If the dealership is not too far I assume it wouldn't harm anything unless your battery is too low already.

Otherwise, myself I would use my AAA premier membership to tow it to the dealer. If you don't have something like this, then I guess you have no choice but to tow it out of pocket. I assume your going to the delaership because it would be covered. Me I'd just go to my indy - I have no warranty or service plan.

I read you can actually clean out the oil separator but it depends on the age/condition. Myself I would lean towards replacing it if it looks like the original and make sure you get the updated version.

Yeah, I hope the belt thing is not too costly. Haven't had belt problems so ... I hope its not a seized accessory that caused the belt to come-off or break.

Good luck! :thumbup:

Chansces are that little cylindrical piece is part of you water pump bearing which have just exploded. Check and see if the radiator fan feels loose and wobbly. The belts never just fall off. Either the WP or one of the plastic pulleys has failed. Let us know what you find. ~Ben

FYI if it is the oil seperator, you can buy all the parts from a dealership (including hoses) for <$200. However the labor (from a dealership) is rather intensive and may set you back the remaining $800 or so to bring you to that traditional BMW $1k mark.

-Cyrus

I will agree on this, the belts don't just fall off. If you have AAA have it towed and looked at by the dealer. If you don't have AAA now is the time to get it. Or call this dealer and ask them to pick it up.

Also it would help if you told us a little about your X. Year, engine, and mileage is good info when asking for repair help.

Did you buy this from a BMW dealer?

If this is a BMW dealership and you have had this for just a week, then you need to get them to accept some liability here and fix the issues that where missed in an inspection. In my experience BMW dealership service advisors and management don't hear you until you make it clear that you mean business.

It's a 2001 3.0i, 87k, I've had it for a whole 8 days. Obviously, there's no law that says that they are obligated to fix anything, regardless of how soon after I buy it the car breaks, so that's pretty weak.

I did call the local independent BMW dealer/repair shop (Bimmers R Us) and talked to their service guy/owner, he said he'd save me over whatever the dealer charges even if they "helped me out with labor" like they claimed they were going to.

fingers still crossed....

Just now going thru replacing deflector pully and adjustment pully. Go to youtube look up bmw idle pulley diy. There are a few vids about these pulleys with some instruction on how to know if they are bad. My adjustment pulley would free spin and make the marbley noise indicating the grease was gone and bearings about to fail. The deflector on top was almost seized. The car was making a lot of noise and i caught it before it thru the belt. Maybe this is your prob. Replacement parts not that bad, see my post mechanical vs hydraulic pulley, and my indie was going to do it for $100. But i decided to do it my self. I am no mechanic but found it very easy to do. Getting the fan off was the worst prob and with all the instruction on this site, that was not a big deal.
The crankcase vent valve i did also. Little bit bigger job but again great instruction here and there is also a guy that videoed the whole process on youtube! I love these two sites, saved me a LOT of money.
Let me know if i can help but there are a lot of more knowledgable people here.

If it comes down to it, the oil separator valve will be an in house job, I just have to find the time and a place to do so. If I didn't have to work, I would've/could've done this myself. Live and learn.

Had the exact same issue last night on mine.

What did u end up doing to get yours fixed justBen?

I"m at the same place u were few months ago. Plz advise.

Well, It happened to me once.(that was only time when car stopped on me) The tensioner holding bolt (1/3 I think) Broke off somehow and took the belt out. Gladly broken bolt inside got off easily and we installed new bolt along with new belt and finished fine.