I need a photo of the front on the engine for my 2007 530i.

My serpentine belt came off , and is mangled around, and the dealer told me that in order to get the belt off, he would need to take the front of the engine off and also take the crankshaft off (he claimed the belt is "wrapped around the crankshaft and sucked into the engine".

In short, I don't believe the dealer; that's why I need to see the front of the engine to see how can the belt be "sucked" into the engine and inextricably wrapped around the crankshaft". A local mechanic told me to turn the crankshaft clockwise with a 20mm, among other moves, and that I could take it out myself.

I'll appreciate any input, and of course I'll appreciate a photo of the engine where it shows the crankshaft and pulleys...Thanks in advance!

 

RealOEM.com BMW E60 530i Belt drive-generator/AC/power steering

 

Thank you. I've found a few more photos. But, in anyone's opinion,is it even possible for a belt to wrapped around the crankshaft or even sucked into the engine that i would need to take the front engine and crankshaft off?

 

You may have to remove the harmonic balancer to get the belt out if it's wedged really tight. Do like your mechanic suggested and turn the engine over using the bolt that secures the balancer while some else pulls on the belt. Hopefully you won't see an oil
leak from that area which would indicate a damaged seal in the timing chain cover.
May be easier to work from underneath the car.
Good luck!!

 

THANKS for the photos, wish you had one showing the crankshaft area because the mechanic saying the belt is wrapped around the crankshaft ( when I looked a it didnt appear to be wrapped around the crankshaft).

question for 530inOK: what do you mean by turning the engine over? You mean literally taking it out? The mechanic told me that this is a 3-day job just to get the belt out, and I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed, but I'm definitely the dullest. Thus, I'm trying to assess how long should it take the get the belt out, and is it physically possible for the belt to be mangled so bad that you need to remove all these parts. How long should this take to get the belt out in the worst case scenario?

 

I suppose it could theoretically break and wind itself around the crankshaft wedged between the harmonic balancer and the engine block. Again, in theory, it could then damage the front crank shaft seal. But, I've never heard of such a thing happening.

Firstly, I wouldn't expect one to wedge between the harmonic balancer and the engine block. And, if it did, I would expect it to shred.

As someone said before, no oil leaking from the front seal and you should be fine.

Perhaps a borescope would be nice right now to get a look at it. That's a camera that sees down the end of a flexible fiver optic cable. They are not that expensive. My guess is that most professional mechanics have one.

If it were my car, I'd get the belt out by unwinding it from wherever it went. Keep all the pieces. When you get all the pieces, compare to a new belt. You could get lucky and have enough pieces that reasonably look like a new belt. They, I'd use the borescope to look around the space between the harmonic balancer and the engine block. If it all looks ok, I'd put a new belt on and drive the car. I'd leave off the plastic under-panel and monitor for oil leaks in that area for a couple weeks. If I saw none, I'd put the under-panel back on and not worry about it.

Check out this snapshot from the service manual:
http://res.bmwcats.com/tis/1101009.png

 

Great response! I do have oil leaking from the Housing Filter Seal, which caused the belt to come off in the first place. But, my main goal is to get the belt off quickly as possible...and I'm going to work on that this weekend coming up...I'll post back. I appreciate ALL the great responses very much! Team Bimmers!

 

By turning it over I mean get a socket and ratchet on bolt #3 and rotate the engine clockwise (facing the front of the motor). Maybe turning the motor and pulling the belt it will come loose.
Otherwise you'll have to remove the balancer #1 from the hub #2 to get the belt out. Looking at my car I can see there's not much of a gap between the balancer and motor. A belt in there is going to be wedged tight.
Hopefully you can work from underneath. Coming in from the top may require removing the cooling fan.
Not sure how much time you should allow to repair. Bring the Coronas to the garage and you can save a lot of steps to the fridge

 

Good one 530inOK! I'll definitely need some cold ones and a few hot chix over ...