2004 X5 Auxiliary Fan Replacement DIY -part 1

[NashvilleDave]

...had to do this with two posts because of limit on number of pictures....



2004 X5 E53 Auxiliary Fan Replacement -Part 1



First off, thanks to everyone on the XOutpost Forum for contributing knowledge/details for the many DYIs I’ve utilized. I’ve done everything from changing sparkplugs to replacing the blower fan (total bee-otch) and without the community, all would have been more difficult if not impossible for me…and I’m a DYI-kind of guy!!.

Overview:
My fan went up at 172,000 so I can’t complain too much. However, the auxiliary fan design/installation changed model year 2004. Also, the Bentley Manual shows replacement for the earlier models, so it isn’t very helpful for ’04-‘06. For the ’00-’03 models, the procedure seemed pretty straightforward. Design change in ’04 requires a bit more part removal than in the earlier models. I rate the difficulty of this job a “5” on a scale 1-10. For time requirement, I’d say average 3-4 hours for experienced persons. I’ll be the first to admit, I’m SLOW when repairing stuff…but I seldom screw things up or have to backtrack/disassemble because I forgot something…this took me 6 hours including lunch break, kids asking for stuff, wife asking for stuff, etc etc etc….

For the 2004 and later models, I think you really need to remove the bumper skin and front bumper. Also, to keep track of “…which screws go where…”, I use a piece of cardboard and “pattern” on the cardboard where the screws are coming from and just push them into the cardboard for safekeeping….I’ve done this for years and it’s a good way to know positively where the screws go and it keeps them out of the way.

Removing the bumper provided the room I needed to get to the fan and remove through the bottom. Here’s the fan I used…I’m not endorsing it, but it fit and the price was right and I’ve had good luck with Dorman stuff in the past. (and it has been in the car a few weeks now with no problems):

More Information for DORMAN 621213


Use these previous instructions in tandem with mine…they were very helpful:

1) http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-foru...ditioning.html

2) http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-foru...tioning-4.html


1) Remove the bumper skin…Here’s a good reference from Pelican Parts (I had to remove my fog light covers to get to bolts covered by them but this was easy with a non-marring plastic pry tool)
Pelican Technical Article - BMW X5 - Front Bumper Replacement E53

Also, this post shows the screw outlay for removing the bumper skin and bumper (though the model is a 2001, screw layout is very close to the same…only difference I think being those behind the fog light covers. The .pdf link didn’t work for me, but this is still a good reference.
http://www.xoutpost.com/articles/x5/...r-removal.html

Steps:

Before removing the bumper skin, remove all the screws, and disconnect the fog lamps, horns, and any other ancillary connectors/sensors that may be unique to your model. Also, don’t forget these screws under the wheel well:





On the illustration below, I’ve red-circled these two locations where I DIDN’T have any screws…just blank plastic so yours may too!




A challenge in removing the bumper skin in the 2004 and later models where the “tabs” on the front fender that snap into place on the bumper skin. Here is a picture of the tab area on the removed bumper skin and on the front fender:



These are the tab areas on the front fender:


It’s hard to describe the motion that succeeded separating the skin from the bumper in this tab area….it is a combination of pulling down, out toward the outer edge of the tire, and then forward to remove the skin from the bumper….remember, don’t do this until you’ve removed all the screws and disconnected the fog lamps and any other connectors.



Bumper skin off:



Next, remove the bumper. Just remove the bolts that attach it:
…here’s a graphic of some of the bolts that attach it….both on passenger and driver side….



Bumper removed…..with help from my 14 and 12 yr old sons!! rest it on 5 gal buckets worked for me!!

[NashvilleDave]

...Here is part 2 of the thread

Once your bumper is removed, you need to remove the air ducts and the components (circled in red):



(item #15 isn’t addressed in the steps but there is one on each side that comes unclipped and removed)

Passenger side air duct (#7 in above diagram):
(Notice the reusable body rivet in the top of the duct)




Passenger side duct (#2 in diagram): This and the driver side one are both secured by just a reusable rivet and one of the bumper screws (?). Once the fasteners are out, just pull them up and out.





Bottom air duct (#11 in diagram):




Driver side air duct (#1 in diagram):






Then only had to reposition this driver side air duct (#6) I believe:



Remove the bolts on each side of the fan. You should now be able to pull your old fan out. Pull the fan down, and tilt the bottom of it out just a little. It is held in place by a bolt on each side AND, at the top of the fan shroud, plastic pressure clips (one on each side) under which the lip of the fan’s top is slid under and is held in place by friction only…this is where a few guys had a problem….see the graphic below of the pressure clip…this is with the fan removed to give the clearest picture:





….Here’s a picture of the old fan with its tab under the pressure clip at top:




Inserting the new fans is easy, but the top of the fan shroud MUST go under those pressure clips at the top. I did have one problem with the Dorman fan…the “lip” that goes under the pressure clip, was not beveled on the driver side so I had to Dremel it to about a 45 degree angle and just took a couple minutes to do…this is the tab can slide under the pressure clip….here’s a picture of the old fan and you can see how it was beveled (forgot to take picture of new fan without the bevel):






Put new fan in reverse procedure and should look something like this:

[richardb]

Excellent write up! I just completed this job and created a video tutorial, hopefully it helps whoever is about to tackle this fan!

[megadrive]

Hey, thanks for the write up and video, very helpful! I was able to slide the Aux fan without loosening or removing the metal bumper support, it was fairly easy slide requiring just a little force. I removed the protecting grill when I did it and it slid without loosening a single bolt. Any of you have had a similar experience removing it or is it just me? Any idea why? Everything seemed tightened, no loose parts. This is on 2004 X5 3.0i.

[PCH BMW]

Original post - Fantastic. Many thanks

I too did not remove or even touch a bolt on the metal bumper to remove the original BMW/Siemens fan or to install the new TYE fan. X5 2004 3.0

I did 2 small steps instead.
1 put the front of the car up on ramps so I could slide the fan down and clear the bumper. Also much more comfortable to do this job with th front raised.

2. I removed the 2 bolts on top of the radiator that secure to to the subframe.
Just to give a bit more flex in the radiator. I also sprayed simple green cleaner on the backside of the old and new fans to help them slide.

Dec. 2019. TYE aux fan is working well 18 months later. Not as efficient as the OEM and 30% louder, but the cost savings makes it well worth it. In 110 heat in La Quinta CA it took the AC a bit more time to get to icy cold due to TYE fan (3-5 more min.