Auxillary Fan not working

[autoAER]

Hi everyone,

The auxillary fan on my X5 3.0i is not working. Air conditioning works while driving but not at lower speeds/stops, and coolant temperature shoots up after its been driven around for a bit or if its hot outside. (Which promptly comes back down after I turn the heater on!)

This is a bit of a nit since the car is so low mileage, I don't really know why the electrical fan shouldn't be working (2005 with 55k miles)

I did some research and I found that there could be a number of things wrong with the fan. I stuck a screwdriver into the housing and the fan blades move just fine with no resistance. The odd thing is, when the fan is unplugged then plugged back in, it spins a few times (weakly) then stops.

The cooling system is entirely refreshed, expansion tank, radiator, thermostat housing, water pump, all done at 54k miles

If any of you have any idea or have had a similar problem, I'd appreciate any sort of help!

many thanks