X5 3.0 Alternator and belts DIY (with pictures!)

[djmilleroh]

First great write up

Second I really like the troubleshooting skills you have a keen eye!!

[jac]

Foose: I believe bolt #7 (in the belt drive picture you posted) is actually a Torx screw, T-50...

Again, it would be nice to know the torque settings for all these screws...

[kris363]

Generx, thank you for your help....I had to use the handle of my breaker bar to pry the old alternator off.

O'Reiley Auto Parts was telling me that I had to stick with Bosch, since that's what was on my car... and the computer wouldn't be able to control it.. (aren't all OEM alts Bosch?). Anyway, I had never heard of anything like that, and all the forums were talking about swapping Valeo for Bosch and vice versa. So I bought the Valeo.

When I got it all put back together, charged the batt, and got it started, it ran REALLY rough, with the check engine light on. After a few minutes, the idle smoothed out, but the light stayed on. Well, today, the light is off, and it runs great (just needs a brake job really bad!). I would have never been able to to the alternator without this forum. Thanks again!

[CO2000]

Many thanks Generx for taking the time to create the step by step guide.
Just finished replacing mine this afternoon & it saved a few head scratching moments !



I thought it was easier to remove the Power Steering tank but only move it out the way - not remove the pipes. This was to remove the Alternator as I couldn't squeeze it up past the rad. All was fine until I dropped one of the bolts holding the tank on down into the hidden depths of the engine bay - Doh

I found the fan removal part fine with a large screwdriver & an old slim adj wrench.
Removing the original Alternator from its mounts was a bit of a nighmare as
its alloy casting you can't be too brutal.

Reading your other thread I hope your battery light woes are behind you.

Cheers.

[mullbucknell]

Will this set of instructions work for a 2004 3.0 with a manual transmission as well?

[daneshfar]

I also used the bar clamp, but did not drill any holes. I used it on edge with the thin 3 mm or so thickness going over and under two bolts on the fan pulley I could cold it still and used a plain thinner crescent wrench to undo the bolt. My car was sqeaking for over a year, then I got scared a bearing was gonna give so I decided to order all the pulleys and tensioner and belts. Its so easy I put on JUST the belt to see if is still made noise and all the noise went away. I am going to just keep the pulley and tensioner for later since as the BMW service guy told me these parts can go 100,000 miles. I have 56000 miles on my x5 3.0. And my belt had cracks all over the inside, these belts stretch and crack and then will squeal,,,,so don't assume everthing is bad under there. Ironically the AC belt looked brand new with no cracks at all. But i changed it anyway. AutohauzAZ has the original contitech belts very inexpensive. Also when under there look at your power steering lines. the crimp on connector on mine was a little loose and there were signs of slight leak.. the hose was fine so I added a generic clamp next to the crimp on one and believe I fixed that leak. You will need to take off the bottom plastic cover with many screws but its worth it to look around and also when getting the fan shroud off and on you can make sure the bottom tabs are all in their slots.

[CENY]

I've been trying but cannot get the fan nut off. Im turning clockwise which would be toward the drivers side but no luck. I could do this if I could get that fan and shroud off. Any suggestions?

[daneshfar]

This nut was not that tight on mine. As you know its reverse threaded so you are going in the correct direction by going right or clockwise to loosen it. But on mine the fan pulley would slip. there is that special bmw tool that has holes in it to hold two of the bolts on the pulley to keep from slipping or people here made theirs with a template and the clamp rod i mentioned. For me i used it on edge and used the thin part of this rod to go on one side of a bolt and the other side of the next bolt. This way you hold the fan pulley while you turn the nut. You have to have a thin cresent wrench that I believe goes up to 36 mm OR you need a long big wrench of this size . They have a set of these at Harbor freight and its not sold individually. However the wrench of the right size thats not a crescent is much longer and gives you leverage, like a breaker bar to loosen that nut if its too tight. IF it is too tight the pulley for sure will slip on the belt, even with mine which was not too tight it would slip and you have to hold that puley. Hope this helps. When you do put it back don't overtighten, remember its reverse threaded and cant come off anyway. Just tighten it a little the same way you took it off.

[cascios]

How do you test the voltage regulator?

[mrBrigante]

GREAT WRITEUP thanks a million literally saved over $250 just doing it myself