|
|
|
02-16-2018, 10:56 PM | #67 |
Lieutenant Colonel
480
Rep 1,600
Posts |
Usually lube and gentle leverage will get it to come off. Sometimes the rubber grommet just falls out.
On the N55 you don't actually have to remove the fan. I just did all my idlers, tensioner and drive belt with the fan in place. Just remove the snorkel (T20), pop the caps off the pulleys, draw a diagram of the belt routing, then grab a T60, breaker bar and 3.5mm drill bit or allen key and untension the belt and slip the drill bit into the hole to hold the tensioner in place. T50 for the bolts securing the idlers (56Nm) T50 also for the tensioner (38Nm) |
03-05-2018, 10:07 AM | #68 |
Lieutenant
162
Rep 556
Posts |
Any opinions on getting the INA/Contitech hardware over Genuine BMW parts for this 'belt kit'?
Genuine BMW is more expensive but if it's 'better' or will last longer, then I don't mind paying more. |
Appreciate
0
|
03-18-2018, 05:53 PM | #73 |
Captain
218
Rep 893
Posts |
That's what I put in my car. Good value. When I unpacked everything my first thought about the tool was "I don't need this". But as it turned out, I didn't have a bit that big and so that tool saved me big trouble.
Let me/us know if you think this is do-able without removing the fan (I believe it is not, others disagree).
__________________
2011 135i MSport 6MT AW/black, 72Kmiles, bone stock, moneymoneymoneymoneymoneymoneymoneymoneymoneymoney I LOVE THIS CAR
|
Appreciate
1
Dackelone10758.50 |
03-18-2018, 07:00 PM | #74 |
Captain
218
Rep 893
Posts |
I'd promised the gruupe a few pics. For me, the challenge with this job is getting the fan out (I cannot imagine attempting this with the fan in place, and I'm a little guy). The rest of this job is extremely basic... remove old parts, install new parts. I have an E9x Bentley and that was handy (belt path, bolt torques, etc, highly recommended for anybody who owns a 1er).
It's been a long day and I'm not smart enough to understand how to insert text in between pics, but these (below) are shown in the order as taken (starting with the intake plenum removed). The left-side intercooler duct attaches to the left-bottom of the fan with a rubber grommet of sorts. And with that, the fan does not pull straight out (the frame of the fan butts up against the intercooler duct and you just can't past it). It would have been so easy for BMW to design this for removal, but apparently all Fritz thinks about these days is cost at manufacture time. Ugh. But I digress. Apply silicone liberally and pull and tug and pull and tug and eventually the damn thing comes out. With the fan removed, this is a super simple job. As I mentioned above, I didn't have a torx bit big enough for the tensioner, and so I was quite glad to have the special tool from ECS. Getting the fan back in was as difficult as getting it out... the frame of the fan will not drop past the duct. But keep on trying and eventually it goes. I first did this without jacking up the car and removing the bottom tray (I'm 6MT)... and thought I had the lower tabs fitted properly. I put the car up in the air last weekend to have a look at draining the coolant from the water pump (lost interest in that) and found one of the tabs not in place. And so I recommend checking that before you get everything back in place (don't try this with the car on stands unless you are 8' tall, do the job to the point where you're ready to get the intake plenum back in place and then put the car in the air to look at the bottom fan tabs). My sweetie is leaking oil (I know what to do but don't want to spend the time) and it's time for fresh coolant (same)... and so off to the dealer I go for both. I use a BMW credit card for $Ks a month and have plenty of accumulated points for me to get this done at $0.
__________________
2011 135i MSport 6MT AW/black, 72Kmiles, bone stock, moneymoneymoneymoneymoneymoneymoneymoneymoneymoney I LOVE THIS CAR
|
Appreciate
1
Dackelone10758.50 |
03-18-2018, 07:58 PM | #75 | ||
European Editor
10759
Rep 22,992
Posts |
Quote:
Quote:
So the hardest part of the job is getting that rubber square thingy out? I think I will use Brake Clean instead of silicone on it. Brake Clean will make the grommet slippery, but only for a short time, then it will evaporate away. Any other tips? Thanks, Dackel
__________________
|
||
Appreciate
0
|
03-18-2018, 09:36 PM | #76 |
Captain
218
Rep 893
Posts |
The hardest part is getting the frame of the fan past the part of the duct that holds the grommet. A little lube, the grommet comes easily out of the frame of the ductwork (this is difficult to describe in words). But then the frame of the ductwork that holds the grommet meets a part of the frame of the fan (below the grommet) and you just can't get around that.
This was not designed to be disassembled...
__________________
2011 135i MSport 6MT AW/black, 72Kmiles, bone stock, moneymoneymoneymoneymoneymoneymoneymoneymoneymoney I LOVE THIS CAR
|
Appreciate
1
Dackelone10758.50 |
03-19-2018, 02:36 PM | #77 | |
European Editor
10759
Rep 22,992
Posts |
Quote:
What about the intake ducts. Do you remove the torx bolts from the front bar of the cross over to loosen/remove the dual intake duct. ? Btw... I took a look how tight the access is to the pulleys... I don't think you can do this job without removing the fan. Small or big hands... there just doesn't look like there is enough room to maneuver with the radiator fan is place. Dackel
__________________
|
|
Appreciate
0
|
03-19-2018, 02:42 PM | #78 | |
Captain
218
Rep 893
Posts |
Quote:
The clip you have circled is not the issue, it's where the rubber grommet attaches to the duct. Soak that in silicone and the grommet slides up and out, but the frame of the fan beneath that bumps into the part of the duct where the grommet attaches and getting that past is a bitch (honestly, in hindsight I wish I'd have nibbled some of that fan frame out with a dremel tool, would have made reassembly much easier).
__________________
2011 135i MSport 6MT AW/black, 72Kmiles, bone stock, moneymoneymoneymoneymoneymoneymoneymoneymoneymoney I LOVE THIS CAR
|
|
Appreciate
1
Dackelone10758.50 |
03-19-2018, 02:55 PM | #79 |
Captain
218
Rep 893
Posts |
A little markup showing what can't get past what at removal of the fan (areas circled in red). Lots of prying, jiggling, swearing. This is so stupid, it would have cost BMW $0 to do this differently... somebody just had to think of it. At one point as I was struggling with this, I began to think the only solution would be removing that duct... but I've seen videos on the interwebs clearly showing folks getting the fan out without needing to remove the duct and so I stuck with it.
Funny thing, too... without that clearance problem, getting the fan out turns into a 10 minute job (very straight-forward and, frankly, less work than getting the fan out of an S/M52)... but with that, I gave up entirely the first time, and this (second) time probably took an hour just to get the fan out... and that was with complete understanding of the rest of the job, having failed once already. One thing that helped the second time was doing this outside in my driveway on a bright sunny day (really helps to see). The first BMW I ever worked on (having grown up with GM cars) was a 1978 530i a buddy got for next to nothing (had a huge hole in the right-front floor where the A/C wasn't draining and had oil issues... two months later it spun a rod bearing and this became our first rebuild). I was never more impressed with how intelligently that car was engineered. I guess those days are gone...
__________________
2011 135i MSport 6MT AW/black, 72Kmiles, bone stock, moneymoneymoneymoneymoneymoneymoneymoneymoneymoney I LOVE THIS CAR
Last edited by mr.fabulous; 03-19-2018 at 03:29 PM.. |
Appreciate
1
Dackelone10758.50 |
03-19-2018, 07:44 PM | #80 | |
European Editor
10759
Rep 22,992
Posts |
Quote:
Thanks for the added comments and pics. It will help me(and others) DIY their belts/tensioners. I might take your advice and trim down that area IF it gives me some hassles on the reinstall. Dack
__________________
|
|
Appreciate
0
|
03-21-2018, 01:55 PM | #82 |
Second Lieutenant
102
Rep 266
Posts |
Regarding the noise, when I had my pulley replaced, I remember the tech mentioning that the squeak sound comes from the worn spring in the tensioner arm. If the belt runs slightly misaligned, the tensioner spring can cause a squeak from the vibrations of the belt wobbling things a bit. I initially thought it may be the bearing (OFHG Leak) or belt but my noise was from the tensioner spring.
In my case this was very faint and only noticeable when parked in a garage idling. |
Appreciate
2
MightyMouseTech4341.50 Dackelone10758.50 |
03-22-2018, 10:32 AM | #83 | |
Major
1802
Rep 1,011
Posts |
Quote:
Guess I'll go ahead and start ordering parts. |
|
Appreciate
0
|
04-19-2018, 02:50 PM | #84 |
Major
1802
Rep 1,011
Posts |
Nah, I just went ahead and ordered the parts from Turner earlier this week. And I'll fix it when they show up.
This is a very minor problem compared to the multiple engine swaps, suspension rebuilds, etc, I've performed on other cars. My first BMW was an '88 325is that we dropped an OBD-I S52 into. That was a decade ago. And even though it's my DD, the car only sees about ~350 miles per month. |
Appreciate
0
|
04-19-2018, 04:06 PM | #86 |
Sideways and Smiling
3035
Rep 2,860
Posts
Drives: In Exuberance
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: Rosamond, CA USA
|
Dackelone
I have very very large hands (say all my close friends) and had very little issues with doing this with the fan in-place. I just removed the snorkel and had at it. I did have to reach in at some peculiar angles to wrap the belt around the crank pulley, but that was my only issue. BTW, I'm happy wit the Conti kit I got. Solid feeling parts, and were much quieter and smoother than the ones already on the car...
__________________
2012 BMW 328i 6-Speed Wagon | Deep Sea Blue with Grey Dakota Leather | Manual Swap, 330i Intake + Tune, 3.15 Helical LSD, Öhlins R&T
(SOLD) 2009 BMW 128i 6-Speed Coupé | Monaco Blue with Black Sensatec | chris_flies' 128i thread |
Appreciate
1
Dackelone10758.50 |
04-23-2018, 02:16 PM | #87 |
Captain
595
Rep 704
Posts |
You guys are lucky to find full kits, can not find anyone selling a kit in Germany. Granted it is just the belt, roller and tensioner for my 125i.
Planning on replacing them at 50,000 kms, since the car is 6 years old and never had them replaced before. |
Appreciate
0
|
04-24-2018, 07:27 PM | #88 | |
European Editor
10759
Rep 22,992
Posts |
Quote:
Dack
__________________
|
|
Appreciate
0
|
Post Reply |
Bookmarks |
|
|