spanners which fit the special nut on an angle grinder - it's a near perfect fit when you remove two adjacent 10mm bolts from the water pump pulley. I only had to grind a small amount off both of the lugs before it would line up with the holes in the pulley.

Cheers
Ben
 

Attachments

F
#33 ·
Many thanks, Ben, I'll look into that one :)
 
Save
Reply Quote Like Like
BMW M5 Forum and M6 Forums
posts
3.2M
members
130K
Since
2000
M5Board is the best forum community for information on the BMW M5 E60 (V-10), E39 (V-8), E34 (straight 6), E28, F90 and F10. Discuss performance, specs, reviews and more!
Full Forum Listing
Explore Our Forums
E39 M5 and E52 Z8 Discussion E60 M5 and E61 M5 Touring Discussion Parts / Other For Sale or Wanted E63/E64 M6 Discussion E34 M5 Discussion