XBimmers.com | BMW X6 Forum X5 Forum
 
TireRack





Go Back   XBimmers.com | BMW X6 Forum X5 Forum > BMW X5 Forums > General BMW X5 (E70) and X5M Forum (2006-2013)

Post Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
      01-21-2018, 12:30 AM   #1
socale39
Major
209
Rep
1,043
Posts

Drives: 04 545i SMG
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: California

iTrader: (0)

35d Drive Belt and Balancer Refresh

So I’m getting ready to do a drive belt and tensioner refresh on my 35d as I have a whine and marble bearing sound coming from the front of the engine. Given the service history, it appears I’m still on the originals so a refresh as preventative maintenance makes sense.

That being said I’m now wondering if I should replace the harmonic balancer while I’m in there since it’s nearing the 90k mark. The interesting thing is that BMW has a drive belt repair kit as part of their value line and it appears to include the tensioner, balancer, belt and pulley all for $419. Not bad! Of course I know many are going the fluidsmper route but honestly, at $540+ I really don’t see the value as my OEM balancer is still operating just fine at almost 90k.

Here is a link to the value line repair kit I’m referring to:
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/show...43#11282413245

Anyways just curious about people’s thoughts and whether or not anyone has ordered the value kit before. Thanks in advance.
Appreciate 0
      01-21-2018, 10:25 AM   #2
Deftronix
First Lieutenant
170
Rep
327
Posts

Drives: 12 X5d & 20 X7 M50i
Join Date: Nov 2015
Location: US

iTrader: (0)

Try to stick a phone down there and get a picture/video of the balancer hub to see if you can see any cracking in the rubber. Good time to replace if you notice anything.

People are installing a clutched alternator pulley in place of our solid one to try to get more life out of the stock balancer (nothing proven yet). 335d/x5d take different size spacers on the pulley for proper fitment.

Here is a link to the clutched pulley w/ spacer kit.
http://www.fixmyvw.com/decoupler-pul...-35d-and-335d/

Will be installing a fluidampr & clutched alternator pulley this week sometime. I like the counterbalance concept of the fluidampr, hopefully be silky smooth!
Appreciate 0
      01-21-2018, 03:05 PM   #3
335dsleeper
Banned
389
Rep
1,623
Posts

Drives: 09' 335d 10'35D
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: Suffolk, va

iTrader: (0)

My balancer was working fine at 182k on the X5. I swapped as a precaution but, it didn’t look to terribly bad.

I like the fluiddamper but, can’t justify the cost over the stock replacement.
Appreciate 0
      01-21-2018, 03:15 PM   #4
socale39
Major
209
Rep
1,043
Posts

Drives: 04 545i SMG
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: California

iTrader: (0)

That’s exactly my thought. For the price of the fluidamper I could do a complete drive belt refresh with OEM parts I know will last for 80-90k. That puts me at 160-180k or 6-7 years of driving until I even touch that mileage. Also, what are the real benefits between the updated OEM balancer and the Fluidamper? Seems like there’s still data that needs to be collected here.

Don’t get me wrong I’ve had Fluidamper Parts on cars before and they are good quality but I just haven’t seen compelling data to support the extra cost.
Appreciate 0
      01-21-2018, 06:26 PM   #5
socale39
Major
209
Rep
1,043
Posts

Drives: 04 545i SMG
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: California

iTrader: (0)

Let me clarify the reason for this thread. I’m just looking to see opinions on whether replacing the balancer now makes sense and if anyone has had experience with the mentioned value repair kit. Not looking to start a long debate between Fluidamper and OEM as I personally don’t see the added value vs cost difference for my application.
Appreciate 0
      01-21-2018, 06:48 PM   #6
Deftronix
First Lieutenant
170
Rep
327
Posts

Drives: 12 X5d & 20 X7 M50i
Join Date: Nov 2015
Location: US

iTrader: (0)

Quote:
Originally Posted by socale39 View Post
Let me clarify the reason for this thread. I’m just looking to see opinions on whether replacing the balancer now makes sense and if anyone has had experience with the mentioned value repair kit. Not looking to start a long debate between Fluidamper and OEM as I personally don’t see the added value vs cost difference for my application.
That really wasn't the point of my post, please re-read.

If you're worried about the balancer I was recommending you take a look at the clutched alternator pulley people are putting on their alternators to try to get the max life out of the stock balancer. The logic behind it makes total sense and for $40 + belts is much cheaper than the $410 you're talking about spending to switch out everything now. Was just a suggestion though.
Appreciate 0
      01-21-2018, 09:08 PM   #7
socale39
Major
209
Rep
1,043
Posts

Drives: 04 545i SMG
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: California

iTrader: (0)

I know it wasn’t however I don’t want this thread to get derailed. It’s all good buddy.

That being said I don’t think you’ve read my original post all the way through. The original plan was to replace the tensioner, pulleys and belts due to a whining noise I have developed. At about my mileage or more this has always been common practice for me on my vehicles. So upon putting together a parts list I stumbled upon the repair kit which includes the OEM damper. If you were to price out a balancer by itself on ECS it would be $558 whereas I’m getting what I originally need amounting to about $200-$250 in OEM parts plus a damper! That’s like getting the OEM damper for ~$200.

That is why I’m leading towards just replacing the damper while I’m in there. However, if this clutch pulley for the alternator is only $40, then that would make sense to add to my parts list as well.
Appreciate 0
      01-22-2018, 09:54 AM   #8
oil_burner
California Diesel Guy
oil_burner's Avatar
United_States
7
Rep
69
Posts

Drives: 13' x5 35d
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: CA

iTrader: (0)

Quote:
Originally Posted by socale39 View Post
I know it wasn’t however I don’t want this thread to get derailed. It’s all good buddy.

That being said I don’t think you’ve read my original post all the way through. The original plan was to replace the tensioner, pulleys and belts due to a whining noise I have developed. At about my mileage or more this has always been common practice for me on my vehicles. So upon putting together a parts list I stumbled upon the repair kit which includes the OEM damper. If you were to price out a balancer by itself on ECS it would be $558 whereas I’m getting what I originally need amounting to about $200-$250 in OEM parts plus a damper! That’s like getting the OEM damper for ~$200.

That is why I’m leading towards just replacing the damper while I’m in there. However, if this clutch pulley for the alternator is only $40, then that would make sense to add to my parts list as well.
Wow, that seems a whole lot cheaper than the dealer. Would it be okay to buy these parts and store them for future usage as my 35d only has 47k miles on it.
__________________
Previous Affairs: 2011 335i Msport, 2007 Honda Pilot:, 1991 316i R.I.P
Appreciate 0
      01-22-2018, 01:27 PM   #9
-c-
Colonel
-c-'s Avatar
United_States
884
Rep
2,736
Posts

Drives: bmw
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Chicago

iTrader: (5)

Well your in their so might as well. I did mine. It was fine but I know I'll have the vehicle for many years.

If it matters my harmonic dampener on my Mini Cooper s is nearing 20 years old and has well over 200k miles on it.

They don't go that often and you will have bad vibrations before failure but like I did I was in their changing pulleys and belts so just added a nice fresh one for the hell of it.

Your call and your money but nothing wrong with swapping with new.
Appreciate 0
      01-22-2018, 05:59 PM   #10
335dsleeper
Banned
389
Rep
1,623
Posts

Drives: 09' 335d 10'35D
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: Suffolk, va

iTrader: (0)

^ m57 balancer failure is pretty common.
Appreciate 0
      01-22-2018, 08:00 PM   #11
socale39
Major
209
Rep
1,043
Posts

Drives: 04 545i SMG
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: California

iTrader: (0)

I think pretty common is subjective as with a lot of things on the 35d. I have only seen a handful of cases of people having an actual damper failure. It seems that 35d vehicles that live most of their life on the highways have less issues and I’m definitely a believer that there is some correlation. It would be interesting to document mileage and driving style (highway vs city) for those with failures. Has anyone noticed a trend with the 335d folks?
Appreciate 0
      01-24-2018, 06:16 PM   #12
BB_cuda
Brigadier General
BB_cuda's Avatar
759
Rep
3,541
Posts

Drives: 2011 335D Msport, 2013 X5D
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Clear Lake, Texas

iTrader: (0)

Sleeper, socale needs to see that list of failures on Omahadiesel's thread.
Appreciate 0
      01-25-2018, 03:18 PM   #13
temporaptor
Second Lieutenant
temporaptor's Avatar
64
Rep
266
Posts

Drives: 11 335D MSport / 12 X5 35d
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: SoCal

iTrader: (0)

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showth...254534&page=12
Appreciate 0
      01-25-2018, 10:42 PM   #14
socale39
Major
209
Rep
1,043
Posts

Drives: 04 545i SMG
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: California

iTrader: (0)

That’s a good list. I’d like to see information on how the car is driven. I suspect the lower mileage cases were from city driven vehicles.

Just a quick update, the repair kit is not in stock anywhere so looks like special order from BMW. 2-3 weeks from delivery.
Appreciate 0
      04-11-2018, 07:10 PM   #15
socale39
Major
209
Rep
1,043
Posts

Drives: 04 545i SMG
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: California

iTrader: (0)

Just wanted to provide a follow up. I’m just about done getting all the parts together. I ended up purchasing the repair kit for $480 delivered which is a great deal considering you get a belt, tensioner, pulley and balancer with hardware. Just need to get a couple more things and will start the refresh.
Appreciate 0
      02-10-2021, 03:48 PM   #16
Rich807
Second Lieutenant
65
Rep
209
Posts

Drives: X2
Join Date: Feb 2021
Location: Southern NV

iTrader: (0)

As a newbie to x35d cars I found this thread interesting.

Chalk me up as having one where the harmonic balancer went south & because I (& all the other mechanically inclined guys I work around) didn't realize what I was feeling/hearing for a month or so we didn't know my HB was failing until it failed. Ended up costing me a lot more $s than it would've if I'd had realized what was going out before it crapped the bed.

Car had a healthy mix of freeway & city driving its whole life & the HB gave up the ghost around 125k mi on the odometer.
Appreciate 0
      02-11-2021, 03:06 AM   #17
dang2407
Private
dang2407's Avatar
France
9
Rep
60
Posts

Drives: 2010 BMW X5 E70 35D MSport
Join Date: Dec 2020
Location: France

iTrader: (0)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Rich807 View Post
As a newbie to x35d cars I found this thread interesting.

Chalk me up as having one where the harmonic balancer went south & because I (& all the other mechanically inclined guys I work around) didn't realize what I was feeling/hearing for a month or so we didn't know my HB was failing until it failed. Ended up costing me a lot more $s than it would've if I'd had realized what was going out before it crapped the bed.

Car had a healthy mix of freeway & city driving its whole life & the HB gave up the ghost around 125k mi on the odometer.
So you do get an audible warning? What did you hear...?
Appreciate 0
      02-12-2021, 01:49 PM   #18
Rich807
Second Lieutenant
65
Rep
209
Posts

Drives: X2
Join Date: Feb 2021
Location: Southern NV

iTrader: (0)

I started hearing a difference in the exhaust note on idle as well as a slight vibration on idle. I drove the car for weeks (maybe a month) with this going on. I couldn't figure it out but wasn't overly worried about it...car was driving fine other than the slightly strange sounds & vibes at idle.

Fast forward a couple of weeks & I had a couple of very mechanically proficient guys I work around look at the car with me, including crawling up under it. None of them could even really hear what I was hearing (of course I'm in the car 5-7 days a week so I'm in tune to the normal sounds).

When the HB finally crapped the bed I got warnings dealing with the charging system, could smell what I thought was hot electrical (which was really the belts tearing themselves up), & got intermittent power steering. Oh, also the car seemed like it went into limp mode a couple of times trying to get home (3-4 miles at the time).

I really thought I had developed an exhaust leak by the sounds of it (prior to the HB lunching itself) but couldn't find any leak.

In hindsight if I'd been educated from the forum here or was apt to go to the repair shop every time one of my older used cars made a weird noise (which I'm not), it would've been caught & saved me some money.
Appreciate 0
Post Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 07:32 AM.




xbimmers
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
1Addicts.com, BIMMERPOST.com, E90Post.com, F30Post.com, M3Post.com, ZPost.com, 5Post.com, 6Post.com, 7Post.com, XBimmers.com logo and trademark are properties of BIMMERPOST