Kazlot who did your tune? Costs?

Cheers!

 

I don't know anyone small enough to fit under the hood and watch it while i'm driving.

Seriously though...this question has been answered not only in this thread, but in a few others.
If you would rather not take the advice given to you here about the belt, then feel free to experiment with different length belts to see which one works best...even though it's already been done a long time ago.

 

The software that governs shift points has less than sporty intent. Early model auto programs were a little quirky also, be sure you have the latest updates.

Thank you, NAM has been giving me a lot of problems when I try to edit, or view photos, or load certain pages, that one post required an hour, and then would drop the page every time I tried to edit. There are dead time zones when the site is very uncooperative for this dial-up user.

 

appreciated and noted. However, this is (currently, lol)a thread about belts

So then, anyone wanna theorize as to how my pulley/belt combo seems to work...exactly how Peter at M7 told me it would?

Here's how I see this:
I could disregard my mechanic and manufacturer and isntall a smaller belt that was not JCW for a theoretical "better fit" based on some anecdotal evidence without valid, repeatable testing (with a reasonable sample) OR I could go with what my mechanic, my manufacturer and countless others that have never thrown, shredded or ruined a JCW belt...

Not trying to be whatever but I hope you can see it from my point of view. I'm new to this and there seems to be a TON of varying "opinions" as to which parts do what and how. I have no other experience with any other mini but my own (except my colleague who let me drive her base mini which led me to getting my s!) I will defer to people with MUCH more experience than myself and others with minimal exposure.

It should also be repeated that I did not install this pulley myself. Is it possible that incorrect installation is to blame for other people's variance in tension?

to wrap this up:

Mach V and Peter at m7 recommend JCW belt.
JCW belt gets installed.
I notice some power characteristics that are verified by Peter to be standard
Some people claim the power curve is due to belt slippage
Pics posted of "correct" belt tension
I post picture that shows "correct" tension

anything else?

maybe it's cos I have an automatic

 

I've considered a video camera under the hood for a quick pull...Would that be small enough?

If there are threads from either makers or professional installers weighing in on the matter, please post links. Trust me when I say I've spent MANY hours searching this and other forums and I'm uninterested and what people "feel" is correct.

That said, I'm very much eager to see anyone address my above inquiry to stock vs. pullied belt tension per BMW specs. Has this ever been done?

edit: are these holes only there to aid in installing belts/pulley?

 

Just one more person saying get a smaller belt and get 1 step colder heat range spark plug

 

I was one of eighteen over a two day period at Goodies Speed Shop in San Jose for a "Jan Tune"
tuning party that was organized here on NAM.

The cost for the service bay and the DynaPack Dynamometer was $110.00 and the tune by Jan was $350.00.
We all kicked in a few bucks toward the organizer's tune for all the work he did.

So the final cost was under $500.00 including gas and worth every penny!!
My car never ran as good as it does now. No more flat spot, no more hesitation, no more stumble.

Hope this helps...

 

probably more than anything else so far as I'm concerned.

 

That would work, but it would be a lot of time/setup to figure out that the Gates 060535 is the correct belt for your setup.
Trust me when I say that the people in this thread don't just "feel" that the 060535 is correct, they know that it is because they have been running it for thousands of miles.
I actually have a M7 16% pulley on my car, and I used to run the 060535 before I removed the A/C compressor and the idler pulley. Now, to confuse you even more...I now run a Gates 060331.

 

ha, believe me, I was confused before I even had anything done to the car. I almost wish I hadnt posted anything

Seriously though, I'm pretty confident in what has been done but will check back in as promised, perhaps even periodically as well as regular checks on belt tension and spark-plug torque. Thanks for everyone's input and good luck with whatever summer we have left (us teachers are counting the days)

-kim