Whiskers’ Guide: Break In Your CVT Belt Right!

By Whiskers

I was in the alley last night for some feline karaoke, when some of the cats that live in my neighborhood came by and saw my super swanky E72 plus, parked nearby. The all started asking me questions about it but the one I got most of all was “How do you break in a CVT Belt?”  Leave it to a bunch of cats not to know how to do such a simple procedure, but here is what I told them.

1. make sure you have the correct belt

2. Don’t deform the belt in a way it isn’t meant to go. That means bending it backwards or using zip ties on it to keep it folded up are a big no.

3. Clean the clutches.   Use scotch brite pads and alcohol or acetone to clean the clutch sheaves. Always apply cleaner to the pad, not the part, and never use brake cleaner on it. That’s for brakes.

4. Now the fun part. Install the new belt and “break it in”. That means drive in high gear for 20 min, cool down for 30 min, and then drive another 20 min. After this is done, you are done with the job.

If you follow these steps, you will have a nice new belt installed and ready for service. If you don’t, there will be a human hiding around the next corner waiting to spray you in the face with a water bottle. I still don’t understand why they do that.