Harmonic Balancer replacement on 2006 525xi N52 engine

ninja_zx11 · 02-21-2016, 10:33 AM

Last month i noticed that harmonic balancer on my new to me 2006 525xi (N52B30 engine) with 217000 Kms(135K miles) was wobbly and didn't see any signs of rubber deterioration and i was thinking to leave as it is.
But recently I found in ISTA that max allowable wobble is .4mm but mine is even more than 1mm.So i want to replace it.Genuine BMW harmonic balancer is close to $500 and don't want to install aftermarket part so will try to find used from a low mileage donor car.

My question is how difficult is to replace the part? I found that there are 6 M8x20 bolts that holds it to the crankshaft hub.I will have to remove the serpentine belt by unloading the belt tensioner.Any special tools required to accomplish this job?Any other considerations?Thanks

ninja_zx11 · 04-04-2016, 02:59 PM

Update:
Finally replaced it with the used one i got it from ebay and definitely the old was quite bad. Even thou the rubber was fine and didn't show any signs of crack but somehow the complete outside portion of the damper was little tilted in respect to the center part and was causing wobble.It had 6 torx screws and were easy to remove without locking the crankshaft.I reused the old screws and torqued them back to 25Nm without locking the crankshaft.I had to remove bottom under-body plastic shied and radiator fan.I replaced my belt and the idler pulley at the same time.Idler pulley bearing was definitely noisy and dry as i saw grease got collected inside the plastic cover. Tensioner was already changed around 20k kms ago and pulley bearing felt smooth.

02-21-2016, 10:33 AM	#1
ninja_zx11 Private First Class 89 Rep 183 Posts Drives: X5 diesel 2009 Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: Langley BC,Canada iTrader: (0)	Harmonic Balancer replacement on 2006 525xi N52 engine Last month i noticed that harmonic balancer on my new to me 2006 525xi (N52B30 engine) with 217000 Kms(135K miles) was wobbly and didn't see any signs of rubber deterioration and i was thinking to leave as it is. But recently I found in ISTA that max allowable wobble is .4mm but mine is even more than 1mm.So i want to replace it.Genuine BMW harmonic balancer is close to $500 and don't want to install aftermarket part so will try to find used from a low mileage donor car. My question is how difficult is to replace the part? I found that there are 6 M8x20 bolts that holds it to the crankshaft hub.I will have to remove the serpentine belt by unloading the belt tensioner.Any special tools required to accomplish this job?Any other considerations?Thanks
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04-04-2016, 02:59 PM	#2
ninja_zx11 Private First Class 89 Rep 183 Posts Drives: X5 diesel 2009 Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: Langley BC,Canada iTrader: (0)	Update: Finally replaced it with the used one i got it from ebay and definitely the old was quite bad. Even thou the rubber was fine and didn't show any signs of crack but somehow the complete outside portion of the damper was little tilted in respect to the center part and was causing wobble.It had 6 torx screws and were easy to remove without locking the crankshaft.I reused the old screws and torqued them back to 25Nm without locking the crankshaft.I had to remove bottom under-body plastic shied and radiator fan.I replaced my belt and the idler pulley at the same time.Idler pulley bearing was definitely noisy and dry as i saw grease got collected inside the plastic cover. Tensioner was already changed around 20k kms ago and pulley bearing felt smooth.
	Appreciate 0 Quote