Folks,

My 02 E39 525i makes a bad niose when starting from cold. Its done it from day 1 of my ownership. I had it back under warranty (main Dealer) and they "oiled" the belts. 2 days later he noise returned. I took it back and they replaced the belts and tensioner. A month after that it returned again. Im sure its not causing any problem but I would like to get rid of it. The noise goes after 2 mins driving.

As a trouble shooting task i started the car cold yesterday and poured a small amount of water on the belts and instantly the noise was gone.

Any ideas or should I just put up with it.

Is there any "oil" for belts?

Thanks as always

Mick

There are two tensioners on your engine, you imply in your first post that they just changed one.  Could be that the other one has now failed.

Never heard of oil for belts.  Oil is a lubricant.  Belts work by friction so by reducing the friction by oiling the belt would be detrimental to how the belt works. 

Belts that squeal, like fan belts on old cars when driving with the rear heated screen on, are caused by the belt being too loose and slipping (when the load on the alternator increases) on the pulleys and making it squeal.  These old cars don't have belt tensioners like the E39 has.

Did the main $tealer replace the complete tensioner assembly, like could they have put back the old pulley with old knackered bearings that make a noise on a new spring arm?

It could be one of the belt driven ancillaries that has a fault.  Could be rust on the water pump shaft that gets worn off after a few minutes driving or bearings on the power steering pump etc.

HTH

Andrew

DSK328i wrote: Fwiw,

For what it's worth?

I don't want to worry you, but this sounds like the same problem that I had a couple of years back.

Had my E39 523iSE in the dealers to check out a slight squeal when cold noise.  They even had it overnight to check it in the morning. No joy.

A week later, at 70mph, in the fast lane of the M25, the waterpump destroyed itself. Dumped all the water and every warning light came on.

Luckily I switched the engine off before there was any more damage done.

I would seriously consider changing the pump as a matter of course.

Good luck.

Virgin wrote: I don't want to worry you, but this sounds like the same problem that I had a couple of years back. Had my E39 523iSE in the dealers to check out a slight squeal when cold noise.  They even had it overnight to check it in the morning. No joy. A week later, at 70mph, in the fast lane of the M25, the waterpump destroyed itself. Dumped all the water and every warning light came on. Luckily I switched the engine off before there was any more damage done. I would seriously consider changing the pump as a matter of course.   Good luck.

There is only 28K miles on it. I will get it checked.

Thanks

Mick

I spoke to the Dealer and they said that the tensioners x2 were done along with all aux belts. They said its probelry not the pump but I could drop it in for diagnosis.

 IT would need to be on fire for them to diagnose a heat issue

Any way is there any adjusting on the tensoniers and if so is it difficult?

Thanks,

Mick

Andrew Rolland wrote: Never heard of oil for belts.  Oil is a lubricant.  Belts work by friction so by reducing the friction by oiling the belt would be detrimental to how the belt works.

Thats my understanding too. I think BMW service think all owners no nothing about mechanics.

Mick

dutch wrote: I think the tensionerson the e39s are auto tensioners, you may find that the pulleys have become 'polished' allowing the belts to slip from cold, a company called wurth do a v-belt lubricant iirc you can buy it from halfrauds its not oil based,some sort of silca spray,it also works on poly v-belts on the e39s hth

Thanks mate  Ill give that a go..

Cheers

Mick

Good info there Dutch but if Micks car has only done 28,000 miles the pulleys shouldn't be that highly polished.

I replaced my water pump at 63,000 miles as I had heard of horror stories of these things failing as Virgin says at speed on a motorway!

I only did the waterpump as I discovered that when I had removed the viscous fan it would be really straight forward to remove it.  Once the fan and shroud are out the way, all you need is a 16mm spanner to move the tensioners out of the way to slip the belt off the pulleys.

£37 ish from ECP for an OEM water pump.  £75 from a main $tealer.  No prizes for guessing where I bought mine from.

Andrew

Meant to add, yes the belt tensioners are auto tensioners.

How exactly would a dealer diagnose a faulty waterpump without stripping it out?  It isn't like you can listen to the bearings thru a screwdriver as the bearings are covered by the pulley which is near some revolving fan blades!

Andrew

Andrew Rolland wrote:   How exactly would a dealer diagnose a faulty waterpump without stripping it out?  It isn't like you can listen to the bearings thru a screwdriver as the bearings are covered by the pulley which is near some revolving fan blades! Andrew

Andrew is right.

Do yourself a favour and learn from my misfortune.

Change that pump!

Andrew Rolland wrote: Meant to add, yes the belt tensioners are auto tensioners. How exactly would a dealer diagnose a faulty waterpump without stripping it out?  It isn't like you can listen to the bearings thru a screwdriver as the bearings are covered by the pulley which is near some revolving fan blades! Andrew

LOL I would love to see them try.

I will try the belt "oil" if it still makes noise then ill do the pump.

Getting lazy

Rear pads need doing too

Thanks gents

Mick

Not necessarily.

The bearings in my distributor in my 3.0i 24V Senator used to squeal only when cold then it would stop once the car warmed up. 

There is no way you could oil them or access them and they weren't fed from the engine oil sump.

A while later, when doing 80mph in the middle lane on the M1 the bearings on the dizzy shaft decided to fail and sent the rotor arm into the side of the dizzy cap and blew the thing into a million pieces.  I thought my timing chains had snapped and left the timing casing and were dragging on the black stuff from the noise the car was making.  Fairly scary stuff!

Andrew

When the water pump went on my E34, it was a horrific, loud grinding noise that could be heard whether the car was cold or hot...never went away...definately not a squeel...

No one has suggested that the alternator bearings are going...that is a pretty common source of squeeling on BMW's...???

BB

Mick525i wrote: Folks, My 02 E39 525i makes a bad niose when starting from cold. Its done it from day 1 of my ownership. I had it back under warranty (main Dealer) and they "oiled" the belts. 2 days later he noise returned. I took it back and they replaced the belts and tensioner. A month after that it returned again. Im sure its not causing any problem but I would like to get rid of it. The noise goes after 2 mins driving. As a trouble shooting task i started the car cold yesterday and poured a small amount of water on the belts and instantly the noise was gone. Any ideas or should I just put up with it. Is there any "oil" for belts? Thanks as always Mick

Not oil as such Mick but silicone spray is quite effective. It drives out the moisture and helps 'feed' (for want of a better phrase?) the rubber on the belt. Don't forget, dry rubber loses it's grip and goes brittle. Silicone nourishes the rubber and helps it grip.

HTH

Mike

Thanks for that, but I cant get silicone spry. I have tried a few places but no joy. (I have yet to come ot of halfords with what I need)

Mick

Mick525i wrote: Thanks for that, but I cant get silicone spry. I have tried a few places but no joy. (I have yet to come ot of halfords with what I need) Mick

Shame you live so far away, I've got a whole can! Wurth do it but I think they only supply to the motor trade. Have you tried searching online to see if anyone does it?

Mike

540 V8 wrote: Mick525i wrote: Thanks for that, but I cant get silicone spry. I have tried a few places but no joy. (I have yet to come ot of halfords with what I need) Mick Shame you live so far away, I've got a whole can! Wurth do it but I think they only supply to the motor trade. Have you tried searching online to see if anyone does it? Mike

You're online..... stick it in the post..... 

Ill send back what I dont use....

Ok then Ill have a look for it on the web.

Cheers

Mick

Hi Mick,

Next time you are passing give me a shout and I will take a quick look.

If everything is in good order the belt should not need any lube etc. In general, the mechanic in a spray can is more of a marketing exercise that of any real benefit.

Alan

autofix wrote: Hi Mick, Next time you are passing give me a shout and I will take a quick look. If everything is in good order the belt should not need any lube etc. In general, the mechanic in a spray can is more of a marketing exercise that of any real benefit. Alan

Cheers Alan will do.

I think Ed is due into you soon. Ill pop in with him.

Thanks

Mick