The dealer performed an inspection while I was getting airbag recall done. Dealer said belt tensioner pulley is bad and needs to be replaced. Quoted me $750. With all these things that fail and need to be repaired at 60k miles at dealer prices, I can see why so many people lease these cars instead of keeping them.
Before pulley change:
I always thought the play in the pulley was normal but after seeing numerous reports of bad pulleys from 1, 3, and 5 series owners for the N54 and N55 as well as the NA engines, I decided to change mine. I'm surprised there haven't been many, if at all, reports from X5 owners. I know there's a lot of talk about water pumps, tstat, oil filter gasket, oil pan gasket but the pulley wasn't one of those items being talked about a lot.
I ordered the pulley, bolt, and belt for $80. I watched this video on how to perform the job. I did not need to take the electric fan off. It would help if you did since it will give you more clearance to remove tension from the new pulley to remove the pin.
After replacing with new pulley, with the AC on, there is still some play in the pulley. Is this normal? When I turn the AC off, there is very little, if at all, any play in the pulley. Can you check to see if your pulley does the same? After watching the videos of before and after, the play doesn't seem that bad.
AC on:
AC off:
Thanks!
P.S. If you are a X5 N55 owner and haven't changed your pulley and belt yet, please do so. Otherwise you may be in a world of hurt
https://autoscope.co/car-repair/bmw-...inside-engine/