Underdrive Pulleys

[bmw328i98]

Are underdrive pulleys worth the money. Am looking in to them for my next mod. Can you feel a difference with them? I read something about them posing a threat to the crankshaft or something?? What brand is reccomended? Easy install???

[Ol'6erGuy]

These are my personal feelings. Are you going to race or is this a daily driver? Are you going to be turning high revs all the time or just cruising? If the answers are daily and cruise, don't waste your money unless you want the 'cool look'. As far as damage, all the pully kits do is slow down the accessories (water pump, alternator, a/c, p/s). At slow speeds, this might be a problem. the danger you were hearing involves replacement of the harmonic balancer. Don't do it. Like I said, these are my thoughts, if anyone knows different, please chime in.

[Silverstreak328]

Get a crankshaft pulley, most ppl are getting 10 rwhp and 10 rwtq from them!

[bmw328i98]

This is what i read about the crank pulley....

Also called the "main pulley", this drives all the other pulleys. By changing the size of just this pulley, all the other pulleys would effectively be underdriven. While this would seem like a simpler method, there are two significant problems: As explained above, not every accessory reacts well to being underdriven. Additionally, the crankshaft pulley is also the the tuned harmonic damper. The crankshaft on your inline six is subject to a wide variety of vibrations and harmonic phenomenon, and the damper incorporates an elastomeric component to protect the crankshaft from harmful effects of these forces. The risk of removing the harmonic damper is catastrophic failure of the crankshaft.

Sounds bad to me???

[JF824]

i did power steering and water pump on my 323i. def worth the money. felt an improvement in power at EVERY rpm. but like previously said i would stay away from the crank pulley, 10rwhp isnt worth crank failure. doesnt happen to everyone but not worth the risk.

[CLee]

are you guys for reals? i am seriously about to buy the unorthodox kit but please let me kno which one is the most problematic.

[Chet]

I have the UUC Pulley installed for about 1 year now and I've been problem free thus far. This is truely the cheapest mod you can buy............... besides the clutch stop

[95325is]

Originally Posted by Stunner

I have the UUC Pulley installed for about 1 year now and I've been problem free thus far. This is truely the cheapest mod you can buy............... besides the clutch stop

i agree heard good things about uuc and i am thinkin about picking up a pair

[hnoppenberger]

id underdrive the powersteering, and the alternator if you dont have a aftermarket stereo that draws high current. i would NOT underdrive the water pump... id like my engine to be kept cool as possible. im not going to bother... but i wouldnt mind a harder steering (imo mine is too soft) id say powersteering takes the most power to operate..