Originally Posted by weasel56

sarnomel
No the blower is different from the aux fan. the blower fan makes it blow at you, the aux fan is the big electric fan in front of the radiator and condenser behind the grilles.

musali
If the aux fan wasn't working, the high side pressure would get really high when the ac is operating, the aux fan cools the condenser which lowers the head pressure. If the operating pressures were "within specs" then the low side should have been about 30-35psi, and the high side anywhere from 180ish to 250ish... depending on outside temperature and other environmental conditions. Anytime you set the ac to max, the aux fan should be running pretty fast, if it isn't running at all, I'd check power and signal to it, then replace it. However if its coming on, replacing it will do no good. If it gets cold when you first start the car in the morning, then gets hot as the engine warms, the heater control valves could be sticking open... which heats the air the ac just cooled. But if it does stay hot all the time, you should find out what the running pressures actually are and how they change/react to higher engine speeds, like holding it at 2000 rpms. Whoever looks at the system to diagnose it for you needs to fully understand how an ac system works and how to "read" the pressures... has to know what causes what. The guys at jiffylube are NOT the best people for this, as that is the proverbial bottom of the barrel when it comes to competent mechanics. I wouldn't even let them change the oil in a BMW. (although watching them search for the oil filter is quite funny)

And one more thing, don't let an experience with one bad tech ruin your perception of a "stealership" I know the labor price and parts prices are higher, but in general, you get what you pay for. I have been a tech at a BMW dealership for about 5 years now, and was at a few different independents including pep boys before. I can tell you MOST of the techs at the dealership are a HELL of alot better than even the better techs at an independent for diagnosing and fixing your BMW. Its just that they do hire some younger, less experienced kids from a generic tech school... and they are the ones who make the occasional simple mistakes and miss-diagnosis. If you go to the dealer for the correct parts instead of cheap aftermarket ones, and for specialized, factory trained techs that work on the same kind of car all day... and subsequently know them inside and out. Simply request from your service adviser to give your car to a "senior tech" or master tech for diagnosis.

Originally Posted by weasel56

You may have to remove the bumper cover on the front... don't remember off hand because my brain is fried from a long weekend of heavy drinking and long nights on top of lots of work on the house during daylight hours.

The replacement info should be on your TIS disc , but they like to hide things in odd places. The fan may either be under engine electronics or under ac/heat climate control... but it is there somewhere.

Originally Posted by weasel56

I was just able to get into TIS, look under repair instructions, group 17, cooling system; subgroup 40, auxillery electrical fan. Hopefully you can find that on your TIS cd... I'm getting it from the BMW tech website, but that is a protected site with login. But the TIS cd should have it.

And no need to remove condenser, just bumper cover and some supports.

Originally Posted by Weasel (Post 600541)

Sometimes if the AUX fan is not working, the IHKA will not release the compressor to turn on.... worked on one today like that. Unfortunately you have to remove the whole front bumper to change the AUX fan.

And for a proper diagnosis bring it to the dealer or any other shop with the GT1 as you can look at ac request status and go through component activation to see if the ac compressor and aux fan work, etc. The proper test equipment makes a world of difference in the diagnosis process.