X5 3.0 squeaking from belts when engine cold

[g300d]

Hey guys, I am having a slight squeaking sound from the drive belt area on first start in the morning. Not an obnoxious high pitched squawking, it is hardly noticeable from in the car and can be easy to miss if you arent looking for it.

Sound goes for a few seconds, then goes away for a second or two, then starts again. This goes on till the engine is warm and squeaking will not happen again till car is parked overnight or longer.

All drive belts are brand new Continentals replaced maybe a month ago.

This is an 04 X5 3.0i by the way.

This car is relatively new to me so any input on where this could be coming on these M54 engines as a place to start would be appreciated.

[SlickGT1]

Most likely needs a new belt tensioner. How many miles on it?

[X5SND]

Take the belt off and give the tensioner and idler pulleys a spin. If they growl or squeak (any noise or roughness) they're on there way out.

[g300d]

Slick, the odo is at 33k miles or so.

X5SND, good test, the indy who I had do the change did not mention any observations on the pulleys or tensioner, but looks like I will have to do over to check.

On these M54's, what usually goes wrong in this area? I do see references to upgraded tensioners, what if anything was wrong with the original design?

Another observation I had was when the belts were newly installed there was once or twice the belts squealed loudly for a while on start up but it went away quick, and a visual of the spinning belts didnt show anything amiss so I decided to observe first.

[X5SND]

As for "what else" goes wrong in this area, everyone will have different answers. Some guys will tell you the water pump is common, but I'm currently sitting with about 178k-km on my original one; meanwhile I've had 2 OEM alternators fail. I'm not sure why the different tensioners, or what the difference is between them (aside from mechanical vs. hydraulic). The good news is that on the main belt there is only one tensioner and one idler pulley, both of which are inexpensive to replace.

Sometimes after changing a belt, if you don't clean the pulleys you can get some squealing....especially if moving between belt manufacturers and/or belts made of different materials.

When my idler started to go it would also squeal on startup for a second and only after parking for the night/extended period of time. Then eventually after about a week would stay there...sounded a bit like mice running around under the hood. Turned out the seal on the back if the bearing was shot.

[SlickGT1]

I have to say I am also not impressed by the continental belts for our cars. Mine makes a raped squirrel noise on a hot startup. Put original belt back on, all good. Put conti on, noise. I need to order new OE belts.

[Ricky Bobby]

Slick,

I dont know about the 4.8is, but my OE belts for the 3.0 were continentals. If you look at ECS website it says continental on the belts of the genuine part. I bought continental belts to save the 5 bucks per belt because I saw continental on the OE version.

When my indy did my belts and tensioners at 62k and 8.5 years of age, he replaced both belts, AC tensioner with a new one, and I converted from mechanical to hydraulic tensioner (although he said both versions would be fine). I also did idler pulley at the same time.

Looks like you might have another wear part that is causing noise, my opinion is to check your tensioners and idler pulley.

ALSO, my indy found that my fan clutch was making a hell of a racket too, it turned out to be bad, and was replaced. All rusty and looked like crap when he showed it to me. Car is quiet as a peep now.

[SlickGT1]

I didn't just replace the belts. I replaced everything in the area. I don't like going in multiple times to do something. I replaced tensioners, idler pulley, harmonic balancer, alternator pulley and both belts.

The 4.8is also does not have any mechanical fans, just the one electric. My indie though, told me that conti belts are shit. The problem that I too found, was that the conti and the OE belt looked very similar. My OE belt thought, has BMW on it, and nothing mentioning conti. ECS also looks like it has the same exact pic of the belts. It doesn't even look like the conti belt that I got.

Remember, I only get this after the engine is hot. It isn't loud by any means, but sounds like a hamster on a wheel for about 10 seconds.

[Ricky Bobby]

Slick i def believe you replaced all wear items i know how OCD you are like me!

The 4.8is for all I know the conti belts might be shit, but since OP has a 3.0 like me I just wanted to point out that if you look on ECS the contitech belts that are OE are the same part number as the Continental brand "contitech" belts, if you look at the pictures. Continental makes the OE part just puts the BMW logo on the OE version. In the 3.0 case, it saves about 30 bucks to get the ones without a BMW wrapper so thats what I did, and they are whisper quiet.


However, I cannot speak for 4.8is OE belt vs. Continental belt comparison, no experience there.

[upallnight]

Originally Posted by SlickGT1

................. Mine makes a raped squirrel noise on a hot startup. Put original belt back on, all good. Put conti on, noise. I need to order new OE belts.

We have squirrels in our neighborhood, but I never heard one sound like they were being raped. How does a rape squirrel sound? LMAO