lol - fair enough. It's already ordered, I'll post after I get it installed with a review.

 

Run it at full speed once you secure it in place, many chinese fans are not quite well balanced and vibrations will mitigate inside the cabin before it explodes.

 

I have a OE blower motor replacement that I bought on FCP and it still vibrates pretty loudly at full speed. I would be scared to try an aftermarket one...

 

I went with ACM to replace blower motor ($119) and FSR ($68) and they are working great. Definitely not a job I want to do twice.

The removable mounting plate was not an issue at all, and I forget if it was a benefit. Hard part was getting the motor and the cover in and out of the firewall opening and dealing with the stupid metal clasps on the motor cover.

Do make sure to test run the motor once its cover is put back but before reinstalling everything else. In my case, I had to fine tune the mounting location to avoid slight interference with cover, but the overall motor balance and function is good.

Fwiw, ACM is listed as an OE and made in Germany on FCP.

 

Fun fact, if you have a M56 valve cover you have to uninstall your valve cover to remove the blower motor!
Found this out the hard way

 

That sucks ... but at least the gasket is reuseable.

Even on the m54, the valve cover and I think the intake impedes blower motor r&r.

You have to find just the right orientation of the motor assembly in order to sneak it past everything and through the firewall opening. This is where I forget whether a detachable mount is a benefit or not.

 

Ok, fun update today on this aftermarket fan, but first my interesting experience replacing the blower motor.

Started out pretty straight forward. Pulled the cover to the fan and found this:

As you can see, a big chunk of fan cage is missing. This did make it easier to remove but I couldn't figure out what could have caused that until I went to remove the strap and found the screw was missing. It's an aftermarket fan so someone at some point replaced the fan and forgot to secure it properly.

Here's what it looked like out of the car:

I didn't do any of that damage removing it, that's what was in there lol.

Anway, here's the new fan next to the old one:

Outside of the color and the integrated bracket, it was pretty much identical. Installing it was a piece of cake, just removed the back bracket and it bolted right in, no need for any adjustment.

It's hard to rate the performance difference seeing as how bad the old motor was but it blows fine at all speeds, is quiet and produces a decent amount of airflow. Overall,very happy with the results, but only time will tell how long it holds up.

Finally, fun tip for getting those pesky small screws back in to those hard to reach locations. I had to improvise today when I realized I had forgotten my magnetic tipped driver at home.

Take a strip of paper and push the screw through the center. This allows for a temporary friction hold on the screw. Next, put the driver in the screw head and hold the paper tight to the sides of the driver. After you get a few turns on the screw started, just rip the paper off and finish screwing the screw in. Works like a champ and you don't have to worry about dropping screws and not being able to find them