New Belts for a 2003 Z4

Just a poll. Who is still on their original belts (AC and Combo)? I have 60k on the car, and the belts honestly look 100%. We do take LONG drives with it, so I wouldn't want to get caught in the middle of nowhere with a broken belt.

Searching the forum, I see people talking about replacing it, and I found one person who had one break. But please chime in.

Its so tight in the front of the motor, that I am afraid its going to be a nightmare to get it changed and can foresee many new skin abrasions in the process.

I replaced my '03 Z4 belts during a WP change at 45K miles. They showed signs of minor cracking on the inside.
One thing to keep in mind is that belts and other rubber items are affected by age as well as mileage.
The belt change is fairly easy and there are good how-to's in this forum.

I decided to pull them. There are some small cracks.. The idlers make some noise unloaded as well, so Im glad i decided to go for it.

I'm sure it is a decision you will not regret !!

I just turned 95K miles and getting ready to replace. No noise/squeals, just noticed they look dry and starting to crack. dealer wants $188.00. Good price?

The belts from the dealer were under $75 and took me around an hour to complete the job. If you are handy, you can save yourself a bunch.

As for the quote. its fair. My dealer gets ~ $125 an hour, so in total, that sounds exactly right.

Thanks. I'm pretty handy so I think I'll tackle it myself. Any special tools needed?

Nothing "special", however you will need a big allen head or Torx wrench to hold the AC tensionizer. I forget the size, but it was something that I already had in my tool box.

Just had my 2 belts replaced this week by my Indy. I have 95K kilometers on my 2004. It's been my experience that service years as well as miles are both factors when it comes to belt life. My Z4 belts had a lot of cracks all around the inner surface. Watching my Indy do the job with the car on a hoist confirmed this was not a job I wanted to tackle lying on my back under the car. The job including parts, labor and taxes cost under $150.

I'm going to take a hard look at it tomorrow. Laying under the car all of a sudden doesn't sound so appealing. May reconsider DIY. Thanks guys!

I changed out the belts on my Z3M as part of replacing the water pump. I've had the car for a year and have no idea how long the previous belts were in use, but they were cracked along the edge. Took some pictures while replacing the belts (2 from the bottom):

https://sites.google.com/site/turbo10325/home/waterpump

BMW put covers over the slots in the tensioners where the allen wrench is inserted. And the manual didn't show my engine in the belt changing section. So the tricky part was figuring out which pulleys are tensioners, and getting the cover plates off. It's a pretty simple DIY with all the parts removed (i.e. fan, fan shroud, etc) - which I wouldn't remove if just replacing the belts.

If I were contemplating doing this job, I would start by trying to identify the tensioner(s), getting the cover plates off, and checking to see if I had the required wrench(es). Maybe even take some of the tension off the belts. If you get that far, save yourself a hundred bucks and DIY.