Destroyed alternator #1.
 

I think.

It's f'n cold out. I went out to slowly warm up the oil and give it a good flogging at operating temp. Hoping to get the oil in the ~230F range. Put the engine under heavy load several times at operating temp. Got a whirring goose-like noise. Power is down... so much drag on the motor that it shut the motor off. Slight burnt smell. Motor stopped abruptly again while entering the driveway. No leaks. No faults shown on the MIW. S/C belt jumped a rib on the S/C pulley.

Bah

104K miles. 102K with S/C. Pretty sure it was living on borrowed time.

Edit: This old post might be confusing because I requested the thread title to be changed from T/C to alternator. Disregard.

hold on.... could be alternator bearing... will remove belt and report back.

Took belt off, fired up the SAV. Still whining, but only the good whine that I'm used to. ;) The alternator bearing is toast. (I guess I can consider that a blessing compared to drivetrain costs.)

Searching for a Bosch AL0734X returns a few better prices than what Tischer BMW is asking.

Turner Motorsport - Item# AL0734X - Bosch Alternator - 150 amp (water cooled) - 1999-2003 E39 540i, E38 740i & E53 X5 V8 - E38 E39 X5

Lookup By Part Number

RockAuto Parts Catalog

Looking those prices makes me feel better about paying $ 357 for my replacement alternator. I was a little pissed at paying that because on line I could find it for 100 cheaper or more, but I needed my X so I just grab the part locally. Of coarse mine isn't a 4.6 with s/c, that's gotta be alot of fun to drive. But you are right at least it is not a drive train problem.

Update... alternator from autohausAZ is on the way. The RMA packing slip is already here.

https://www.autohausaz.com/search/pr...412@Alternator

too late. novastar.com takes yours and gives you an oem remanufactured with new oring for 176.00. If you ever have to do again these guys are serious rebuilders.

PROTIP: It's novastarparts.com, and they've been closed for like, a while.

NOVASTAR - Starters And Alternators Direct

I read through all of the above and I think I now have a headache. :)