New Alternator

My alternator went out last Monday. At first I was not sure, the battery icon was on and off intermittently, never steady. I was debating if I could last till the weekend but then i figured.. better not. Pulled the car in the drive way called work to tell them I was going to be late and called O' Reilly... $ 209.00 rebuilt ...
I did not have to remove anything other than the air filter box and move the steering pump reservoir. The job took a whole 2:00 including the trip to the store to test the old alternator and grab the new one.
I was at work at 9:45 AM
Car been running ok since.

I know I should have done the bearing, regulator and brush myself but did not prepare for it and I got life time warranty so in the case it fails again well I can say I got a bit of practice..

money = time.

Isn't the Alternator on a E39 540i liquid cooled? Did you need to drain the coolant?

Originally Posted by fotoholt

Isn't the Alternator on a E39 540i liquid cooled? Did you need to drain the coolant?

Yes, but the OP has the 2.5 I6. Edlack has the V8.

Originally Posted by fotoholt

Isn't the Alternator on a E39 540i liquid cooled? Did you need to drain the coolant?

Drain?? Pffft.

I didnt drain. Just disconnected the small hose going into the alt jacket. Caught mostly everything underneath. Just let the engine cool of substantially before going this route.

Ask me how I know? Smh.

And its only the later 540i that have water cooled alterntors