Cost/Necessity of replacing supercharger belt?

[BRG/Blk Cooper S]

Hi all,
Noticed a few posts diccussing power loss related to the supercharger belt stretching over time.

My Cooper S will be 3 years old at the end of this month.
It's only done 16k during this time (oil changes every 6k), but I am quite right foot heavy.

It's currently at the dealership having a couple of small warranty issues dealt with so am considering getting the supercharger belt replaced at the same time.
I like to keep my cars extremely well maintained and not wait until there are signs of a problem when it comes to wear/tear items.

Is this advisable at this age/mileage - how much should this cost at a dealership?

Thanks, Geoff.

[MINIMANIAUK]

Necessity ; should the belt break ,you lose the water pump this could lead to some damage in a short distance
they are not expensive ,but should last longer than 16000 miles
Also these things never fail somewhere convienient-at night,important trip ,on back road,no mobile signal etc

[BRG/Blk Cooper S]

Quote: Originally Posted by MINIMANIAUK (original)

Necessity ; should the belt break ,you lose the water pump this could lead to some damage in a short distance
they are not expensive ,but should last longer than 16000 miles
Also these things never fail somewhere convienient-at night,important trip ,on back road,no mobile signal etc

Thanks for the reply.
How long would you advise the belt should actually last then?
Need to take into consideration the fact that the car will continue to not clock up lots of miles (it's a toy really) so I'm sure there will be items over the course of ownership that need to be replaced due to age not mileage.

Have purchased the Mini extended warranty so have the road-side assistance - curious though as to whether the water pump would be covered under warranty if the supercharger belt broke considering it's a wear and tear item

Cheers, Geoff.

[ScottyBoy]

1320autos charge half hour labour and the price of the belt to change it, belt is around £18 Incl VAT.

Scott

[MINIMANIAUK]

Have purchased the Mini extended warranty so have the road-side assistance - curious though as to whether the water pump would be covered under warranty if the supercharger belt broke considering it's a wear and tear item


Simple answer is no...... its called a consequential loss ie something else that fails due to a wear and tear item wearing ,is not covered
To be fair BMW are lots better in this respect than other manufacturers and often help towards costs.
A lot of owners buy extra cover to safeguard themself when buying used cars, they often promise the earth and people feel comforted -however the devil is in the detail ,and the small print conditions often mean that when you wish to claim they simply point you to a get out clause
REAL EXAMPLE; a guys gearbox failed 3 months after he got the car---- £2500
never mind he thought the warranty I paid will cover this.......
the warranty company then wanted him to pay for a removal and strip down ,find the EXACT cause of the problem--(in this case a bearing) they would then cover the cost of the bearing ..around £12......
This is not as uncommon as you would expect . other favourite get outs ....you failed to keep the service inspection up to date... you failed to operate the clutch correctly .... you covered too many miles per week.....
Its worth reading every condition on warranties ...some of them a quite humourous -unless you ever want to claim!!!!!!

Slightly pushing the topic towards Warranty claims, but my mate had a clunk in his gearbox and took it in to the dealer a month before the warranty ran out. The dealer made a claim to the warranty people for a new gearbox, but was refused saying that they nead to strip the box down and replace the knackered parts....

To cut a long story short, 3 subsequent strip downs and rebuilds later, and one case of not being able to put the car into reverse , the warranty company finally paid for a new gearbox. If they had done that in the first place it woud have saved the dealer the time and trouble, and the warranty company the money claimed by the dealer for the work!

Theres no moral to this story, just made me ****** myself the day they turned up to deliver the car back and they tried to reverse it off the delivery lorry... and couldnt!

[MINIMANIAUK]

"Have purchased the Mini extended warranty so have the road-side assistance - curious though as to whether the water pump would be covered under warranty if the supercharger belt broke considering it's a wear and tear item "

Buying extended warranties is a bit like buying yourself a place in heaven, they could refuse you entry when you get to the pearly gates - its a bit late then!! and the best thing is to simply lead a good life

likewise regular servicing and inspection on your car is likely to keep it in good condition and cost less than the warranty cost ,as wear items do wear out and need replacing anyway,plus inspection likely to find any small problems early before they become major ones
Surely the idea of a warranty is for the company to make money,how could they do so if claims exceeded premiums? -hence wear and tear and all that implies

Major component failure is rare and more so if regular servicing /inspection done ,I would prefer to spend my money on fresh oil/coolant/brake fluid/gear oil/ lube/belts/filters/plugs/bushes etc than a piece of paper full of promises and legal argument

[Richard Crofts]

I know lots of folks who run reduced pulleys and find the stock belts need changing every 5-10k as they strectch too much for a 11 or 15% pulley, not to breaking but to slipping (so loss of potential power). I aim to change mine (which is a shorter than standard belt) every 10k, as its pretty cheap to buy and if you drive hard then I find mine is slipping to a degree within 5-10k most times.

[BRG/Blk Cooper S]

Hi all,
My S is currently in at the dealers getting a couple of warranty issues sorted and having it's first M.O.T - it will be 3 years old at the start of March.

Dealership have quoted aprox £96 +vat to replace the supercharger belt - does this sound fair?
Would be fairly convenient just to have it done while it's already there.

Cheers, Geoff.

[ScottyBoy]

Quote: Originally Posted by drainaudio (original)

Hi all,
My S is currently in at the dealers getting a couple of warranty issues sorted and having it's first M.O.T - it will be 3 years old at the start of March.

Dealership have quoted aprox £96 +vat to replace the supercharger belt - does this sound fair?
Would be fairly convenient just to have it done while it's already there.

Cheers, Geoff.

1320Autos quoted me half hours labour which was something like £24 Incl Vat and then the price of the belt £18 Incl Vat from the dealer.

Scott

[BRG/Blk Cooper S]

Quote: Originally Posted by ScottyBoy (original)

1320Autos quoted me half hours labour which was something like £24 Incl Vat and then the price of the belt £18 Incl Vat from the dealer.

Scott

Hi, that's certainly a nice price but I'm based in central London so once the cost of travel and time is taken into account it works out to be far less economical.

I'm still yet to come across a Mini specialist based in London which is a shame: Mercedes, Audi, Porsche.........no problem..

Cheers, Geoff.

[ScottyBoy]

Quote: Originally Posted by drainaudio (original)

Hi, that's certainly a nice price but I'm based in central London so once the cost of travel and time is taken into account it works out to be far less economical.

I'm still yet to come across a Mini specialist based in London which is a shame: Mercedes, Audi, Porsche.........no problem..

Cheers, Geoff.

It was just for price comparison i posted

No problem

Scott