[e92diaz]

Hey guys, yesterday as I was driving to work my serpentine shredded into pieces. It happened as I shifted from 2nd to 3rd at around 4k. I drove the car back slowly for 5 miles. I have the car up on the lift now and don't see any leaks or damage to any of the pulleys. 2 weeks ago i had a pretty bad oil leak from the oil filter housing which i fixed. I don't know if the belt being wet by the oil had anything to do with it shredding? When taking off the shredded belt there was a piece of the belt hanging loosely behind the crank pulley which I pulled off. I don't believe anything went into the crank but i want to be sure before putting the new belt on. Is there any way I could tell if parts of the belt went inside the crank or would I have felt or heard something when driving it back? Would I have to take the crank pulley out to check? I would appreciate any comments or advice. thanks

[oogabooga]

I don't know much about cars but it does seem likely that the oil ruined your belt. Oil and rubber do not get along well at all (assuming the belt had rubber in it, because I don't know)

[V8bait]

Common problem and you're lucky the engine wasn't hungry for serpentine belt today.

On a related note, anybody have an opinion on the ECS Tuning belt/pulley kit vs OEM?

[idnan]

I would still remove the crank pulley and take a look and see if any belt has made its way inside the pan. Mine was a bit worst and ended up requiring a new short block

[JC335xi]

Originally Posted by V8bait

Common problem and you're lucky the engine wasn't hungry for serpentine belt today.

On a related note, anybody have an opinion on the ECS Tuning belt/pulley kit vs OEM?

Just used that kit a few weeks ago and everything seemed to be of good quality. I have no complaints plus it saved me $100.

[David1]

Originally Posted by idnan

I would still remove the crank pulley and take a look and see if any belt has made its way inside the pan. Mine was a bit worst and ended up requiring a new short block

DO NOT DO THIS or you have to retime the motor!

[Pr335bob]

Originally Posted by e92diaz

Hey guys, yesterday as I was driving to work my serpentine shredded into pieces. It happened as I shifted from 2nd to 3rd at around 4k. I drove the car back slowly for 5 miles. I have the car up on the lift now and don't see any leaks or damage to any of the pulleys. 2 weeks ago i had a pretty bad oil leak from the oil filter housing which i fixed. I don't know if the belt being wet by the oil had anything to do with it shredding? When taking off the shredded belt there was a piece of the belt hanging loosely behind the crank pulley which I pulled off. I don't believe anything went into the crank but i want to be sure before putting the new belt on. Is there any way I could tell if parts of the belt went inside the crank or would I have felt or heard something when driving it back? Would I have to take the crank pulley out to check? I would appreciate any comments or advice. thanks

Out of curiousity what was your mileage ?

[SpeedDemon7]

First I would check and make sure all the pulleys are tight. Same thing happened to me and I went through 3 serpentine belts. It turned out the power steering pulley bolts were super loose. I used loctite on all bolts, replaced tensioner and belt. Its all been good so far.

[007_e350]

Plenty of info on this thread - its a known issue till Nov 2007 MY or something (sorry dont recall the exact month) - Whats your MY
In a nutshell, the power steering pulley hits the subframe and belt shreds, check for metal loss or scuffs around the PS pulley area ... You're v lucky if it didnt get into crankcase, my neighbor's got in twice (luckily he had CPO warranty, got new head, it bent valves coz the timing chain jumped - he said timing chain is right behind the crank pulley and makes a V with the inlet and Exhaust camshafts uptop)

[David1]

It happens on newer years also and does not involve the subframe issue most of the time. The tensioner fails or the idle pully is worn. I have also seen the tensioner bolts stretch making it run on an angle. I have also seen an N55 motor with the belt wrapped around the crank.

[4cfd bmr]

Just had this exact same thing happen to me yesterday! I'm also hoping that the crank gasket didn't allow the shredded pieces to puncture it.

I just replaced my OFH gaskets as well and I still have a leak somewhere up on that side of the engine. Got 82K on my car and i'm hoping it was just age + oil and the belt prematurely wearing out the belt that made it shred and that i'm not heading for another shredded belt again soon.

[e92diaz]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I replaced the belt last week and drove it 100 miles since and everything seems to be fine. The milage is 69k

[N55Jamaican]

Please can somebody quickly share with me a diagram with how the serpentine belt is run on the N55? I am searching but not seeing any for the N55. Thanks

[N55Jamaican]

I found this. Can some verify its accuracy for the E90 335i N55?

[Spandexder]

For those of you who are wondering about the ECS pulley/belt kit, don't worry about the quality or fitment. I bought recently bought the non-BMW kit fand installed it this weekend, no issues! Small differences were the Continental stamping on the belt and one of the internal bearings had an abbreviated part number (from the BMW part number). I guess it makes sense, BMW acts as the prime on the whole product but outsources most of the sub assemblies to companies that make components for a living (i.e. Continental, etc.)

[N55Jamaican]

Originally Posted by Spandexder

For those of you who are wondering about the ECS pulley/belt kit, don't worry about the quality or fitment. I bought recently bought the non-BMW kit fand installed it this weekend, no issues! Small differences were the Continental stamping on the belt and one of the internal bearings had an abbreviated part number (from the BMW part number). I guess it makes sense, BMW acts as the prime on the whole product but outsources most of the sub assemblies to companies that make components for a living (i.e. Continental, etc.)

He buddy could you help me out with how the belt is run. My belt broke so I didnt notice how it was set. I tried setting it up bu it just doesnt look like the diagram above. For start the Tensioner looks different. The one I got has 2 wheels on it the on in the diagram showing only 1 wheel on the tensioner

[Pr335bob]

The ecs kit I found it cheaper ordering it St fcp euro. Same parts same brand even the continental belt. Th quality was great. I have been running it for about 3 months now. No issues.

[Spandexder]

Totalelectronics ;
I know my tensioner had two pulleys. I also couldn't find a good drawing until I searched on the N54 Tech site. Take a look here and page all the way down:http://www.n54tech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11957

Dave

[N55Jamaican]

Originally Posted by Spandexder

Totalelectronics ;
I know my tensioner had two pulleys. I also couldn't find a good drawing until I searched on the N54 Tech site. Take a look here and page all the way down:http://www.n54tech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11957

Dave

Thanks Dave I dont know how I missed this. Well after looking at the diagram, seems I ran it correctly after all
But now it seems my troubles are not over. When the belt broke it hit the Oil Pressure Control Valve and broke the electrical connect clean off. I tried wiring it back but it seems its still malfunctioning as the car keeps over heating after just 10 mins of throttling. See item 1 in the diagram.



If anyone happen to have one selling could you PM me please?

Thanks

[relative4]

Originally Posted by bryangreene3

I tried to get other photos buts it's tight for the phone to squeeze in there from the top. Most of the oil seems to have come from the crank pulley and radiated outwards.

Wow, nice non sequitur necro.

[mweisdorfer]

Originally Posted by David1

DO NOT DO THIS or you have to retime the motor!

I think he meant just the pulley or better known as the harmonic balancer.

I don't think he meant the crank bolt, which yes would require you to set the timing, but it's s major b@tch to get off to begin with.

[mweisdorfer]

Originally Posted by e92diaz

Hey guys, yesterday as I was driving to work my serpentine shredded into pieces. It happened as I shifted from 2nd to 3rd at around 4k. I drove the car back slowly for 5 miles. I have the car up on the lift now and don't see any leaks or damage to any of the pulleys. 2 weeks ago i had a pretty bad oil leak from the oil filter housing which i fixed. I don't know if the belt being wet by the oil had anything to do with it shredding? When taking off the shredded belt there was a piece of the belt hanging loosely behind the crank pulley which I pulled off. I don't believe anything went into the crank but i want to be sure before putting the new belt on. Is there any way I could tell if parts of the belt went inside the crank or would I have felt or heard something when driving it back? Would I have to take the crank pulley out to check? I would appreciate any comments or advice. thanks

Take a real good look at your power steering pulley and report back.

Also, how old is your current belt & pulleys? Next, how old are your current engine mounts?