m44 front crank pulley/ Lambda sensor

[martin347]

As title. Could do with an m44 crank pulley to have a play with and a Lambda sensor from either an m42 or m44.
Preferably in England.
Thanks, Martin.

[D. Clay]

have the harmonic balancer and the pulley, no sensor though. In Texas, USA. The balancer is the same as the M42 including the notches for impulse pickup. The pulleys are serpentine belt instead of v-belt.
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=BE71&mospid=47426&btnr=11_1521&hg=11&fg=18I

[martin347]

have the harmonic balancer and the pulley, no sensor though. In Texas, USA. The balancer is the same as the M42 including the notches for impulse pickup. The pulleys are serpentine belt instead of v-belt.
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=BE71&mospid=47426&btnr=11_1521&hg=11&fg=18I

Ah, thats interesting. So why do the m44's still have a impulse pickup on the front when they also have one internaly on the crank?
Thanks, Martin.

[D. Clay]

I don't know either. It could be to save money and not cast different front covers and make a new balancer. This also begs the question of why not reuse the sensor but maybe the new type is better in some way (maybe function or cost). I just checked the E36 M42 and M44's US and Euro models and the part numbers were the same for the balancers and the front covers. The M44 doesn't list an impulse sensor for the crank.

[martin347]

Hmm! that is odd!
So BMW cast/made a crank complete with internal impulse sensor pick up, but kept the front pulley with the harmonic balancer. Why?
You see I run an m44 block and crank with everything else m42. My plan was to dump the harmonic balancer at the front and machine something to just run the alternator/waterpump pulley off the front of the crank. And use the internal impulse sensor pick up instead.
I was hoping that the m44 front pulley may do the job for me, but its not looking good!
Cheers, Martin.

[D. Clay]

It may be risky to remove the harmonic balancer. It can cause crankshaft failure. I don't know if the M42 or M44 is likely to experience any problems. I would certainly check this out first. By that I mean I would have to see one perform successfully without it for a reasonable period of time, say a couple thousand miles. Even all out competition engines have harmonic balancers. The impulse triggers are built into the shape of the harmonic balancer's outer portion.
It might be easier to run a v-belt with the M42 pulley. You could remove the second pulley and outer ring of the existing balancer. You would avoid the additional weight of the bracketry, idler, and tensioner pulleys for the sepentine belt.

[martin347]

So is the harmonic balancer there to take the shock from running the v belts?
If so, would it be possible to use an electric water pump, ditch the power steering and run the alternator off somewhere else (flywheel possably). Then, just have the bush that fits on to the front of the crank bolted on, on its own.
Or does the harmonic balancer do something else?