a/c fan blower noise
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Members
Joined: Oct 2008
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I have a 2005 545i with around 94k. I have a problem with my fan/blower motor making noises. It mainly happens at low setting when the car is at or near idle-the faster you drive the less you here it. You can cycle the fan off/on and sometimes it will stop for shorts periods. Happens with heat or a/c and goes away or hard to hear at highway speed. Thanks for any help possible with this issue. I am about to replace the motor if I cant come up with something. Thanks again!
Thanks.
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Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 231
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From: Sacramento, CA
My Ride: E60 M5 / G87 M2
mine did the same thing.. almost sounded like a jet airplane in my car lol.. took it in to the dealer and replaced the blower and the problem was solved.. but now i got that mysterious annoying problem that my a/c or fan just turns on when it feels like it even if i shut it off it will turn on by its self =/
chek out my vid.. wonder if its the same problem as urs..
chek out my vid.. wonder if its the same problem as urs..
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Joined: Mar 2011
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From: Indy
^^ How much money was the blower and install? Is it a part that can be replaced as a DIY? Getting behind the dash isn't difficult but I don't know if it's sitting up under something or in a funky location that is difficult for the average Andy to get to.
On an old 5 I had a blower with a mind of it's own... on and off by itself and would change speeds on its own. That turned out to be a blower resister if I remember right and was around $100 and easy to install. I noticed the problem when buying the car and they swapped it out for me in no time flat with me standing there next to them. Not sure if this is the same, though. In my case the functions of AC, blower, etc all work as they are supposed to. There is the sound of a fan or a motor or something that turns on loud and "hums" or "whirs" or whatever you want to call it and it sounds like it is coming from behind the AC fan control button. A quick off/on of the button will get rid of the sound for awhile.
On an old 5 I had a blower with a mind of it's own... on and off by itself and would change speeds on its own. That turned out to be a blower resister if I remember right and was around $100 and easy to install. I noticed the problem when buying the car and they swapped it out for me in no time flat with me standing there next to them. Not sure if this is the same, though. In my case the functions of AC, blower, etc all work as they are supposed to. There is the sound of a fan or a motor or something that turns on loud and "hums" or "whirs" or whatever you want to call it and it sounds like it is coming from behind the AC fan control button. A quick off/on of the button will get rid of the sound for awhile.
Members
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 231
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From: Sacramento, CA
My Ride: E60 M5 / G87 M2
not sure on the cost since it was covered under CPO.. but here are the part number ...
64-11-6-933-910 BLOWER UNIT:641013
edit just checked RealOEM.com ...
01 Blower unit 1 64116933910 $124.93
64-11-6-933-910 BLOWER UNIT:641013
edit just checked RealOEM.com ...
01 Blower unit 1 64116933910 $124.93
New Members
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 4
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From: california
My Ride: E39 528 Blk/Gry
E60 525 Gry/Gry
E46 M3 Red/Blk
Hello people my problem is that my fan blows at low only has anyone had that problem. i turn to max and hit max and auto stay at same speed... HELP
Members
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 218
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From: Bristol, UK
That's a flat car battery. If the main battery is low the fan speed is limited. You should charge the battery through the connections in the engine bay.
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Joined: May 2011
Posts: 30
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From: Eastern WA
Based on previous experience with other vehicles (Audi and Mercedes) Noises in the blower motor... depends on the nature of the noise... if is kind of like a high pitched chirping noise, it is often bearings or gunk from the electric motor commutator and brushes in the bearings. Grinding or whirring noises might be from junk trapped in the squirrel cage fans.
I was successful taking my Audi blower motor out and apart on my work bench to clean and lubricate the bearings on the motor, in addition to cleaning all the carbon fluff off of the commutator and carbon brushes in the electric motor. That was 4 years ago and that blower has operated perfectly fine ever since. You won't find anything about how to in any service manual, they generally aren't intended to be servicable. Sometimes you will find that electric motors are rivited closed and so on... but maybe there is an access port on it somewhere... In those cases its worth trying to spray it all down with electrical contact cleaner to try and wash the contaminants out of the bearings... then try and relube the bearings with white grease or vasoline or even sticky oil... Hey, with the dealer wanting nearly $500 for just the part at the time it was worth it to try. (The prices have significantly dropped as more aftermarket parts are available). Since it appears that the BMW blower motor is only $125, then it probably isn't worth the trouble.
With stuff trapped in the squirrel cages, you just take the blower and fan cages out, see what's in there and clean it out, then reinstall everything and test it out. On my old Isuzu 4x4 I had a whirring noise that was driving me nuts for all winter until I figured out how easy it was to pull the blower... it had small leaves stuck in the squirrel cage (no cabin air filter). I've also seen plastic and other insulation from under the dash make there way in there. On my friend's Audi his kid put a dime in the air vent, and sure enough it made its way into the squirrel cage and rattled around.
I was successful taking my Audi blower motor out and apart on my work bench to clean and lubricate the bearings on the motor, in addition to cleaning all the carbon fluff off of the commutator and carbon brushes in the electric motor. That was 4 years ago and that blower has operated perfectly fine ever since. You won't find anything about how to in any service manual, they generally aren't intended to be servicable. Sometimes you will find that electric motors are rivited closed and so on... but maybe there is an access port on it somewhere... In those cases its worth trying to spray it all down with electrical contact cleaner to try and wash the contaminants out of the bearings... then try and relube the bearings with white grease or vasoline or even sticky oil... Hey, with the dealer wanting nearly $500 for just the part at the time it was worth it to try. (The prices have significantly dropped as more aftermarket parts are available). Since it appears that the BMW blower motor is only $125, then it probably isn't worth the trouble.
With stuff trapped in the squirrel cages, you just take the blower and fan cages out, see what's in there and clean it out, then reinstall everything and test it out. On my old Isuzu 4x4 I had a whirring noise that was driving me nuts for all winter until I figured out how easy it was to pull the blower... it had small leaves stuck in the squirrel cage (no cabin air filter). I've also seen plastic and other insulation from under the dash make there way in there. On my friend's Audi his kid put a dime in the air vent, and sure enough it made its way into the squirrel cage and rattled around.
Members
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 218
Likes: 2
From: Bristol, UK
Elifly2 did you get to the bottom of the problem? I have something very similar:
It's getting worse but it's very intermittent.
The car is a 535d E61 but the same blower is in all E60/E61's.
I get in the car, drive say 1/2 mile, then it starts. It stops whilst cornering right and left. Sometimes it stops after a bit. Sometimes it's quiet for a whole journey.
It's happening more and more often. It actually doesn't vary much with fan speed, so I did replace the temperature sensor fan (much smaller job). It wasn't that.
No heater settings seems to change it, except fan speed and then it doesn't vary the sound much at all. Turning the air con off completely stops it. Turning the engine off and the ignition back on stops it, which makes it very hard to pinpoint. It's not really that loud but it's really driving me mad and I immediately recognise the sound now. It's drowned out at motorway speeds and I haven't managed to catch it happening whilst parked.
I think the motor is about £100 but replacing it is the mother of all jobs: glovebox out, gear surround out. middle of dash out, DVD out, Car Computer out, etc. etc.
Looking at real OEM it looks like the fans are attached to the motor spindles with wing nuts.
Real OEM Blower
If the nut has come loose this could cause the problem, or it could be the bearings in the motor. I absolutely don't want to pull the entire dash part unnecessarily or take it apart to have a look before ordering the part. However I also don't want to buy a £100 motor that I can't return because it's a special order only to find it's a loose nut...
It's getting worse but it's very intermittent.
The car is a 535d E61 but the same blower is in all E60/E61's.
I get in the car, drive say 1/2 mile, then it starts. It stops whilst cornering right and left. Sometimes it stops after a bit. Sometimes it's quiet for a whole journey.
It's happening more and more often. It actually doesn't vary much with fan speed, so I did replace the temperature sensor fan (much smaller job). It wasn't that.
No heater settings seems to change it, except fan speed and then it doesn't vary the sound much at all. Turning the air con off completely stops it. Turning the engine off and the ignition back on stops it, which makes it very hard to pinpoint. It's not really that loud but it's really driving me mad and I immediately recognise the sound now. It's drowned out at motorway speeds and I haven't managed to catch it happening whilst parked.
I think the motor is about £100 but replacing it is the mother of all jobs: glovebox out, gear surround out. middle of dash out, DVD out, Car Computer out, etc. etc.
Looking at real OEM it looks like the fans are attached to the motor spindles with wing nuts.
Real OEM Blower
If the nut has come loose this could cause the problem, or it could be the bearings in the motor. I absolutely don't want to pull the entire dash part unnecessarily or take it apart to have a look before ordering the part. However I also don't want to buy a £100 motor that I can't return because it's a special order only to find it's a loose nut...
Members
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 30
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From: Grayslake, IL
My Ride: 2008 535xi
I read about this issue a while ago, I had the same problem, and after removing the cabin filters and cleaning up the ducts, the noise went away. It appears like sometimes a piece of dried leaf can move pass the cabin filter and reach to the blower, and make that noise propagate inside the car.