I bought a 2002 Coupe 6 Speed from a local used BMW dealership. It had a squealing under the hood the first time I checked it out. By the time I test drove it (the next day) it had been looked at and the noise was gone.

The test drive was great and the car is very nice. Serviced over 25 times in it's 53 thousand mile life and I have all the printed out records from the local dealership that serviced it. Also they offered a "free" 6 month 6k mile warranty, (not bumper, but covered the important stuff).

The Climate control display was dim so as a post sale remedy it is in the shop being fixed. That is taken care of and I can see on the last maintenance record the previous owner got an estimate of $750 to repair that. I also see some forum vendors have a refurbished service for those for MUCH less.

Finally after taking the car out on a wet day and getting on it the squealing came back in full force. After I put the car away I drove it when it was dry and the squealing was there for the first 10-15 minutes, very quiet but there then went away.

When I brought the car back to the dealership, www.onlybmws.com also known as Advantage Certified Auto Group in Manassas, VA, to have the climate control fixed I told them about the squealing which it was still doing (I live about 1 mile away from the dealer). I called after 1 day to get a status (saw the car in the lot), the climate control was fixed, but I was told the "Harmonic Balancer" was needed to be replaced and he won't be able to get the part until the middle of next week. Which other than not having my car is not a problem because they have free loaners for scheduled maintenance. He also said he doesn't recommend driving it.

One of my questions is: Could this have caused damage elsewhere to the engine or pulley system?

And my other is: How much does it cost to replace the harmonic balancer?

The fact of the matter is I am more than impressed at this dealership and the quality and effort put in to not only making sure I'm happy with the sale but making sure the car is in perfect condition. I 100% expected a fight if something needed to be replaced to correct the squeal but that is not the case. I initially (when I thought it was going to be one day turn around) declined the loaner because we had an extra vehicle, but with my wife's car going to the Chevy dealer for some warranty work and then my truck going in for a 5th visit for the same issue after I accepted the loaner.

I once again would like to express my happiness with the purchasing experience at this dealer. If you are in the market for a lightly used almost new BMW, and are in this area, there is no other place worth looking!

 

Wow, your car is going to be in the shop for a few days. They will have to pull out the entire steering rack.(slide it to one side to get in there to the balancer. ) You should highly recomend for them to "pin " the balancer to the crank"snout" so it doesn't happen again. Good luck.

 

If you caught it early enough I would doubt you have any other damage. My balancer started some minor wobbling and I replaced the stock balancer with a Power Bond 25% underdrive pulley. I think I paid $250 ish (cant remember) for the pulley and another couple of hundred to have it installed as I didn't have time to mess with it.
You might also, while they are in there, have them check the idlers and the tensionors as they are easy to get to if they have the rack pulled aside but, they probably won't do that for nothing. You can buy the tensioners and idlers at local parts stores and ask them to install.
Some others here may have some other suggestions.

 

Replacement costs are somewhere between $500 and $700 (parts & labor). Depending on how bad it was and for how long it could have damaged the crank but I suspect you would have had some other symptoms if that was the case. The only thing I can think of that it likely damaged is the seal on the time chain cover that should be replaced while the balancer is off.