I have a 330i that's the same... the fan is loud as hell, even just at idle in park. Same problem? A recommendation for an electric replacement fan would be awesome.
I had the aux fan (behind the bumper, front of radiator) that makes the truck sound.
Then you have the mechanical fan which is on the water pump. That one is known to fails and the blades blow up.
What I did is I bought a new Behr OEM electric fan, took the other two fans out and this one slides in right on the radiator between the engine.
Now the truck sound is gone, no worrying about the fan blades exploding and breaking stuff (happened twice to me, second time dented my hood and broke my radiator) and it's much much much easier to slide out to work on the engine.
My question has nothing to do with overheating. You mentioned that you removed not only the mechanical fan/fan clutch attached to the water pump, but also the electric auxiliary fan that sits in front of the A/C condenser. As you know, that fan turns on when you turn on the A/C. It's function is to push air through the A/C condenser coils, helping to cool the refrigerant in the system and in turn allowing the A/C system to blow colder air at idle and lower road speeds.
When the auxiliary fan fails, the first thing you notice is less cooling capability from the A/C while at idle or at slow speeds. At highway speeds, the air is naturally forced through the condenser allowing the system to cool properly.
I understand that manual transmission cars don't have the mechanical fan/fan clutch, but all E46's have the electric auxiliary fan for proper A/C function.
No, manual cars have only ONE fan which is the electric one behind the radiator, the auto's have the mechanical fan and the aux fan. I don't see the manual cars having problems, or if they do it's the same thing as automatic cars with both fans.
Although I knew about the mechanical fan only on automatic equipped cars, I was just under the impression that all E46's still had the auxiliary, or pusher, fan installed. This is my 4th E46 I have owned, but the first three were bought new and were always under warranty so I never really noticed the fan configuration. By looking at the previously mentioned electric fan thread, I see that it is of sufficient size to pull enough air through the condenser and the radiator. Thanks for the clarification-I still learn something new everyday!
Nope, the fan clutch on the mechanical fan prevents it from rotating more than 3000 RPM, if not it will break. That's why a clutch that fails allows the fan assembly to rotate the same speed as the engine/water pump
There is a great DIY out there on how to do it. You just order the single part number (fan). Remove a few parts, install new fan. Very simple. I did it, and even with it ~100 here lately, I havn't had any problems.
I am not finding the kpeng electric fan in a google search! Where did you order it and how much is the replacement fan/kit? Did you have to wire it up to aux power when ignition is turned to "on" position or does BMW already have available power supply? I need to replace fan/clutch on my wife's 2001 BMW 330i.
on my 02 325xi auto, i removed the fan clutch and it had no change on performance and didnt overheat at all even when i was driving in 90 degree temps.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
E46 Fanatics Forum
17.9M posts
592.8K members
Since 2001
A forum community dedicated to BMW E46, E90, and F30 owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about M performance, turbo kits, engine swaps, builds, modifications, classifieds, troubleshooting, maintenance, and more!