2001, 530d Climate Control

[steve-v8s]

The fans in my 530 appear to go completely ga ga. They ( both sides ) suddenly blow flat out for a few seconds, then stop, then blow again. This all seams to have no connection with how the controls are set. Same thing happens in Auto and Manual, they even blow with the fans manually set to off. Recently I have also noticed that they operate at varying levels for a while after turning off. The fault is intermittent, and having experience of the local dealer with intermittent electrical faults I feel it would be better to tackle it myself.

Any ideas anybody ?

[mondeoman]

Hedgehog!

[steve-v8s]

Hedgehog ?

Seriously anybody suggest anything? Battery was completely flat yesterday evening which I guess was because the fans were having a fun time all day all on their own. Is there one box of electronics that control all the heating stuff and if so where is it ? any BMW Tech bulletins on the subject ?

[mondeoman]

steve-v8s said:

Hedgehog ? Seriously anybody suggest anything? Battery was completely flat yesterday evening which I guess was because the fans were having a fun time all day all on their own. Is there one box of electronics that control all the heating stuff and if so where is it ? any BMW Tech bulletins on the subject ?

Generally known as the hedgehog, there is a resistor pack that controls fan speed etc on later BMWs. When it goes tits-up the fan has a life of its own, and you have NO control over it at all, except on/off.

Mine went on my M3 in May, replaced under warranty. Its a cheap item (arounf £20 apparently), and its located under all the gubbins in one of the passenger footwells.

[steve-v8s]

Ah, I see Hedgehog. Thanks for that.

[steve-v8s]

It was indeed the “hedgehog” it did require two visits to the dealer and three arguments before they changed it. Evidently the fault doesn’t report as an error code hence there is no fault. Despite the fans blowing like crazy with the ignition off there was no fault. No error code = no falt. Grabed an older man from the workshop and he listened to the symptom rather than looked at the computer. Also they wanted £240 ! to fit a new battery, which was flat cos the fans ran all the time. I won’t be getting another Beemer. The car is fine the dealers are a disaster.

[mondeoman]

You went to the wrong dealer!

There are some charlatans out there, but find a good un and they'll look after you nicely.

You could've done the battery yourself, its easy to get to .

[steve-v8s]

Refused the battery scam becasue there is nothing wrong with it other than beeing flat because the fans ran all the time. With the new part fitted and a bit of charge it is fine. Agree there may be a better dealer but not within a reasonable distance. The main dealers I use to look after the company fleet ( Ford and Peugeot) bend over backwards to ensure we are happy.