[Jesse1983]

The other day on my commute my serpentine belt decided to shred. I didn't notice the failure until the car put itself into limp mode as I was driving on a long stretch of straight highway at the time. I had a spare belt in my trunk so I pulled the old one off and put the new one on and made my way home without further issues.

Unfortunately, I suspect that the shredded belt also destroyed my front crankshaft seal as I am now losing about a half quart of oil on my daily commute (200 miles, roundtrip).

I looked at the Bentley Manual instructions for replacing the seal, and it all seems to be well within my technical capabilities. My question regards the use of the BMW crankshaft seal tools. Is there any alternative to using this kit? Any kind of shade tree mechanic method to remove and install one of these?

It seems ridiculous to pay $300-$400 for a tool kit I will only use once (hopefully) to replace a $20 part. I'm selling this p.o.s. car when I finish grad school in May and swearing off BMW's forever.