Think my Alternator croaked

[BillionPa]

a new alternator will come with a voltage regulator installed. if you remove the regulator and it has no bushings, then the rest of it is "probably" ok.

[BillionPa]

oh, and if you ARE going to remove the oil filter housing and want to spend some extra cash, think of investing in an Amsoil bypass filtration system.

depending on how much room is in your engine bay you may or may not be able to fit one. i have the AC removed, so there is tons of room, but the bay is pretty cramped. im still pretty sure one can be fitted somewhere with all the oe hardware still in there, but it may be tricky.

advantage? with 9 quarts of high TBN 0W40 oil and 2 massive filters that get pretty much anything, you could easily go 20000 miles per change, with less engine wear than a conventional 5K oil change would generate. you could also get the add-on pre oiler which squirts oil into the cylinder head before the starter engages, so you have about 80% less cold start wear.

that really wasnt pertinent to your problem was it?

[Jehu]

I may have misunderstood what i read about moving the Oil Filter Housing.I took it to mean it only needed to be unbolted from its perch and moved out of the way but if it is fitted with metal lines obviously you can't just move it without detaching it from the lines.Still hoping digita1 ecstasy will locate that step by step photo DIY he said he saw on another forum.

[ryan roopnarine]

that manual doesn't even cover v8s

here's sean and johan doing one on an v12 e32, which should be somewhat similar (at least more than on an I6 car)

http://bmwe32.masscom.net/sean750/Vo...eRegulator.htm

[Jehu]

Here's some new information.I went out to check the car and look for the alternator. It appears to be under the Air box on the passenger side.The oil filter housing doesn't come into play being on the opposite side.

The car started but the battery light still stayed on.In reading what Ryan posted burnt Voltage Reg bushings were mentioned and i did have a burning smell coming from under the hood a few days ago that did reappear briefly,maybe this was the bushings?Anyway I did some OBC tests.Test 09 while running read 11.35 UB 4 times out of 8 and fluctuated between 10.96 and 11.35.

While the car did start after sitting for about 12 hours, it was drained and almost wouldn't start after turning it off after running for a few minutes.I didn't want to drain any battery life i may have left if the alternator/voltage regulator are not doing their parts, i may want to drive it to a garage if it would make it and save on a Tow.Do the Test 09 values tell that the alternator/voltage regulator is completely dead and i shouldn't drive the car very far or is it just on its way out and while the car is running i should be able to make it anywhere?Another thoughtis that even if it were just the Voltage regulator,if this is the original Alternator with 150,000 miles on it is it not a smart idea to replace it anyway as they all will eventually fail anyway?
Just for kicks here are the other test values;

Test 01=10.97eich
Test 02=0.0VBR
Test 03=2.3-2.6 L/H
Test 04=9.4 TVBR
Test 05=360 RW
Test 06=29.5 T:ADC
Test 07=33.7 T:MTL
Car off for Test 08=0.0V
Test 09= average 11.35

Test 12=60.3 VANK
i gave up after 12...

car towed to shop.Quoted $590.00 OEM parts and labor.Be done tomorrow...

[BillionPa]

the thing under the airbox is the AC compressor.

[Jehu]

the thing under the airbox is the AC compressor.

This right?