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      06-02-2021, 11:54 PM   #1
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Continental Belt Wear Tester

Introduction:

In this short post we will briefly discuss how a serpentine belt wears on these modern day bmw engines, what happens when a belt fails, and the importance of routine belt wear checks and preventative maintenance. Before we begin I must thank ECS tuning/Turner motorsports for giving me a partial discount on the products that I will be using in this review, however I will be as unbiased as possible despite that.

Disclaimer:

Any technical advice, installation instruction, or product installation is done so at your own risk I will not be responsible for personal injuries, injuries to others or any living being(s), or any damage to your car, or any property damage.


Credits:

Images and videos used in this review are all property of their rightful owners as credited below each image, I am just using them for the purpose of this review but if you (the owner of the image) would like them removed please let me know via pm. Otherwise thanks to the owners (I made sure to credit your online name and link where I found the photo) of the photos, without you this review would be so much more bland.


How a modern day continental belt wears:

So for those of you that do not know, these modern day continental serpentine belts that bmw uses are made from a new compound that no longer cracks when these belts age. This means that a visual inspection for belt wear no longer works to judge belt life, instead these belts wear thinner as they are used - just like car tires. This means you must measure rib height to determine belt life, and even rib spacing (due to wear from the grooves on the pulley and potential stretching). This measurement can be done with a cheap tool that continental makes called the contitech belt wear tester tool (more on this later). So if you hear people say “this belt looks good” referring to it being relatively clean and free of cracks and they did not use a continental belt wear tester - their judgement is inaccurate and doesn’t signify belt health at all.


Continental Belt Wear Tester Images:


Credit: F87source


Credit: F87source

Credit: F87source


Credit: F87source


What happens when a serpentine belt fails:

When a serpentine belt fails it can wrap itself around the harmonic dampener which then in turns sucks the belt behind it and forces it past the front crank seal. From there the timing chain sprocket and oil pump sprocket chews up the serpentine belt and some of that belt material gets carried up into the head via the timing chain. The parts that do not get pulled up into the head gets fed into the oil pan where it can clog up the oil pump pick up causing catastrophic engine damage and if the engine hasn’t failed yet a costly repair would be required, more on this in this thread: https://f87.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1807187 where I discuss this issue indepth and also discuss a solution to permanently prevent any engine damage from belt failures. But this is a quick summary on what happens when a belt fails.


How to check belt wear and when to replace these belts:

So how do we prevent serpentine belt failures from occurring? Well the first method to tackle the belt failing is commonly checking the belt for wear (this will not eliminate all belt failures caused by other issues as discussed in this thread: https://f87.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1807187). This can be accomplished using the tool that continental has created called the contitech belt wear tester: https://www.continental-engineparts....elt-Wear-Gauge



This tool as shown in the above video allows the user to check the depth of the grooves and width of the rib spacing, allowing for an accurate determination of when to replace your belt because these belts wear thinner and will not show its age by cracking as mentioned earlier. With this tool you can always keep an eye on your belt’s wear and replace it before it breaks and potentially causes engine failure.

Now this is where ECS tuning/Turner motorsports comes in clutch, I have looked everywhere for these testers and no one sells them except for ECS tuning/Turner motorsports, so big props to these guys for stocking all the cool things that no one else does. So if you are looking for this handy little tool here is the link to buy it: https://www.turnermotorsport.com/p-3...t-wear-tester/ it is really cheap so I highly recommend those who maintain their cars by themselve to purchase one.


Before we wrap up this review I would like to also quickly summarize when to replace your serpentine belt:

1) When the grooves become to shallow as indicated by the belt wear tester

2)When the rib spacing becomes too wide that the teeth of the belt wear tester no longer fit snuggly

3) When the belt is over 5-6 years old, now this is the recommendation I was given when speaking to continental and not many people know about this but belts can degrade over time due to ozone damage (ozone degrades rubber) and constant heat cycling. So make sure you replace your belts if they pass this time frame even if the tester shows they are fine, $30 for a new belt is much cheaper than the hundreds or thousands of dollars in parts and labour to repair your engine.

Overall I recommend bmw owners spare a bit of time and money to do the proper preventative maintenance to take care of your car, otherwise the consequences of not doing so can cost many times more.
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      06-02-2021, 11:57 PM   #2
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      06-25-2021, 07:51 PM   #3
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This is a fascinating tool, and at the price definitely something a tool junkie like me should have.

However, when I look at the listing at TMS, they say it's not for BMW's. They list a bunch of other makes, but say it doesn't fit the M235.

Any details on why TMS would say it's not for us?
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      06-25-2021, 09:44 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ggggbmw View Post
This is a fascinating tool, and at the price definitely something a tool junkie like me should have.

However, when I look at the listing at TMS, they say it's not for BMW's. They list a bunch of other makes, but say it doesn't fit the M235.

Any details on why TMS would say it's not for us?
Yeah for sure all tool addicts should have this, it's small so it doesn't take up too much space and only costs a couple of bucks!


Interesting I didn't know TMS didn't list bmw under the category, but I assure you it is bmw compatible IF your bmw has a continental made belt (even if it was bought through bmw as long as it was made by continental this tester will work). I talked to the continental guys about belt wear and belt life and they told me this tool will be how you measure belt wear on their ribbed belts.


I measured my own belt (I couldn't get any pictures because of how tight the area was), but it slots in perfectly and on a new belt showed it was perfect.
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      06-26-2021, 03:28 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ggggbmw View Post
This is a fascinating tool, and at the price definitely something a tool junkie like me should have.

However, when I look at the listing at TMS, they say it's not for BMW's. They list a bunch of other makes, but say it doesn't fit the M235.

Any details on why TMS would say it's not for us?
On this page, ECS Tuning, owner of the former Turner Motorsports parts business, shows that the Contitech Belt Wear Tester is a match for your vehicle: https://www.ecstuning.com/b-conti-te...ntitester~con/.

Quote:
Originally Posted by F87source View Post
Before we wrap up this review I would like to also quickly summarize when to replace your serpentine belt:

3) When the belt is over 5-6 years old

Overall I recommend bmw owners spare a bit of time and money to do the proper preventative maintenance to take care of your car, otherwise the consequences of not doing so can cost many times more.
Thanks for this review and information. I'll add a serpentine belt replacement into my five-yearly maintenance schedule. Note that this is roughly in line with Mike Miller's recommendation: “Replace O.E. or O.E.M. BMW poly-ribbed serpentine belts every 60,000 miles.” Because I don't drive my car much, time-based intervals better match my car's needs.
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      06-26-2021, 03:44 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dradernh View Post
On this page, ECS Tuning, owner of the former Turner Motorsports parts business, shows that the Contitech Belt Wear Tester is a match for your vehicle: https://www.ecstuning.com/b-conti-te...ntitester~con/.


Thanks for this review and information. I'll add a serpentine belt replacement into my five-yearly maintenance schedule. Note that this is roughly in line with Mike Miller's recommendation: “Replace O.E. or O.E.M. BMW poly-ribbed serpentine belts every 60,000 miles.” Because I don't drive my car much, time-based intervals better match my car's needs.
No problem, I'm glad you like the review!
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      06-26-2021, 07:50 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dradernh View Post
On this page, ECS Tuning, owner of the former Turner Motorsports parts business, shows that the Contitech Belt Wear Tester is a match for your vehicle: https://www.ecstuning.com/b-conti-te...ntitester~con/.
Good grief. You would think the left hand and right hand at that place would know better.

Also liking your idea of just replacing the belt and not trying to read it.
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      06-26-2021, 07:58 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ggggbmw View Post
Good grief. You would think the left hand and right hand at that place would know better.

Also liking your idea of just replacing the belt and not trying to read it.
For me I do it every 4 years or 50,000 km. Belts are super cheap and crank seal jobs suck so yeah... It's cheap insurance.
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      07-05-2022, 04:41 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by F87source View Post
For me I do it every 4 years or 50,000 km. Belts are super cheap and crank seal jobs suck so yeah... It's cheap insurance.
I just took a look at my belt and am unable to see any identifying markings on it. Can I assume that it's a Continental belt?
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      07-05-2022, 05:58 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dradernh View Post
I just took a look at my belt and am unable to see any identifying markings on it. Can I assume that it's a Continental belt?
Was it original? If it was an original belt then there is a high chance it is a continental belt, if not then there is no guarantee.

Either way there is no 100% guarantee it is a continental belt without the markings.
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      07-05-2022, 06:02 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by F87source View Post
Was it original? If it was an original belt then there is a high chance it is a continental belt, if not then there is no guarantee.

Either way there is no 100% guarantee it is a continental belt without the markings.
It is original. I'll take a look at it after it's removed to see what I can learn.
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      07-05-2022, 06:30 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dradernh View Post
It is original. I'll take a look at it after it's removed to see what I can learn.
I just looked, you have an m240i. In that case I am not sure who the oem supplier is.
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      07-05-2022, 06:44 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by F87source View Post
I just looked, you have an m240i. In that case I am not sure who the oem supplier is.
I'll report here what I discover.

Your statement regarding degradation due to ozone exposure is what caught my attention. Do you have any knowledge or thoughts about how the different manufacturers' serpentine belts might be constructed in terms of their susceptibility to ozone?

FWIW, I live in a part of the country where ozone concentrations, while not as high as in some other places, is generally above the 50th percentile during the warmer months. This is what caused me to think that five years after the car's being built, it might be time to take the belt off and examine it. Since the dealer's going to be doing the work, I'm going to have him replace it with a fresh unit.
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      07-05-2022, 07:08 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dradernh View Post
I'll report here what I discover.

Your statement regarding degradation due to ozone exposure is what caught my attention. Do you have any knowledge or thoughts about how the different manufacturers' serpentine belts might be constructed in terms of their susceptibility to ozone?

FWIW, I live in a part of the country where ozone concentrations, while not as high as in some other places, is generally above the 50th percentile during the warmer months. This is what caused me to think that five years after the car's being built, it might be time to take the belt off and examine it. Since the dealer's going to be doing the work, I'm going to have him replace it with a fresh unit.
Sounds good.

These days all manufacturers do a really good job protecting (probably in the way they formulate the material to make these belts) the belts against ozonlysis (caused by ozone and is what causes the belts to crack as this process destroys double bonds in rubber) so they don't crack as bad as they used to they used to (what I generally see is that the tracks or ribs is what gets most of the cracking these days). So these belts will tend to last longer than traditional belts but eventually they will degrade. Thus if you change them early enough then this isn't going to be an issue, generally from what I see if you drive your car alot then heat cycling (makes the belt hard) and mileage will be a bigger factor than cracking from ozone (which is a problem for cars that sit alot like summer cars).

But in response to your question I have no idea how each manufacture makes their belts in terms of their resilency to ozone, I do notice that belt technology have gotten really good as of late.
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      07-05-2022, 07:56 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by F87source View Post
Sounds good.

These days all manufacturers do a really good job protecting (probably in the way they formulate the material to make these belts) the belts against ozonlysis (caused by ozone and is what causes the belts to crack as this process destroys double bonds in rubber) so they don't crack as bad as they used to they used to (what I generally see is that the tracks or ribs is what gets most of the cracking these days). So these belts will tend to last longer than traditional belts but eventually they will degrade. Thus if you change them early enough then this isn't going to be an issue, generally from what I see if you drive your car alot then heat cycling (makes the belt hard) and mileage will be a bigger factor than cracking from ozone (which is a problem for cars that sit alot like summer cars).

But in response to your question I have no idea how each manufacture makes their belts in terms of their resilency to ozone, I do notice that belt technology have gotten really good as of late.
FWIW, it looks like ECS has switched over to the Gates belt wear tester: https://www.ecstuning.com/b-gates-pa...esweartool~ga/.

Both it and the ContiTech units are apparently for professional mechanics, as they're impossible to find online (except for the Gates unit at ECS).
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      07-05-2022, 11:45 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dradernh View Post
FWIW, it looks like ECS has switched over to the Gates belt wear tester: https://www.ecstuning.com/b-gates-pa...esweartool~ga/.

Both it and the ContiTech units are apparently for professional mechanics, as they're impossible to find online (except for the Gates unit at ECS).
Interesting, I am not sure if this will work for a continental belt and vice versa though, because the belts may be a bit different - I am not 100% sure though.


Also if this is the case I am really glad I got a belt wear tester before it was discontinued, and yes I agree they were really hard to find.
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