X5 E70 cooling fan broken....New one how much!

[farbbm]

I've just returned from a week long trip in the lakes and whilst up there became aware that the cooling fan had broken along it's perimeter so that when it starts, it starts flapping around and making an awful noise. Now thankfully the weather isn't great at the mo, so the engine won't be getting that hot that it's required.


I did take it back into my local dealer last week as they'd done a recall on a bolt which needed replacing on the alternator the week prior to my trip for them to shed any light on how it came to be broken. Strangely they couldn't but it wasn't them, although they did recommend a replacement at £786.00. I obviously declined their polite offer. I instead tried to araldite the break but unforntunately whilst it worked for a day or so, it's now broken again. Probably down to the tempatures in the engine bay.

So my questions are :-

Where can I get a reasonable replacement. Ebay has a number of them but the part numbers don't match even though they look similar in the pictures?

How easy is it to remove and refit one?

Could i just replace the fan itself and reuse the surround?

The car is 2007 X5 3.0d SE

[Touring442]

I suspect the fan is very similar to an E60 5 Series even though the part numbers for the rad and fan are different. BMW sell a fan housing/shroud but predictably, not a fan. Yours will probably be a 600w fan although they made an 850w.

Fan units are very easy to remove, normally a plastic upper trim cover, a couple of Torx screws, unplug the wiring plug and lift it out. An E60 fan comes out in 5 minutes.

[Touring442]

Here we are, 42 quid delivered.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-5-E60-Radiator-fan-...

I cannot believe for a second that the actual motor is different, or the wiring. There are three screws securing the motor to the shroud.

Nice easy DIY job, and bks to BMW and their £786!

[naturalaspiration]

There are two versions of the cooling fan and to find yours you need to check the parts catalogue such as bmwfans.info - you need last seven digits of your chassis number to uniquelyidentify your car. Then just click on the radiator section to get the exact part number. The standard is a 600w version, but there is also a 850w one if you have a towing hitc. Copy and paste into eBay to see what's on offer. Or just search "X5 E70 breaking" and try and find a car like yours.

Edited by naturalaspiration on Saturday 4th May 09:09

[henrycrun]

Drill a pair (or more) of small holes - either side of the crack - zip tie together ?

[farbbm]

Thanks for your replies.

Still struggling to find one of these which doesn't cost the earther or isn't broken (which defeats the object) or the breakers I've contacted don't seem to have any in stock. I did find one in a Danish BMW breaker (Schmiedmann) for a reasonable amount (including free shipping), I'm just concerned if it's not as described or doesn't work I've then got the hassle of sending It back and still sourcing a new part.

Has anyone dealt with this company in the past?

[Touring442]

They're fine.