X5 fan blower

[Powercat]

Hi everybody been a while since I've posted here, I guess I haven't had any problems until now :drive: , the fan blower motor has been making strange noises for over a year and sometimes it would stop completely I managed to get it restarted a few times by spinning it with my hand, reaching in from engine bay fan compartment.

It now seems to have finally packed up but to make sure I would like to check by making 12 volts directly to the motor does anyone know which wire I should use ?

I did change the hedgehog two years ago so I don't think that can be the problem, especially considering the bad noises the fan would make, I'm pretty sure this was down to the last owners children droping things into the ventilator grilles  ::)

[Horizon]

Is it the Aircon auxilary fan that you mean? Not the main engine cooling fan. This should only come on when the AC is on.
These fans are known to fail, they tend to seize up on their bearings, this can cause them to burn out.
I think it was Shadrack that had his do the same on his M3 recently
Mine was the same on my 840 Ci
Bmw breakers may have one, Fab direct or the like. If its hard to spin, as it should spin freely by hand it will need changing.
If its the fan behind the dash, they have a resistor that determines the speed of the fan on most cars, these can often be the cause of failure

[Steamyrotter]

Don't think it is as easy as just putting 12v on them....

If it is anything like the 740i fans (and mine looks like it) there is a control module built into the motor unit.
makes life nice n easy.......

The air con fans do suffer from crud at the bottom of the fan housing causing them to stall and screw up..

[Powercat]

Thanks,
it's the fan in the dash panel, having done some research it is the hardest fan to replace, that why I'm keen to find out which wire is the direct feed to the motor.

[samcoombes]

Hi, did you get anywhere with this? I have the same problem - and the car almost un-driveable dues to the condensation every morning and no fan heater.

Any advice appreciated - surely this fan can be accessed somehow without removing the dash?

[Steamyrotter]

First check / replace the FSR (final stage resistor)  or Hedgehog as it is known..
Might be your most probable issue - and a relatively inexpensive part to try first.  Wouldn't hurt to change it anyway..

Search on here as there are many a post ref location and replacement

regards

[Rob5]

Yeah +1 on that. Just done mine. Make sure the DIY guide you use isnt on an American left hand drive website. It was only after taking my glove box out that I realised it was on the other side by the pedals!  ) )