Heater blower noise??
 

Hey all, recently at 44,000 miles my X is making a little noise which of course the dealer says is 'normal'. (considering it didn't make the noise last year, I find that hard to believe)

Here is the deal:

With the heat on the car makes a heavy blower sound, turn the heat off, the sound stops. This does not happen with the AC.

Any thoughts?

FYI, everything is under warranty.

I too have 40,000 miles on my '02, and had heater/ac fan noises. (It oscillated up and down, plus sporadic whistling noises). Finally it just quit completely, and they replaced the fan motor, which they said necessitated removing the whole dashboard to obtain access. As I have an extended warranty, I only paid the $50 deductible.

Rick G

Hmm, interesting. I'm not to concerned on cost since I am still under the original warranty. When I go in soon for regular maintanance I'm going to bring that up, thanks!!

Hmm. I have been plagued with a "sounds like a penny in a metal coffee thermos sound" in the dash and is amazing how odd noises not installed at the factory seem to become normal after 20,000 miles. Stay after them...

Haha, I intend to. I love how the dealer says "thats normal". Well if it wasn't there when I bought the car, it isn't normal IMO. I will accept moans and groans with age but not huge noises that can be narrowed down to something very specific.

When i start the engine and the climate control turns on right away on the lowest fan level, there is a humming noise coming from the vents or the whol unit itself, im not to sure what it could be. As soon as i turn the climate control completly off, the sound goes away. Weird

i dropped my 06 4.4i off at the dealer for almost the same thing. my problem is a fluttering sounds when the fan/ac unit is on when you are at idle and when you press the gas peddle. sitting at the starbucks drive thru with the window down it's quite obvious. sorry, but i don't think that's normal, and you shouldn't hear the fan/ac unit in the car in my opinion. the "normal" operation was already said, but i also have had a strange sounds when accelerating hard, sounds like the mufflers are buffered. definitely doesn't sound like a normal v8. then i turn the fan/ac unit all the way off and all the sounds go away. i'll post tomorrow after the dealer tells me very thing is "normal"

Any new input on this issue? I have noticed that mine does the same exact thing. When idling with the fan on there is a humming noise and you can almost feel a small vibration as well. Turn the fan off and the noise goes away. I am about to be out of warranty and want to take it to the stealer if it is an issue that they will take care of. I just don't want to make an appt drive down there, get a rental and waste my time if the majority dealers are pretending it is normal. What do you think my odds are on getting them to do anything about it?

Same noise in my 2005. I suppose they call it normal because many make the noise after a couple years.:rolleyes:

FSETH and others that apply I guess... If there is a slight vibration to be felt with a fan speed dependant humming noise then my guess would be the squirrel cage on the blower fan is getting slightly out of balance. Quite possibly from slight/uneven dust buildup or usually a leaf falls down in there when the ac microfilters are changed, which can also get past the blower cage against the outer casing and cause the fluttering sound some hear as the blower fan rubs against it. When it comes to perceptive problems like this, details are key! As a tech at the dealer I can't tell you how many times I have to get the service adviser to call the customer back and all but grill them for more details on certain circumstances needed to duplicate the complaint. I don't want to "could not verify" because BMWNA does not pay me unless work is done, and not "adjustments" either, I have to change a part to get paid under warranty. If you give them all the details needed, that already narrows it down to the point that they can pretty much just change your blower motor, which means r&i the dash to open the hvac box. But if you just say "the air sounds different" (yes, I've had that one) then we have nothing to go on! So god luck and good speed!

Thanks for the info. I guess I will take it down there and see what they say.

The noise does not appear to be comming from behind the dash. If sounds almost like it is coming from under the car or something. It is not that loud, but it is a deep humming/droning noise that like I said, almost causes a very slight vibration in the entire car. Almost like a seat of the pants vibration. It does not fluctuate with fan speed, but once the whole HVAC system is shut down, the noise stops. It is really only noticible when I am stopped at a traffic light or something. The noise is also not constant. It comes and goes randomly for a few seconds on and a few seconds off. The duration of the noise and the time between noises varies.

I know that these noise issues are nearly impossible to diagnose without people hearing it for yourself. I was just trying to see if enough people have had a similar issue and had it resolved so I knew what to tell the dealer.

If it seems more from under the car it might be in the ac system, stemming from the compressor... Try this, when it is doing the vibration try leaving the air blowing but turning the ac compressor off and turn off the recirc. If it goes away it is likely the compressor , and the pressure would likely show a slight fluctuation in ac gauges.

Will do. The wife has the car now, so first chance I get I will try this out and let you know.

FSETH, congratulations on your humming problem. I've just started having the same problem:rolleyes: . Well, almost the same. Mine is a soft, persistent humming when the A/C is on. Turn off the air, no hum. Turn it back on: hum....Seems to be coming from somewhere behind the dash. Of course, Murphy's Law dictates that this problem appeared immediately after my 50,000 mile BMW warranty expired.

It almost feels like BMW NA specifically programmed this problem to appear precisely when the warranty runs out.:(

I'm wondering if the Warranty Direct Major Care coverage (which I currently have) would apply to this. Weasel56: Do u know if blower motor is covered by Major Care?

Anyone else here having this A/C issue?

That sux. Especially just outside of the warranty period. My extended warranty is about to expire in a couple thousand miles. I sure hope my tranny doesn't decide to do what you blower just did.

I still have to try what Weasel suggested a few posts back, but I have been busy and my wife is the primary driver of the X, so I havn't had a chance.

Low drone from fan speed settings
 

fseth.... My issue is identical did you figure it out?