2006 BMW X5 3.0I AC Condenser and Aux Fan Cause Overheating

[Nick416]

Hello,

I saw a couple of your posts and I am hoping you can answer my question. I have a 2006 bmw x5 3.0i. It over heated the other day while I was stopped with the ac on. The AC was not blowing cold at this time. It takes 10+ minutes sometimes to kick on. I let it cool down, turned the ac off and drive it home with no problems. When I got home I tried the ac again and noticed the condenser was not engaging nor was the aux fan. I let it run at idle for already 10 munchies with the ac selected and no changes. The air was still warm, the condenser wasn't on, aux fan wasn't spinning and it was at normal running temperature. I took it to the local shop and they told me that the aux fan needs to be replaced. They said that the condenser won't kick in if the fan is bad and they have no way to test the condenser. I just want to make sure the condenser didn't burn up and waste $800 to fix a fan and still have no ac. Is it true that if the fan is bad it will prevent the condenser from kicking on and could I have burned the condenser up by trying to run the ac with the aux fan not working? Thank you in advance for any help you can give!