How to replace the idler and tensioner pulleys on a BMW Z3 with a 2.8-liter engine.

The squeaks and rattling under the hood of my ever-faithful Z3 made this beautiful car sound like a hundred-dollar junker. Something had to done! I actually replaced the water pump in search of the noise, only to find out it was done in vain. Fast forward to today and the noise has gotten worse, so I was back on the hunt. With no load, these bearings seem fine but under load not so good. I can't say they were particularly bad, but they weren't good either and boy, were they noisy. The fifty bucks it cost to replace them was well worth the peace of mind. I kept the old ones just in case (yup, I'm a hoarder) but I just don't trust a lot of the parts sold nowadays. I recently plopped in a brand-new distributer into my Gremlin, and it lasted 10-minutes. I put a distributer in a friend's car last year and it is back today. Granted, those are electronic devices and not pulleys, but the mindset is the same. That being said, I hoard useable used parts. I now have a good used water pump, one good tensioner pulley and one not so good idler that will work in a pinch. This car being over 25-years old, you never know when parts availability will dry up. Follow me in my step-by-step journey into quieter and more (hopefully) more dependable project.