I just replaced the blower yesterday, so I can tell you it is IMPOSSIBLE to do it without taking off the entire dashboard.

It is not difficult to do, but it is tedious! I estimate it will likely take you at least 6 hours to do this.

When you do this keep track of all the wires you disconnect and where they go.

After I did this yesterday, I now have 3 connectors (two on the driver side footwell area (one red and one light blue) and one on the passenger side footwell area (black connector)) which I have no clue where they go... I don't know if they were not connected to anything before I took it apart or if I just can't find the component to which they connect! :-(. I opened a thread about that, hopefully someone has a clue. Anyway, if you end up doing this job it would be great if you could see if you have those same connectors lose already.

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2001 BMW X5 3.0i, Automatic, Gasoline