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Changing belts cost me $3,300

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Old 11-15-2010, 09:22 AM
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The shop that did the initial work should have worked out some sort of deal with you. Parts only, at cost would have been reasonable. The second failure obviously was not a conincidence. You might want to consider taking them to small claims court.
Old 11-15-2010, 12:19 PM
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Originally Posted by gvolkov
What a coincidence, my 525 with 120K needs a belt tensioner cause it makes noise. I will have it done by a good friend of mine who has worked on all of my cars and no problems. But here is the deal:
BMW Service tells me that i need to replace the entire belt tensioning system to a hydraulic type because i guess they dont make the mechanical anymore??? And the whole thing costs like $700 bucks.
I found a replacement belt tensioner for $60(max) on ebay. I am not sure if thats an aftermarket or not. I always like to use OEM parts but in this case i think i might get a belt direct from BMW and a tensioner from other source.

Does anyone know anything about this hydraulic system that i was offered? I should be okay replacing the one i have now with a new non-hydraulic right? ...say with this one? EBAY
It didn't say it is OEM, chances are it is not. It is the mechanical type, you can convert this to hydraulic type tensioner. You can get an OEM on both types of belt tensioner at www.bimmerspecialist.com.
Old 11-15-2010, 03:33 PM
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Originally Posted by RootKit
netjazz, sorry to hear a belt can go crazy and cost all that damage--glad you got off safely. Probably hard to tell anything in that mess, did it look like the belt tensioner failed? Or the belt came loose over short time because it wasn't tighten properly?

I just had the *drive belts replaced a few days ago, but you got me wondering now. There is a DIY but decided to have the dealer tackle it. They replaced two ribbed v-belts, but I don't think the "belt tensioner" was replaced. I have almost same mileage, approaching 145,000 miles. Maybe I should give the service advisor a call?
My car broke down in New Jersey 70 miles away from where I had the belts put on by the small shop in Ct. so I didn't bring it back to them (nor would I really want to)after the failure.
I had the $3,300 job done by a reputable BMW dealer in New Jersey, 5 miles away from where I broke down. They say on the paperwork and I quote "143072 belt tensioner failed belts broke damaging power steering and trans cooler lines.r&i front subframe, replaced power steering lines front pump to rack and trans cooler lines, replace belt tensioner and pulley and replaced belts and thermostat.
My advise to you with 145,000 miles on the car is DEFINITLY replace the tensioner at once. The new belts you put on could be enough of a change to stress the tensioner. Talking a lot of money. Don't take the chance.
Old 11-15-2010, 05:08 PM
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Learned an expensive lesson .
Old 11-15-2010, 11:18 PM
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this is why bmw is only for occasional driving only, dont make it a daily driver cuz you will be broke in no time lol
Old 11-16-2010, 12:13 AM
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Originally Posted by NguyenAzn
this is why bmw is only for occasional driving only, dont make it a daily driver cuz you will be broke in no time lol
I'll have to respectfully disagree. Not to mention, the guy got 148,000 miles out of the car before this happened!
Old 11-16-2010, 04:13 PM
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I'm sure there are dozens of horror stories out there based around someone's experience at the dealer.
My cars go to a small BMW center, they touch it and never the dealer.
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