Power pulleys safe?

[M3SQRD]

Originally Posted by BMRLVR

I am done..... you are obviously above all of us "Armchair Mechanics".

How about next time you post a question you answer it yourself because I sure as hell won't try and answer it for you..... I hope everyone else does the same thing too!

I'm with you. I've already been told I know nothing about the cars I own

[Kyoshi71]

Originally Posted by BMRLVR

I am done..... you are obviously above all of us "Armchair Mechanics".

How about next time you post a question you answer it yourself because I sure as hell won't try and answer it for you..... I hope everyone else does the same thing too!

Perfectly stated...as always

[dizx]

I installed MS underdrive pulleys on my car a few weeks ago, and I am experiencing several problems. The steering is making some strange feedback to the steering wheel, while driving at low speed eg. in a parking garage.
While driving in heavy city traffic (read: Bangkok traffic where you can get stuck, and find yourself standing still for a period of time), the battery seem to drain - resulting in all kinds of weird problems. Today I had to call for a tow truck, as all possible error messages appeared, and lost all engine power. The only reason I can make out of it was too low charge on the battery - which I can only trace back to the recent change of pulleys. Unfortunately my showroom is closed until Tuesday. I will report back, but my pulleys are being replaced for the original ones.

[swamp2]

Originally Posted by tom @ eas

...the stock dampener

Damped not dampened
Damper not dampener

Pet peeve, along the lines of "disc breaks"...

[kautiongsr]

i have the active pulley... about 7 trackdays and over 31k miles.. makes a difference and i love it

[BuckRodgers]

Originally Posted by BMRLVR

Here you go again!!! Remember what I mentioned to you in my last reply? Kyoshi71 is another one of the members who will give you the facts and no BS. If you keep rebutting answers to your questions with condescending remarks no one is going to respond any more, or the people who respond will only be the people who don't know.

I did read your apology to Kyoshi71 so I see you are realizing what we are all telling you.

Now on to the topic:

To touch on what Kyoshi71 was telling you about the pulleys reducing the rotational mass of the accessory drive system here goes: The reduction in mass of the accessory drive system is part of the power gain however the effective gear reduction is where most of it comes from. Think about riding your mountain bike....... The smaller chain-ring the chain is on, on the crankset (same as the crank pulley on an engine for all effects and purposes) the easier it is for you to pedal. The smaller chain-ring will not allow you to go as fast but it allows you to move while exerting much less energy onto the pedals.

So the underdrive crank pulley does two things to gain power. 1)It loses mass and therefore rotational inertia. 2)It gives the crank pulley more mechanical advantage to turn the accessories (and turns them a little slower as a result of that gear ratio change) so there is less drag on the engine regardless of wether the M3 disengages the alternator and AC under load or not.

In a way the underdrive pulley does the same thing as a lower ratio differential gear set. The big difference is that the power gained from a crank pulley is actually the result of less power being used to turn the accessories. This power is instead sent to the driveline through the PTO of the engine instead of being wasted driving the accessories. Differential gear sets don't make any power, they just give the engine more mechanical advantage to turn the drive wheels.

The only possible side effect of an underdrive crank pulley is that a low engine speeds (under 1.5KRPM or so) the power steering pump volume will be less and may make steering wheel effort slightly increased. This effect will most likely be extremely slight and I hear no complaint from members on the forum that use an underdrive crank pulley. A possible plus to this would be lower PS oil temps on the track since the pump would spend less time going over relief since the volume would be slightly reduced. When any hydraulic pump is over relief for extended periods of time the oil heats up.

I hope this helps!

Correct

There are no issues running a properly designed underdrive pulley on these motors.

[Green-Eggs]

There are no issues as long as they are installed properly. Routing the belt incorrectly will cause problems.

[dizx]

I had the pulleys a few months now. I had to replace the alternator. Since then everything has been fine. Except the power steering, which is still producing strange feedback when the engine is idling. It also produces sound when I turn the wheel at low speeds. This is pretty annoying, but love the extra power the pulleys produce.
I am not sure whether the problems with the steering is because of the pulleys or not. Anyone have a take on that?

[spool twice]

Originally Posted by dizx

I had the pulleys a few months now. I had to replace the alternator. Since then everything has been fine. Except the power steering, which is still producing strange feedback when the engine is idling. It also produces sound when I turn the wheel at low speeds. This is pretty annoying, but love the extra power the pulleys produce.
I am not sure whether the problems with the steering is because of the pulleys or not. Anyone have a take on that?

Mine makes noise too (despite re-installing it 5 times), definitely tried to tight up the PS pulley many times, still makes that noise. I learned to live with it.

You dont want to hear the noises after washing the engine bay, lets just say it's not pretty for the first 25-30 seconds after the water dries up off the pulley or belt.

[SenorFunkyPants]

Originally Posted by dizx

I had the pulleys a few months now. I had to replace the alternator. Since then everything has been fine. Except the power steering, which is still producing strange feedback when the engine is idling. It also produces sound when I turn the wheel at low speeds. This is pretty annoying, but love the extra power the pulleys produce.
I am not sure whether the problems with the steering is because of the pulleys or not. Anyone have a take on that?

Yes it is almost certainly the under drive pulley causing your power steering problem. Last time I read of this I suggested he refit the oem pulley which he did and it resolved the problem.

As an aside: if you are under driving by say a factor of 20% and that gives you 10 bhp, does that mean (in theory) that if you removed the belts you would get 50 bhp? ie freewheeling A/C and alternator pulleys and the power steering and water pump together consume 50 bhp?

[slipaway37]

I have been running the Macht Schnell pulleys for some time now and have had zero issues of any kind, and I run my car hard!

[happos2]

I don't get any noise or negative steering feedback on mine either...MS pulleys. I have had them for about 8 months or so...

[MFL]

These pulleys leave the harmonic dampener alone and are safe. They were known to cause the oil pump nut to back out on S52 engines out of the E36 though. The Dinan/Evo/MS pulleys don't touch the harmonics of the engine, so they are 100% safe in this regard.

[BIGW0RM]

I had a MS pulley in my 2011. I got 16WHP from it and my battery 6 months later. I DD my car so I'm not sure the pulley did it, but I've always suspected it did.

[slipaway37]

Originally Posted by dizx

I had the pulleys a few months now. I had to replace the alternator. Since then everything has been fine. Except the power steering, which is still producing strange feedback when the engine is idling. It also produces sound when I turn the wheel at low speeds. This is pretty annoying, but love the extra power the pulleys produce.
I am not sure whether the problems with the steering is because of the pulleys or not. Anyone have a take on that?

It seems to me that it was an improper install. I watched my install and the guys had a few issues routing the belt correctly, but finally got it correct.

[W Cole]

I had the MS pulleys on for awhile. I took them off and sold them because I did not like the steering feel. Especially at low speeds, quick corrections of the wheel would result in power steering lag which IMO is dangerous. Not an acceptable comprimise for a couple of HP.

It would have cost BMW $0 to make the pulleys smaller. There is a reason they chose the size they did.

[Sales@Evolve]

Exhausts and tunes recently have been tested thoroughly with datalogs including ignition timing, afr and keeping the conditions very constant.

No one has ever tested a power pulley in this way to actually see it it really gives any power. I am talking about the public here, not tuners.

The basis of a pulley will give power at the very high rpm's. If anyone thinks a pulley will give power low down or under 'normal driving conditions' is being unrealistic just from the physics of this modification.

I can tell you all the REAL result but it would be very nice if one of you actually did this test with like for like ignition timing, ambient temp, intake temp and AFR.

With all of the recent testing some individuals have been doing I am surprised to see eyes not being opened yet.

It is easy for those who have the facilities to give you this information but it is always taken far more seriously when an independent member of the forum does the testing on a completely independent dyno.

If anyone wants my help on this matter feel free to contact me and I will guide those willing to learn.

[dizx]

I run my car in hot conditions. Maybe that's why I experience these problems. Anyways, I decided to remove the pulleys as soon as possible. My power steering is now producing strange squeaky sounds.

[dizx]

Originally Posted by slipaway37

It seems to me that it was an improper install. I watched my install and the guys had a few issues routing the belt correctly, but finally got it correct.

Im not sure if its possible to make an improper routing. I think that would make the car unusable or cause permanent damage.