Grrr, the blower is dead.

[ProfessorX5]

I hear this is a 15 hour diy... somebody say it ain't so. :P

[David.X5]

Nah, only 7-10 hours.

The whole dash has to come out. But, seriously, if you are experienced at DIY, it is probably 4 hours in and maybe 3 hours out. The actual blower is a two minute job once exposed.

Had to do this to get to my leaking evaporator.

[ProfessorX5]

Well, I replaced the FSU, and it was still not working.... how do I connect 12v to it directly.

[ProfessorX5]

A bit beyond my knowledge... and thanks to last yr's accident, if i twist around/bend a lot, my left leg stops working... so gonna have to find a shop here that isn't gonna try to take advantage.

I'm also clumsy handed now, and break stuff all the time, so messing with trim might be a bad idea for me. :P

[cncmastr]

The same thing happend to me, I replaced the FSU, did nothing. $2k later I have a new blower motor and evaporator (while you are in there...), and a squeaky footwell.


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[ProfessorX5]

$2k? Harsh. Might be time to trade the x in.

[motordavid]

Our '01 HVAC blower motor has been chirping for months/a year...
It does it on low more so than on higher fan settings, and weirdly seems slightly highway road speed affected, or maybe it's just 'motion' affected,

NEway, I suspect it is going to go Kaboom one of these days/weeks/months/year.

I was getting some suspension work done at my Asheville Indie a couple weeks ago and mentioned it. He rolled his eyes and said, "Yes we do them, there is an '06 in the end bay we are R & R'ng."

I walked down and looked: it looked like a gut job on the dash board, et al.

He said he has done dozens and it is not his fave job.

When ours goes, it may be time to consider stuff. I have seen the DIY or photos of the 'job' here, and it will not be done by yours truly, and may or may not be done by my Indie.

A ~$200 blower fan motor, with the front end/instrument panel/dash board of a car assembled around it...
GL, mD

[Zulu95]

This is a definite "While you are in there" moment. I had a plenum control valve go on the '96 Explorer when it was about 8 years old and had my indy do anything else including heater core and hoses while he was there. Cost about $100 -$150 more in parts but I did not have to have the dash torn out again in the 15 years we owned the vehicle. Given the complexity of the X5 in-dash electronics etc over the more simple '96 Explorer I would be trying to list everything to be changed and grabbing parts before hauling out the dash.

[cn90]

On rare occasion, the cause is FSR, so try a new FSR and see what happens.

To confirm dead blower, you can use the circuit diagram I posted on my E39 for jump starting the blower using 12V. See link below:

DIY: Trouble-shooting HVAC Blower Motor and FSR - Bimmerfest - BMW Forums

The bottom line is: look at the FSR connector itself...

- Jumper in #1 and #4: completing the ground circuit
- Another jumper in #2 and #5, feeding the blower with full 12V, it "should" run at max speed, if not blower is dead.

Just remember to remove the jumper wires when you are done.

[Ricky Bobby]

^This. Yes the dash has to be yanked but at least you won't have to do it for another 10-15 years at least. Not the best design from BMW for sure. But I would definitely be doing the evaporator at the same time, and anything else not easily accessed.