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Had a bit of a squeaky noise from the front of the engine. A quick look didn't show anything and I'd thought it was perhaps one of the pulleys feeling tired. As a result, driving was limited to 'absolutely essential,' and the 500SE pressed into service for shopping. (Mrs M hates going shopping in that!) Today, pulled things apart and found the aircon belt hanging off the front of the compressor. The smooth side was polished to a lovely sheen, and the ribbed side cracked all the way around, although nothing is missing. We were very lucky - if it had caught on the fan things could have been very bad indeed. These belts never get changed. BMW don't stock them in NZ, and RealOEM only shows a kit comprising belts, pulleys, and so on - p/n 11282339103. However (and for anyone who might need to know) the belt is a 4PK 968. If possible, get a 4PK965 as the 968 has the tensioner almost fully extended; the 965 doesn't fully compress the tensioner but does give a teensy bit of stretch leeway. While you're there, you may want to check the main drive belt, another 'never gets changed' item. Again, RealOEM shows this as a part of a kit, p/n 11282339099. Again, you can buy the belt separately at ~$90+GST from BMW (they have 1 in Auckland, but more often than not bin them when shelf life expires), or from a factor as 6PK2090. The aircon belt can be replaced from under the car (remove the engine undertray), but the main belt will require fan shroud removal, which requires removing the fan.

Its a great looking car, not often you see such tidy and original examples around anymore. Not even the drivers seat is torn! Someone is going to get a bargain, i just hope it goes to the right home and it doesnt get ruined.

Enjoy

On a friends m52b28 we had a misfire we couldn't figure out. After changing all the plugs and coil packs for new ones as prescribed by the mechanic, the problem was still there. We got the car scanned again with a different mechanic, and a different scanner, and got way more accurate results. Turned out that the little shunt resistor in the coil pack harness had become brittle and broken. We just soldered it back together, and problem fixed. Months and nearly $1000 and still not fixed, and then 30mins with a decent scanner and a soldering iron and problem solved.

Hope u got a decent price! Either way - plenty left over for modding the e39 im sure

OK so a bit of on update on the AC. Major works ended up occurring, while we had an initial gasket blowout there where a number of items no longer working correctly. -Clutch coil was shorting out -R/Drier replaced -Various o rings and gaskets -Clutch bearing at the same time -Aux cooling fan was shot and replaced with new, not worth second hand one -AC controller had a cup of dried coffee through it, replaced with second hand one -Re-soldering and testing of PCB module, also throwing errors So basically rebuilt, however now working fine, as you would hope for this lot. Parts ended up over $2100 and labour was $1000 (which all in all could have been a shite load more) So with GST a lovely $3516 xmas present. Overall happy with the work done for the money as well as the communication and discussion as the job went through its changes. Good job I want to keep it ! AC was the one area I'm not keen on tackling so have to just suck it up

Nothing wrong with the photos - it's a limited edition midget model

Would have had more impact if you'd spelled "replace" correctly...

Pfft pussys , flat head screw driver and hammer does the trick

Revving it to redline while cold probably isn't doing it any favours

You will need 2 hoops. One just behind the guibo and the other behind the centre hanger bearing/universal. Efn ridiculous IMO !! Just some knuckle dragging pen pushing ignoramus in a non-essential government office making efn ridiculous rules. Culling is required....