Alternator belt change interval?

[Red]

My 96 1100 had it's alternator belt changed at 30K. I understand they switched out the OEM belt and replaced it with a "newer and improved" BMW belt. Is that replacement belt supposed to last me for another 30K or 100K? I have 61K on the odometer now, so if they don't last a lifetime how soon is soon enough?

[Ryan_R]

i think the new and improved belt should last 24k (recommended change interval).

 

--ryan

[Clive Liddell]

I think that belt life depends a lot on the electrical load you normally use and also on the rpm range you normally use.

 

Thus IMO a lot of aux lighting and clothing heating and using the upper rpm range a lot is likely to call for a belt inspection or change at the specified milage.

[jviss]

Aren't there two different belts used on these, a normal one and a maintenance free one? The normal appears to be renewable at 24k mile intervals, while the other is adjusted only at 36k.

 

jv

[Rob L]

Pick up a new belt and throw it under the seat...Your existing belt will last forever that way

 

 

OR if your the worrying type... put the new one on and throw the old one under the seat. Either way you will never have a problem

[DILLIGAF]

As it was explained to me, the new belt is stretchy and you need a special tool to install it, The old belt was installed and adjusted by moving the alternator. Belt life is the same, 24K

[Rob L]

You do not need a special tool to install the belt. Loosen the alternator bolts, slip it on, adjust. The special tool is used to adjust the belt tension, but you can do a good job without it by twisting the belt 90° with your fingers. When the belt just turns 90° it is right

[SAAB93driver]

At 24K the belt on my R1150RS still looks new so I opted to not replace it as yet. It was similar on my R1100RS, that belt looked new even when I finally replaced it at 40K miles, no cracks or drying out. But I have heard of others that have failed totally in the 20-30K mile range.

[tomk99r11]

I am one of those people who looks at something and if it ain't broke, don't screw with it. I have a new belt to install but when I look at the old one, it looks no different than the new one. The bike has 36K on it. I bought the bike new. I think I will carry the belt with me and let the old one ride. There is no perceptible difference between the two, under intense lighting and twisting.

[Red]

Looks like the consensus is that both the new belts and the old belts should to be changed between 24 and 36,000 miles.

Thanks, that's what I needed to know.

[jviss]

Found this at:

http://www.bmwsearch.net/main/digest/V2004/N08/digest-20040888.html

 

Date: Thu, 12 Aug 2004 22:45:52 EDT

From: Tpcutter@aol.com

Subject: Re: BMW: Oilhead - Alternator Belt Change

 

In a message dated 8/12/04 8:19:45 PM Eastern Standard Time,

dbrick@armory.com writes:

<<The fancy BMW Maintenance Schedule document the dealer provided at the 66K

service has this printed on it:

 

Adjust Poly-V-belt [sI 12 020 95 (700)]

Renew Poly-V-belt every 40,000 km (24,000 mi)

After 60,000 km (36,000 mi), change the maintenance-

free Poly-V-belt, do not adjust>>

 

>From BMW Service Bulletin 12 001 04, dated March 2004:

 

Models: R 1100 S, R 1150 R, R 1150 GS, r 1150 RS, and R 1150 RT with 50A

alternator. (Models with 40A alternator are excluded.)

 

Information: All R 259 opposed twin models from JULY 2003 production and

onward have been fitted with the New ELAST Belt and pulley with Freewheel

 

The purpose of the Freewheel pulley is to minimize the load placed on the

belt, which will reduce belt stretching.

 

Important: The ELAST Belts are maintenance free, which means it is no longer

necessary to re-tension the belt on engines fitted with the new ELAST belt

and Freewheel pulley.

 

Important Note: The new ELAST belt never needs adjusting (after it's initial

adjustment), however it must be changed every 36,000 miles.

 

The Poly-V Belt still needs to be retensioned at the 6,000 mile service, and

replaced every 36, 000 miles.

 

The bulletin goes on to describe how to identify the engines with the new

belt. There is a small triangle molded into the very bottom edge of the plastic

front engine cover, to signify the presence of the ELAST belt.

 

Further along in the bulletin, they describe that some motorcycles after the

changeover date got the old belt due to supply issues, but those are marked

with dots on the top cover and front cover. I'm sure your average BMW

technician will be all over the arcana of this bulletin and only usse the correct

tensioning methodology for each type belt. The new ELAST belt supposedly

requires a special tool to adjust. To further confuse the issue, they reference the

part number of the tool twice as part number 90 88 6 123 750, and then they

refer to it as part number 90 88 6 123 570 the next four times they mention

it. I ran both part numbers through the price query, and #750 comes back as an

invalid number, and #570 comes back as a set of "eccentrics", for $149.00.

 

I'm sure that in 30 years, not a single person on this planet will know

which pulley works with which belt and what tool to use for them. Referring to

the service information will reveal directly contradictory information.

 

And you thought the dealers have it easy.

 

Tom Cutter

[SAAB93driver]

Was the engineering department looking for something to do that day? If so I got a list of items that they could work on, and probably easier to improve than a drive belt design.

[belezar]

WHAT?? These things have altenators? And belts? Now I know there is a design flaw!

[Red]

Since I don't do my own wrenching, it is troubling that I have to go to the shop at 6,000 miles to have my 'maintenance free' belt maintained in between regularly scheduled 12,000 mile service intervals?

At the price of the wrench it would hardly pay to do the job yourself. I suppose that is the point.

[Shawnee Bill]

Red,

Find a tech day somewhere you can ride to, you will get all the help and tools you need to change your belt.

[Bob Palin]

Since I don't do my own wrenching, it is troubling that I have to go to the shop at 6,000 miles to have my 'maintenance free' belt maintained in between regularly scheduled 12,000 mile service intervals?

At the price of the wrench it would hardly pay to do the job yourself. I suppose that is the point.

If I remember correctly, and that is a possibility in this case, you only have to have it tensioned once - 6000 after installation. Even that is one of the new requirements, originally it was no-maintenance. Furthermore it is very, very easy to check the tension so you could just do that and then decide whether to take it in for adjustment.

[ShovelStrokeEd]

Actually, Bob does remember correctly. It is checked and tensioned at the 6K service and not touched after. My S at 30K and the belt looks perfect, my GS, I think, the belt is failing but that's 61K, I can live with it. 2 years service on both bikes.

[jacko]

At 45km (28k.mls) my alt belt was laying on the road after it knocked a hole in the front cover.800km later it was the diff oil all over the road. I was carrying a spare belt but not a diff.

regards Jacko

[Steve_Witmer]

The bike has 36K on it. I bought the bike new. I think I will carry the belt with me and let the old one ride.

 

If I had a bike since new and it was a '99, I'd be changing that belt in my garage rather than at the side of the road. At 36K and 6 years you are on borrowed time with the original belt.

 

Just my 2 cents.