new ti owner here with a couple questions

[bmorekirby]

i just baught a 1996 ti, base model about a week ago. its my first bmw and i love it. let me start off by saying i know barely anything about cars, so please bare with me.

Well, today i went to do an oil change on it, and noticed that the belt to the ac condensor was missing. my question is, why would it be missing? do belts just fall off? i'm not sure when the belts were changed last, but it only has 80k on it, so i don't think it would have dry rotted and fell off? any ideas?

while i'm at it, what is the best way to get the top cap off the filter housing, so i can change the filter. is there a specific tool i should pic up? if so, could someone post a link or a picture of one so i can know what i'm looking for?

[tiFreak]

welcome, the compressor might have been bad so someone just pulled the belt off, you can get an adapter at most auto parts stores that will fit on a ratchet to get the filter cap off, it helps if they don't mind you taking a few out to the parking lot to find the best fit

[cooljess76]

The A/C belt should go around three pulleys. The A/C compressor pulley, a tensioner pulley and the crank pulley. The tensioner pulley bolts to the A/C compressor bracket. One possibility is that the pulley vibrated loose and fell off, another is that somebody may have overtightened it and broke the bracket where it threads into it. Of course, it's possible that the belt may have been worn and fell off itself.

As for the oil filter cap, I'm assuming yours is plastic which comes standard on the M44 engines. Most of the '95 M42 engines came with aluminum caps and used a different filter. Some of the later model M42's came with plastic caps and used the newer style filters. Since your car is a '96, it has an M44. There is a special wrench you can buy at your local auto parts store for the plastic filter cap. It cups over the top of the cap and has a 3/8" drive so you can attach a ratchet to it. I'll try to dig up a picture of my wrench.

Edit; Here's a pic of the filter cap wrench. There's different sizes, make sure you get a "B"

[bmorekirby]

thanks for the quick replies. if i throw on a new belt and find the compressor is bad, how hard is it to replace it? it looks fairly easy to get to from underneath. any diy's on this? i searched, and came up with nothing.

[projekt EPiK]

changing the AC compressor is not a DIY simply b/c of the fact that the freon (ac coolant) is toxic and hazardous to your health. it has to be "recovered" by a certified mechanic with special equipment. i have known a few shadetree mechanics to just let it vent off into the atmosphere but it is a toxic carcinogen and also a huge ozone depleter.

on the other hand, if you know anyone with a shop that has an ac recycler, they could empty the system for you and then refill it once you put the new compressor on.

[pdxmotorhead]

A strap style (Nylon webbing) oil filter wrench works great to get the cap off if someone muscled it on.

My 95 has the plastic cap, its a hand tight deal with them.

Dave