I went with the cheaper Bosch unit myself for my M3, and it's been working well for the past 4k miles.
If the belt was melted to the alternator pulley, there was enough friction to melt the rubber. Simple answer, replace the alternator.
Also, my 90A Bosch alternator is about the same size and weight as my old 65A Bosch alternator. Going to a 90A alternator is a great cheap mod.
I did this on my mk1, along with a 90A Bosch alternator (AL49X ?) and a variable voltage regulator to get 14V. Also, I replaced all the tail lights and side markers bulbs with LED bulbs (superbrightleds) . This greatly reduced the amps drawn from the alternator.
I just replaced mine last week! I bought a remanufactured Bosch from FCPEuro. Looked brand new. Also was a pretty easy DIY.
Bosch is the OE manufacturer for motorcraft alternators so if you find a Bosch chealt cheaper, go for it. They're the same minus the motorcraft sticker.
Bosch rebuilt alternators are like $175 online. Lots of people experienced low quality rebuilts. Have people had good luck with Bosch rebuilts?
I pulled the alternator to have it tested at o'reillys. Test showed it was dead so I bought a reman'd Bosch, but still needed a jump. Car fired up right away, but the voltage gauge still read low and just slowly dropped until the car died again.
A friend had a rebuilt bosch unit that he lent me to try and that too doesn't put out any voltage.
We've had all sorts of problems with Bosch reman alternators. They worked really well until Volvo put the alternator on the CAN network. The reman ones have a ton of trouble making the right charging voltage.
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