Noise from Dashboard like a electrical fan is blowing even with engine off

[carlgo]

Your sure it is from the dash? Could you be hearing the engine fan running? It runs on after the motor is turned off in order to cool down the radiator.

Just asking just in case it isn't the resistor thing mentioned by kewl.

[myamin]

It's definitely not the engine fan. It may be that if you took your ear near the HVAC instrument cluster of your x5 you may hear it too and it could be normal. I will take it to dealer on Tuesday although I haven't had any problems such as battery.

[noncom23]

Just change out the resistor and see if it stops.

[myamin]

Hello all,

Just came back from the dealer. It's normal for the two small fans right at the HVAC instrument clusters to run for twenty minutes after even removing the keys. It has to do with a convenience package that after twice explaining to me I still do not follow. He said a lot of people don't even know that this feature exists.

So, if you hear this fan noise. It's normal.

with best regards,
Mohammad

[fatboyoz]

Originally Posted by myamin

Hello all,

Just came back from the dealer. It's normal for the two small fans right at the HVAC instrument clusters to run for twenty minutes after even removing the keys. It has to do with a convenience package that after twice explaining to me I still do not follow. He said a lot of people don't even know that this feature exists.

So, if you hear this fan noise. It's normal.

with best regards,
Mohammad

My 05 Diesel with auto' climate control has made this noise almost from day one. It is caused by one small fan (not two) mounted behind the left hand vent in the climate control panel that draws cabin air across a sensor to sample the cabin air temperature. How do I know there is only one fan? My climate control started to play up a couple of weeks ago. All of a sudden it would go very cold and not regulate to the selected temperature. I pulled the climate control panel out and found that the fan (and there is definitely only one) had stopped working due to dust and lint accumulation. I used Electronic Contact Cleaner from an aerosol can (with a small tube) to blast all of the dust and lint out of the fan. I did it from the back of the panel so that the dirty liquid would exit the front of the panel. The fan then started up and has been running ever since. It still makes a slight "ticking" noise when running. This fan starts up as soon as one of the doors is opened, and stops about 8 minutes after the you leave the vehicle when it goes into sleep mode. If you are ever in doubt as to whether or not this fan is running, put a small piece of facial tissue over the L/H vent, and the fan should suck it onto the front of the control panel.
Colin.

[Dan X5]

As it was rightly found the noise is caused by a small fan mounted behind the left hand vent in the climate control panel that draws cabin air across a sensor to sample the cabin air temperature.
I also pulled the climate control panel out and found that the fan accumulated dust and with moisture from the air it created a film of dirt on the rotary wheel of the fan you can not just blast out by using pressurized air (altho it´s good to blow out a dust from outside of the panel every 3 to 6 months).
I disconnected and dismounted the whole panel, pulled out the electronic board with the fan and here´s what I found: the fan wheel rotates horizontaly and the only force that holds its axle to the fan´s engine is permanent magnet, i.e. very small force.
I assume that the dirt plus may be other things like bumps on the road etc. pull the wheel lower and it starts hitting the plastic back cover of the panel.
Anyway - I cleaned the wheel usig a little brush, mounted everything together and the noise IS FINALLY GONE after 2 years. (...and yes...the fan runs ... I checked it )

My recomendation:
- first try to blow out the dirt from outside the panel without pulling it out using pressurized air (it didn´t help in my case but you´ll be surprized by the amount of the dust coming out).

If this is not helpful:
- pull out the aircon panel
- the fan wheel can be cleaned from behind by brush without disassembling the panel
- make sure the wheel is in the most upper position, anotherwords it is not in contact with the case of the panel

I hope this helps.


...there´s some more news...
The noise is back.

This morning I sat in the car and checked the noise - no noise. So I was very happy.
After driving it arround bumpy Prague the sound is back.

The only reason I´m able to come up with is that the permanent magnet is aging - getting weeker over the time and it is not able to hold the fan´s wheel in place. At this moment I don´t have solution to this.