[pcb335i]

Thought I'd share this predicament that came about.

Was coming home Saturday night, the 7th, and as I was pulling into my neighborhood smoke started coming out of my hood and an awful sound started out of no where. Got to my drive way, parked, and popped the hood. I knew immediately by the smell that this was not smoke/problem containing gas or oil. It was already dark so I just closed everything up and waited till the following morning so I could get a better look. Woke up the next morning and started her up with the hood open hoping to get a better look at what the problem was. Sure enough, I saw my alternator smoking and sparking. I'm not, by any means, a car expert, let a lone a BMW expert, but I knew this wasn't going to be an easy nor cheap problem to fix (So I thought). Luckily my girlfriend's dad is. He collects old VW beetles and buses and restores them so he can work his way around any car engine. I gave him a call, let him know the situation, and he has no problem giving me a hand (this is a blessing. Who knows how much an auto shop would charge me to put this thing in). Now I'm searching online for an alternator expecting to pay somewhere upwards of $400. Let's just say parts geek dot com is an amazing website. I got a alternator for$264!!!!! a steal for a BMW alternator and not only that, the part got to my place in 2 days by standard shipping method! I'm gonna cut to the chase and say the installation process of an alternator is not easy : took a whopping 5 hours and a big puddle of anti freeze liquid all over the garage floor. Make sure you have the right tools, have time, be ready to remove a lot of nuts and bolts, and have a helpful hand hahaha but not too difficult of a task.
My reward: A perfectly good car again and a big ole' chunk of my wallet saved
My girlfriend's dad's reward: A 24 pack of coors light on me

2007 335i coupe[IMG]

[bimmette]

Ugh you're so lucky. Good job

[kkasson]

Glad it worked out for you. Where did you lose the coolant, did you remove the upper radiator hose? I don't think you absolutely have to remove it to get the alternator out, but I can definitely see how it would be easier with it out of the way. Did your new alternator come with new mounting bolts? I believe the alternator bolts are one time use.

[pcb335i]

Originally Posted by kkasson

Glad it worked out for you. Where did you lose the coolant, did you remove the upper radiator hose? I don't think you absolutely have to remove it to get the alternator out, but I can definitely see how it would be easier with it out of the way. Did your new alternator come with new mounting bolts? I believe the alternator bolts are one time use.

That's exactly what we did that caused the coolant puddle. It was hard to get a good look let alone stick our hands down to the alternator. Just got to have some sort of a plug ready if you plan on doing this hahah. And correct again. New alternator came with no bolts so had to re-use the original ones. Some bolts were a pain in the a$$ to get to considering half of them would run through the alternator and into the A/C compressor or vice versa. All is well now so

[Cory S]

Originally Posted by pcb335i

I got a alternator for$264!!!!! [IMG]

That's about $120.00 more than I paid for the most recent BMW alternator.

[pcb335i]

Originally Posted by Cory S

That's about $120.00 more than I paid for the most recent BMW alternator.

Did you get an OEM alternator? And was it used or new?

[Tom K.]

FWIW, my dealer quote a few years ago for OEM parts & labor was around $950.00. Luckily, it was covered by warranty.

Tom