R50/53 Serpentine Belt change?
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Serpentine Belt change?
My g'f has a 04 mini non s model that just had the tension pulley replaced under her extended warranty. They wanted an extra 75 for the belt. 1St question should the extended warranty cover the belt?
Is there a diy guide to changing it.. it looks really tight in there? i have read allot about the belts on this forum and wanted to know what is the correct belt number for her car. non oem would be better and cheaper.
thx
4ari
2003 BMW M3
Is there a diy guide to changing it.. it looks really tight in there? i have read allot about the belts on this forum and wanted to know what is the correct belt number for her car. non oem would be better and cheaper.
thx
4ari
2003 BMW M3
6th Gear
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1st Gear
Joined: Apr 2009
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From: Bellevue, NE
75 seems about right. I jsut had the belt replaced on my s two days ago. Mini was gonna charge $55 for the belt alone 
but i found it NAPA for under 20. Cost me 50 on top of that to have my mech replace it. From what I can tell in the Haynes Manual the non s should be easy enough to change without special tools and a mechanic.
but i found it NAPA for under 20. Cost me 50 on top of that to have my mech replace it. From what I can tell in the Haynes Manual the non s should be easy enough to change without special tools and a mechanic.
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There is a serpentine belt replacement DIY link on our DIY section that might work.
I cant seem to find that link? Do you have a direct link?
Thanks
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Thats ridiculous!! They have the blet off anyways to change the tensioner. You should have just paid for the price of a belt and thats it. $75 is alot the a belt. ----rip off---
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thats why i told the dealership to put the old one back on. imagine the face of the service guy when we heard her say nah put the old back on. lol..
thanks guys for the help.
4ari
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I just changed the belt on my 06 non-s about a month ago. Super easy job. The dealer wanted to charge me $130 to replace mine! Honestly, with the belt costing $45 from the dealer (which is rediculous...) and then $90/hr labor, it's probably pretty average. I said "no thanks", though.
Get the belt from NAPA....it's in the $20 range. I ended up having to get one from the dealer since my friendly NAPA store ordered the wrong one and I had already taken the old belt off before I realized it...had to hop in another car and head to the MINI parts counter and shell out the $45.
Anyway, it's very easy to do. Just like in one of the links above, remove the front passenger wheel, remove the fasteners to loosen the wheel well cover and pull it back. I did not pull it forward, but rather pulled it back (towards the door) and hooked it behind the brake drum. It's very flexible and will just stay there. Also, turn your front wheels to full right lock...it will buy you some more space.
There is a square hole in the tensioner assembly that is pretty much a perfect fit for a 3/8" ratchet to fit in. It's tight, so you need one that is low profile. I just used my craftsman ratchet and had to reach down with a screwdriver to push the button on the back to get it to release from the hole when necessary...it worked o.k.
Anyway, spin the ratchet around until it is pointing basically straight forward towards the bumper or maybe a bit upwards and that will give you the angle that you need to pull the tensioner up.
On the tensioner, there is a little place where, when pulled up (loosening the belt) you can stick something in it to hold it up and out of the way (compressed). Someone on here suggested taking a 1/8" drill bit and bend it....I looked all over the workshop for something to stick in there and ended up taking one of my straight hooks from my tool peg board behind my workbench.
Reached down with a pair of long needle nosed pliers and stuck it in the hole. Worked great.
At that point, you just reach in the wheel well and take the old belt off....put the new one on....pull up on the tensioner and pull out whatever you had stuck in it to hold it up. Put the wheel well back to gether and you are done. Simple!
Do it yourself and save some cash.
Good luck!
Get the belt from NAPA....it's in the $20 range. I ended up having to get one from the dealer since my friendly NAPA store ordered the wrong one and I had already taken the old belt off before I realized it...had to hop in another car and head to the MINI parts counter and shell out the $45.
Anyway, it's very easy to do. Just like in one of the links above, remove the front passenger wheel, remove the fasteners to loosen the wheel well cover and pull it back. I did not pull it forward, but rather pulled it back (towards the door) and hooked it behind the brake drum. It's very flexible and will just stay there. Also, turn your front wheels to full right lock...it will buy you some more space.
There is a square hole in the tensioner assembly that is pretty much a perfect fit for a 3/8" ratchet to fit in. It's tight, so you need one that is low profile. I just used my craftsman ratchet and had to reach down with a screwdriver to push the button on the back to get it to release from the hole when necessary...it worked o.k.
Anyway, spin the ratchet around until it is pointing basically straight forward towards the bumper or maybe a bit upwards and that will give you the angle that you need to pull the tensioner up.
On the tensioner, there is a little place where, when pulled up (loosening the belt) you can stick something in it to hold it up and out of the way (compressed). Someone on here suggested taking a 1/8" drill bit and bend it....I looked all over the workshop for something to stick in there and ended up taking one of my straight hooks from my tool peg board behind my workbench.
Reached down with a pair of long needle nosed pliers and stuck it in the hole. Worked great.At that point, you just reach in the wheel well and take the old belt off....put the new one on....pull up on the tensioner and pull out whatever you had stuck in it to hold it up. Put the wheel well back to gether and you are done. Simple!
Do it yourself and save some cash.
Good luck!
Thread Starter
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I just changed the belt on my 06 non-s about a month ago. Super easy job. The dealer wanted to charge me $130 to replace mine! Honestly, with the belt costing $45 from the dealer (which is rediculous...) and then $90/hr labor, it's probably pretty average. I said "no thanks", though.
Get the belt from NAPA....it's in the $20 range. I ended up having to get one from the dealer since my friendly NAPA store ordered the wrong one and I had already taken the old belt off before I realized it...had to hop in another car and head to the MINI parts counter and shell out the $45.
Anyway, it's very easy to do. Just like in one of the links above, remove the front passenger wheel, remove the fasteners to loosen the wheel well cover and pull it back. I did not pull it forward, but rather pulled it back (towards the door) and hooked it behind the brake drum. It's very flexible and will just stay there. Also, turn your front wheels to full right lock...it will buy you some more space.
There is a square hole in the tensioner assembly that is pretty much a perfect fit for a 3/8" ratchet to fit in. It's tight, so you need one that is low profile. I just used my craftsman ratchet and had to reach down with a screwdriver to push the button on the back to get it to release from the hole when necessary...it worked o.k.
Anyway, spin the ratchet around until it is pointing basically straight forward towards the bumper or maybe a bit upwards and that will give you the angle that you need to pull the tensioner up.
On the tensioner, there is a little place where, when pulled up (loosening the belt) you can stick something in it to hold it up and out of the way (compressed). Someone on here suggested taking a 1/8" drill bit and bend it....I looked all over the workshop for something to stick in there and ended up taking one of my straight hooks from my tool peg board behind my workbench. Reached down with a pair of long needle nosed pliers and stuck it in the hole. Worked great.
At that point, you just reach in the wheel well and take the old belt off....put the new one on....pull up on the tensioner and pull out whatever you had stuck in it to hold it up. Put the wheel well back to gether and you are done. Simple!
Do it yourself and save some cash.
Good luck!
Get the belt from NAPA....it's in the $20 range. I ended up having to get one from the dealer since my friendly NAPA store ordered the wrong one and I had already taken the old belt off before I realized it...had to hop in another car and head to the MINI parts counter and shell out the $45.
Anyway, it's very easy to do. Just like in one of the links above, remove the front passenger wheel, remove the fasteners to loosen the wheel well cover and pull it back. I did not pull it forward, but rather pulled it back (towards the door) and hooked it behind the brake drum. It's very flexible and will just stay there. Also, turn your front wheels to full right lock...it will buy you some more space.
There is a square hole in the tensioner assembly that is pretty much a perfect fit for a 3/8" ratchet to fit in. It's tight, so you need one that is low profile. I just used my craftsman ratchet and had to reach down with a screwdriver to push the button on the back to get it to release from the hole when necessary...it worked o.k.
Anyway, spin the ratchet around until it is pointing basically straight forward towards the bumper or maybe a bit upwards and that will give you the angle that you need to pull the tensioner up.
On the tensioner, there is a little place where, when pulled up (loosening the belt) you can stick something in it to hold it up and out of the way (compressed). Someone on here suggested taking a 1/8" drill bit and bend it....I looked all over the workshop for something to stick in there and ended up taking one of my straight hooks from my tool peg board behind my workbench.
Reached down with a pair of long needle nosed pliers and stuck it in the hole. Worked great.At that point, you just reach in the wheel well and take the old belt off....put the new one on....pull up on the tensioner and pull out whatever you had stuck in it to hold it up. Put the wheel well back to gether and you are done. Simple!
Do it yourself and save some cash.
Good luck!
I was able to remove the belt and replace it with another one. After i buttoned everything up, I started the car and the belt squealed really bad. I just went back to using the old belt that had no cracks. It only has some wear on the top of the belt. Should i have used Serpentine lube?
your write up was 100% spot on..
hmmmm. Not sure. I didn't get any noise after I did mine. Did you compare the old and new belt to make sure they gave you the right one? You shouldn't have to put belt conditioner on a new belt, I wouldn't think.
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