Howdy y'all, had to do a water pump the other day so the serpentine belt and AC belt had to come off. I thought I was going to be that badass who muscled the AC belt on bare-knuckle style by stretching the belt with a floor jack. I got 85% of the way there, could not get the belt over the last rib, was tired said f*ck it and figured it would work itself on. Well it didn't and it instead turned into what resembled black shredded wheat.
At any rate, I'm tired of swearing at that belt so I'm giving up and buying the special tool. However, I severely doubt that I'll need it again so once I get it on there, I'm offering it up for cheep rent to attempt to cover the cost for me and perhaps save one of you from the waste of buying a single-use tool.

PM me if you want to use it, keeping in mind that I'm in Columbus Ohio so that may be a concern if you need it.

 

Maybe too late , if you got that belt on .. But I posted part numbers for the tensioner and belt . If you are interested wanna go that route . I can tell you , it goes on in 10 seconds .. No swearing necessary , Lol .
https://5series.net/forums/e60-discu...r-help-139229/

 

I have dealt with that belt numerous times. I fabricated a install tool from a hose clamp purchased at Harbor Freight (do a search). Also, I have been successful in installing the belt by hand (used belt, not new belt). Adding a tensioner makes the most sense. I imagine BMW was trying to save weight anywhere they could originally.