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

[crystalworks]

Originally Posted by upallnight

Wow $2000 after buying a BMW???? Even enthusiast don't always keep up their BM Trouble U. I use to belong to the local BM Trouble U club and many members once the warranty was over they stop bringing their cars in for work and just drive them until they buy a new car.

Yeah, I didn't mean ALL enthusiasts maintain their BMW perfectly... but the way to get a good one is to buy from one of the enthusiasts who do. LOL or buy a really good aftermarket warranty... which usually still costs $2k - $3k based on the quotes I was given for my wife's e83 mtech X3.

OP, I'm not sure why your compressor isn't turning on. A bad aux fan alone will not cause that I don't think, unless the pressure is building up and tripping the pressure switch. Even if that were happening, you would still get cold air while you were driving at highway speed when air is moving over the condenser.

[Nick416]

That is what is confusing. The shop told me the compressor will not engage if the fan is bad. Some of the posts that I've read said that is true and some say it is not true. Member B-M-W says that is correct. I am hoping he is right because I gave the shop the go ahead to fix the fan.

[upallnight]

Originally Posted by 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!

First off lets get the terminology correct. It's the COMPRESSOR that turns on Not the Condenser. Only way that you can burn up a compressor if you ran it low on oil and it suffered what is know in the industry as the Black Death.

There's one member on this board that will tell you that he still get ac even with a fan fault. It depends on how the fan failed. You can test to see if 12 volt DC is still available at the fan connector. It should be present whether the key is on or off. No 12 volts will indicates that the fuse has blown. Only reason why that 50 amp fuse will blow is if the aux fan shorted out. If this is the case you need a new aux fan.

Here's a post from another forum member with the same problem and his fix:

http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-foru...-suddenly.html

[Nick416]

There is power to the fan but the fan does not come on. That's what I was told by the shop. They said once I replace the fan the compressor should function normally. There is no way for them to test the compressor. Thank you for classifying the terminology!

[Nick416]

BTW I am referring to the ac compressor not condenser

[Nick416]

Crystalworks, I am referring to the compressor. Also I am guilty of diving my last 3 series with the ses light on for a while before I traded it in to lol

[B-M-W]

Don't hope that I am right.

Your vehicle is programmed to disable particular items when a fault occurs and this is one of them.

What you should be doing is taking the fan apart yourself. This is a very easy DIY.

[crystalworks]

Originally Posted by B-M-W

Don't hope that I am right.

Your vehicle is programmed to disable particular items when a fault occurs and this is one of them.

What you should be doing is taking the fan apart yourself. This is a very easy DIY.

Good to know. I guess all the modules are tied together and communicating faults and the like. I am used to diagnosing older BMW's I must admit...

OP, perhaps your shop diagnosed your problems with software which told them the compressor was not engaging due to a failed aux fan. That would make sense.

[Nick416]

Thank you B-M-W!

[Nick416]

I wish I knew how to do it. I read some other posts that say the front bumper has to be removed.