Auxiliary Pusher Fan Failure - FIRE!!!
 

OK, so Wifey decides to go shopping the other night and parks the X5 and suddenly white smoke begins to billow out of the kidney grills like it's on fire. The thick white smoke is so acrid, She can't get near the hood to open it up for a few minutes but eventually does and discovers the A/C Auxiliary Pusher fan is on FIRE! Luckily, she has a bottle of water in the cup holder, grabs it and dumps it into the the fan and douses it but the fan motor is still glowing orange and eventually goes out. HOLY CRAP!

She called me and I arrived 20 minutes later to discover a smoldering fan motor and the 50 AMP fuse is cooked. Thank goodness the fuse went and cut-off the power and her quick thinking with the bottle of water probably saved our X5 from destruction!

So, now here's my question - WTF??? We purchased this X5 over 15 years ago, are the original owners and have maintained her very well over the years. Has anyone else encountered this problem? Two days later, the engine compartment still reeks of burnt electronics and the A/C won't turn on since the fan is cooked. Great - we just spent $2,700 to have both CATS replaced and 02 sensors and now this...

Is there a recall or something that we missed? This is a dangerous situation and I'm grateful that my Wife is safe and unharmed, but without her quick thinking with the water bottle, things could have turned ugly real fast.

I asked her - in the future - if this ever happens again, please don't open the hood if there's smoke - get out and away quickly and call 911. A 15 year-old truck isn't worth risking your life!

Attached is a photo of what I found upon arrival.

Glad you and your wide are safe! Can you post some pictures of the damage by chance? It may help us narrow down how the issue may have started.

IIRC, there was a recall on the Aux fan, way back when...
Our '01 3.0 got the notice and we had it R&R'd back in early 2002.

I would check to see if the recall/R&R had been done on yours, though that may give little solace. But, if it had been done it may be a warning to those of us with the 2nd gen but very old 'replaced' Aux fans.

Glad your wife is OK, (that is really all that matters), and kudos to her for saving your car. And, hope your ins covers the needed fix/reconditioning.
GL, mD

There were at least two recalls on the fan.

Google "bimmerfest E39 Aux Fan fire" and you will see.

IIRC, the fire starts in the circuitboard (part of the Aux Fan) itself and not the electrical motor. I maybe wrong though.

First & foremost, thanks all for responding and the kind words on my Wife's well-being. This could have turned out much worse and we are grateful that everyone is safe.

Here's a photo of the base/hub of the fan. Surprisingly, the fan looks fairly normal, but weirdly, there's an oily substance around the hub and shroud area of the fan. I swabbed a Q-tip in the 2nd photo - it reeks of burnt electronic smell. I'm still not sure if it's the motor that caught fire or the logic board as others have suggested. Either way, it blew out a 50 Amp fuse which is huge. We're calling our local BMW dealer tomorrow that we purchased her from to see if there are any outstanding recalls or if any were missed. I'm contemplating replacing the 50 Amp fuse to see what happens but I don't need a repeat of the original event again. The A/C no longer works and we're hoping it's due to the fan problem and not that the A/C compressor is toast as a result of the fan getting cooked.

Thanks for the kind words on my Wife's well-being mD and you're right, that's all that matters! I haven't posted on this forum in quite some time and wanted to get the word out in the event this helps others. I'm glad to hear you're still on this forum as well as Zulu95. You guys helped us out many-a-time in various situations and we greatly appreciate your help. So glad to hear from you again, it's been many years of friendship for sure!

Hanging in there and still driving the X5 we bought from New Country BMW in Hartford, PRoCT.
I would not bother reconnecting that fan as it is toast. I see you spending a little money on a new fan plus fitting. Doubt if dealer will interested in helping. I know I had a heck of a time just to get CPO work carried out and done right. 14 trips to $tealer in the first 2 months if I remember correctly.
Buy yourselves a nice big fire extinguisher for each vehicle. Time I replaced some of those we have.

AC issue will resolve when the fuse is replaced; it won't work without the fan. Glad all Ok. You can enter your VIN on BMW site and it will verify if there are any outstanding recalls:

https://www.bmwusa.com/safety-recalls.html