X5 AC strange behavior
 

My 2004 X5 AC is acting strange. Blowing cold air it "puffs" meaning that when turned on, it starts blowing cold air but works intermittently. It runs 30 sec. then stops then starts then stops.... It seems to happen more when stressed meaning very hot outside, but even if I change the settings such as put it on Max, it still stops and starts. If I put it on the lowest fan level it seems to run a little longer. There are times when the AC works fine for long periods of time. I called a Bimmerworks shop close by (Elsmere, DE) and the mechanic said that he has only seen this happen with one other X5 and he ran diagnostics but couldn't find the problem.

I am asking for advice since I had a "runs rough in cold weather " problem, took it to the dealership, and then spent $600 of my money replacing ALL the coils and I still have the same problem. So the dealer seems to have mechanics who just run diagnostics and replace the "light bulbs".

Has anyone seen the same AC problem? Recommendations?

Yes...it is most likely your final stage resistor. Do a search on the site, tons of threads. It's an easy DIY repair too!

I have a feeling you are low on refrigerant. Take it to an AC shop and have them check it.

+1 on both replies. Check R134a pressure first (get the gauge and DIY), should read over 35 psi on an 80 deg F day with engine running and set to max cool settings (rear set to max too).
If the pressure checks OK, replace the FSR. Many here have tried to save a few $s by getting non-OEM E-Bay FSRs (China crap) only to replace them less then a year later (mine lasted under 6 mos). Don't be sucked in by the 50% savings on E-Bay, go OEM.

+3 on above. If all of those fail to fix it, your AC belt may be slipping because of a bad tensioner.

There is an FSR on eBay for about $42 w/ free shipping. It says it is Hamman OEM quality. Please, anyone know anything about Hamman? I think I need one. A local parts store has one for $82+tax, but I don't know what brand it is.

My 01 X5 started having the blower run for a long time after the ignition was turned off. Then, it wouldn't stop blowing at all, for hours, unless I tricked it somehow (turn it back on, turn up to max & back off, etc.). A/C stopped cooling on the passenger side, so I had R-134a added at a shop (they said it was low). That got it cooling on both sides again, but doesn't seem as cool as should be. Now, blower seems to have a mind of its own and is running even faster after it is turned off, and usually won't go off unless I pull out the 50A blower fuse behind the glove box. It even started running fast sometimes when it is on low fan. The running on after off has killed the battery twice this week.

I think I need to try replacing the FSR, but I hate to pay $82 to just try it. Again, anyone know anything about the Hamman brand?

Thanks.

X5cat. Now your issue sounds like FSR. Stay away from eBay shit. Not worth it. Contact this guy. This is direct BMW dealer that gives insane good pricing. You will be surprised how little difference the original and eBay ones cost. Tell him you are from Xoutpost. The price is better for "clubs".

Craig Hacker
Fixed Operations Director
BMW of Bloomfield*
973-780-9551
[email protected]

Thanks, Slick. Unfortunately for my wallet, the wife says I don't have time to be ordering parts -- she must have her ride and a/c back! So, I went ahead and picked up the FSR that the local foreign car parts store had in stock this afternoon. $90 with tax, but I figured at least I wasn't getting the cheap chinese variety I had seen warnings about. I felt alright about it as I paid for it at the counter and picked up the box and read Meyle, Germany. Then, turned the box around and read Made in China. Who knows?

At least I got it in and so far blower seems to be acting normal. Of course, it may take hours, days, or weeks to really tell.

Thanks for the parts source, anyway. I'm sure it will come in handy in the future!

You didn't buy at dealer? That sux. Well you know what you can do. Take your old FSR and fix it. There is a how to floating around. A guy fixed it, and it has been fine ever since. You will have a spare at least.

Well I am having Battery draining issues with the blower staying on after the x5 is switched off..

I just bought my FSU from amazon (Behr Hella Service 351321511) for $63 with tax and 1 day shipping.

I did find it at partsgeek to for a good price. I chose amazon because of my DAMN Prime membership.

Slick, if I had realized sooner I was getting the chinese stuff at probably the dealer price, yes, I would have checked into that. I could have gotten chinese off of eBay for under $30, but the wife was on me to just get it done! I'm just hoping maybe I got "good chinese". It's still working right now, so at least maybe I have solved the mystery of what the problem was. That was the biggest part of the battle. I guess at least I didn't pay a dealer or another shop $300 or $400 to play around with it. If it goes out again, I will definitely check with the contact you named -- thanks!

Paul, I think you are on the right track with looking at the FSR as the culprit. So far, seems to have fixed mine (fingers crossed).

BTW -- I am something of a soldering expert. So, I will rip the potting compound out of the old one, do a little forensic investigation on it, and see if I can resolder it to make a spare. Maybe I'll see some improvements I can make to it. If so, I'll report here.

Even better. Let us know how it goes. I bet you will figure it out.

Hi X5cat! I was just wondering about the part that you replaced and caused
your auxiliary fan to work. However I' having the same problem too,
where my A/C work intermittenly specially when stoping at red lights/traffic
I wanted to know exactly at which part you're refering to?
It is the one pictured below located upfront just above the radiator?

Please let me know before ending-up to buy expensive aux fan for nothing

X5 Cat replaced the FSR. Final Stage Resistor. This unit fails, and causes erratic blower motor functions.

mysweetx5, yours sounds like you need to have an AC specialist add refrigerant. Go to an AC shop, and let them test your system, and add Freon.

Also, everyone, please add your car info into your sig. Like mine for example. Helps the people replying identify your car on the fly. Thanks.

No slickGT1, it's not like I don't have freon in the system, it just blowing
regular hot air specially when stop or after sitting at the sun light for so long, and it seems not pushing enough cold air to cool off the cabine.
Otherwise any temperature from: 80 to 88 degree outside, I'm ok
N'less it goes up from: 94 to 103 degree up.

sweet, what is the refrigerant pressure? it still seems that the system is not fully charged.

On the issue when the AC still works when the ignition is off - try to disconnect the battery for about 20 minutes (it takes 16 minutes for all the modules to "die off" and lose the short-term memory). It seems that IMHA (or IHKA?) needs to be reset. If this doesn't help, then carry on with other troubleshooting techniques

No sweet, you are not reading what I am saying. I did not say you don't have freon, I said you are most likely low. Thus, the freon cannot move enough heat to cool when standing still.

Go to an AC shop. Pay the person some money. Then come back and tell us thank you.

slick, ну ты жестко с парнем!!! хахаха... так ему, поделом...

Second time in a week, I give advice, second time someone tells me no, it is not the case. The other one was the tail light guy. You finally spoon fed him the process and now he gets it. And that is his second post on the issue.

A few weeks ago when I tested my freon with a can gauge (Artic Freeze Ultra Synthetic 134a that I bought, it read between the line where it supposed to be: 30 to 45psi. So i leaved it alone and don't wanna add anymore. That was for the lower port side, but I'm not sure about the higher port.

yeah, i remember that post... lol... I just got more patience, i think it comes with the territory - i live in a small shack in a country side, you live in a fast, bustly metropolitan city - you have to be fast... To be honest, in my line of work I have to explain a lot of technical things to people of various backgrounds - in one country they think electricity is a God-given miracle, while in other places (read: Moscow) we have PhDs working as security guards and they can teach me a few things about electronics... lol... so, I line up for the least common denominator... lol...

My lower feeding port side read between: 30 to 45psi with a can gauge
Arctic freeze fully synthetic 134a that I bought 3 weeks ago. So I'm not
sure about the higher port side.

Dude, the $20 can of 134 is absolute bs for these cars. It cannot compare to a $5000 recovery and delivery machine. The systems in this car are sensitive, requiring less that a pound of refrigerant. Did you follow all instructions as well? Did you account for ambient temp outside?

Thanks for the advice SlickGT1
ButI didn't really use the freon in it, I bought the can for $29
which was the longuest one and the cheapestI could find online.
I used it just to measure the capacity inside the system but,
as it appeared to be at the normal level: It was about:96 degree outside
and it reads from: 35 to 45psi. So there were no need to add more freon.

I think the bad behavior came from my auxiliary fan that has not been working and caused my A/C to be running warm specially when stopped.

Alright. Listen, the low side pressure reading alone cannot tell you if you system is full, over or under filled. Some of these guys know what they are talking about.
Pay attention.
Give details.

You think it is full. Doesn't matter.
It sounds like you need to talk about what the auxiliary fan is doing and why yo think it's bad (other that the ac not working right)

If you are not going to listen stop asking questions.



And even the free crap-tastic gauge attached to the $29 can of refrigerant is crap. And you still hace no way of knowing what the high side is doing.

Sent from my SGH-i917 using Board Express

Sweet: Check the Aux fan and the associated relay which I think you have pictured. You only get cooled air when there is air moving through the radiator. If the aux. fan/relay is bad then the only time the radiator is getting cooled is when the vehicle is moving.

Thanks apreciated guys for your input!
And I will check that relay pictured to see if that was the culprit
causing my aux fan to not working when A/C kicks in.
Otherwise I don't remember how much the higher port should read
but I'm pretty sure once the aux fan starts working again,
the A/C performance specially when stopped at traffic will be ok.

I tested the connector that bring the power to the fan, and Yes
there's power there even when engine's not running, but I never
see that fan spinning when A/C running.

If the poster is new to the forum and has an AC issue, many here will tell the OP to check the low pressure reading, if the system is in working order it may only need a topping off of R134a. Many here are well aware that the high pressure reading will give more insite into the overall condition of the AC system.
As for the the need of a $5000 machine to work on these systems, this is incorrect. I personally use the Inficon Vortex machine to service my own vehicles, you can pick these up for under $300 used on E-Bay (currently one for $265 buy it now).

Many shops will not due what the owner instructs during AC repair/maintenance due to time and materal costs. Some will evac a system for only a few minutes after a failed part is replaced when a 30 minute evac may be better, some shops will return the old Pax (compressor) oil when the owner has instructed that new oil be installed during a service. DIY is the best bet, you know what you have.

Tiag, the op is clearly not going to buy a $300 machine when they are looking for the cheapest can to buy. The point is, that $29 can, aint going to do much, or even give an accurate reading. And the shop that does have the $5000 machine, is that, a shop. I am sure it is meant to be more than a DIY unit. That Vortex does look tits though.

Everyone read post 16. He is ok if the temps are below 90. This by itself, means the system can't exchange all the heat. Yea there is an off chance the AC blower is messed up. It is cheaper to go to an AC shop and have them diagnose the system.

High and Low need to be accurately measured.

No slick!
I do not fully agreed with you on this:damn:economic way
Coz everyone is looking a cheapest way out, instead of
being charged with the higher stealer price for every single thing.
And if I could put down: $22,000+in cash to get my X5 when I first
bought it 6yrs ago, this $500 machine is not a big issue to own.

By the way I would love to have heavy duty tools like that to work
at home, but it just where I live I do not have enough space to built
my own garage. Otherwise I've been doing alot on cars for the past
6yrs without going to any stealers. And I have to thank all of you guys
in this forum that made it possible and shared pictures for everyone.

The last heavy job I completed on this car was: replacing transm. fluid.
2months ago, it still running great as usual.

The Aux fan is designed to run at various speeds to help with the heat exchange. The older cars used a resistor pack, similar to the FSR on the inside fan blower, the newer cars (i think, including yours), are using a Pulsed modulation, when the IHKA module feeds so much electricity to the fan, and it spins at variable speed.

The fan, being placed in front of the car, is known to collect bugs, leaves and other crap and eventually, that crap craps out the motor. It has been documented on other boards, that some folks had removed the fan and cleaned the creaveces in the electric motor area and thus revived the fan.

BMW moved the fan on newer cars behind the radiator thus preventing that particular problem of the fan getting bombarded with bugs...

How is your AC when you are moving? Say, you are on a freeway, and moving 50-60 MPH, is the AC functioning as designed?

directly from the HORSE's mouth:

Vehicles with M62TU, S62 and M73 engines feature a viscous fan as well as an electric fan. The electric fan cuts in when the cooling capacity of the viscous fan is no longer sufficient.
The electric fan is activated by means of a power output stage directly on the fan motor. The motor control unit activates this power output stage by means of a square-wave signal with duty factors (variable pulse width) between 10 % and 90 % thus controlling the various speeds of the electric fan. Pulse duty factors less than 5 % and greater than 95 % do not trigger activation but rather they are used for fault detection purposes. The power output stage features its own positive and ground supply.
The fan speed is influenced by the coolant temperature at the radiator outlet and the pressure in the air conditioning system. The fan speed is reduced as the vehicle speed increases.
If a fault occurs during operation a corresponding fault code will be stored in the fault code memory of the DME control unit.
For the purpose of checking operation and troubleshooting, the diagnostic program offers the option of activating the electric fan directly via the DIS tester/MoDiC.

I've been away for awhile. It was nice to login and find a thread dealing with my issue and to see some soud advice being givin. My X started blowing warm air when stationary for awhile. Once moving it gets as cold as ever. I don't have to be on the highway, just moving along. The compressor click when engaging is more loud than usual and the engine bogs down more than usual when this happens. So I will check the r134 pressure/level, the aux fan and relay first. Thanks for the advice. 2001 X5 3.0i.

Welcome back diazz!
As you described, we have similar issue on our X5,
once I hit the road independ how hot it is outside, meaning
if the temperature is around: 94 to 100's, it kind of hard to keep-up
with this highest heat outhere. In addition, my Aux fan has not been
working at all.
Thats when I searched the forum on A/C problem not blowing cold enough
on traffic, but came up to this auxiliary fan that also apart on the colder
air inside the cabine. And when I watched closely for hours, found out this fan has never been spinning when A/C kicks in. I can notice that my compressor is running, spinning time to time but not my Aux fan.

I forgot if anyone has asked or not: can the aux fan be span by hand? or, it is stuck?

This means your shit won't spin when freon is low. How long will it take for people to go and get their AC checked by a pro? I'm just curious which one is going to replace the fan first.

Slick, nope just the shotgun approach.

OP, that "relay" you asked about and posted a picture of that is the AUC sensor, like the name says- sensor. Search and find out what it is if you don't know. But if would be listed as a relay if it were a relay.

You could, if you had access to a GT1 or anything that does BMW specific codes, see if there are any stored trouble codes for the fan.
And before anyone suggests it, Autozone or any cheep code reader isn't going to help.

I agree. I am aging going from easy to hard method. There were two members recently that filled AC. Fan went from dead stop to spinning like a raped ape as pressure was built up. Relay testin, you need to know what you are doing. The fan is also a pulse signal fan, so to make it spin, you would need to supply power, ground, and a pulse ground.

Without really seing the OPs car, you cant tell. Without GT1, it is that much harder. $50 AC check is really not a lot of money.

Yeah, that was me that posted the direct correlation between low pressure side reading and fan speed. I think I said date raped ape. At 50psi on a 100 deg F day the fan sounded like a turboprop cleared for takeoff!

Right. I think Turbo was the other person, and he asked me to check with my fan operation. My fan wouldn't spin untill it needed to. Then spun like the same ape when I started the car in 100F, parked in the sun. I was surprised.

I am also pretty sure there is a pressure switch that must be responsible for the fan operation as well as a temp switch, and possibly other stuff. Out of all the BMWs that I have had, or family has had, I have never had a failed fan. It was always the refrigerant. I had quite a few blower motor fails though. So not looking forward to that if it happens in the X.

Just an update on my FSR replacement. It's been a week now, and the blower is acting normal -- no running on forever after the ignition is switched off, and no dead battery. I guess I'm pronouncing it cured. FSR was apparently the culprit. Wife is happy. Thanks to others for their posts which led me to the FSR.

The potting compound in my old FSR seems kinda hard, so I might not be ripping into it anytime soon, like I mentioned a few days ago.

Now, I do have a bit of a cooling efficiency/refrigerant pressure issue, which I may be posting on soon. I went to a reputable A/C shop 2 or 3 weeks ago, and they topped off the 134a without evacuating. I'm only getting about 64F out of the vents on max. I think that was at an ambient of about 86F. Seems like it should be more. I may revisit the shop to discuss evacuating and carefully refilling with the correct amount of 134a. Will report later if I do.

2005 X5 3.0 64,000 miles

Seems like the AC used to take only a minute or so and then it would blow really cold air. Lately it takes 5-10 minutes and blows cold, but not the same chilly cold as before.

Took it to shop yesterday and they told me they checked for leaks and didn't find any, but the system need to be emptied & recharged. I can't tell any difference after the work is done. Any suggestions?

The blower fan had a mind of its own when I went to inspect my X at the Acura dealer in Sanford FL that was selling it. Told them it was a huge $3k job to fix this problem (KNEW it was the FSR). They were asking over $19k +tax, tag and title for the truck, used the fan problem and history of 5HP24 trans failures at slightly over 100k mile (I told them $7K for that job) to get it for under $13k +t,t &t! It's good to know the common problems and costs while working the deal, dropped them over $6k.

Fan would make a repetitive chirp sound while spinning down to a stop at shutdown last winter, been fine since. Is that a sign that the fan motor is on it's way out?

That chirp is probably the sampler fan. The one that is in the climate control. The vents by the display. There is a sampler fan in there, and mine does the chirp once in a while too. There was a guy on here that did a DIY about cleaning it. Looked simple enough. He actually replaced the fan after he discovered it had a little chip in it.

I put the ShopVac to my sampler fan vents this afternoon. Used the reducer fitting with the small end opening, for high suction. Really pulled a lot of junk out of there.

BTW, FSR replacement still seems to be a success....

64 degrees would be a perfect temp if it was 85 degrees INSIDE your vehicle.... just sayin. Kudos to you for fixing the fan problem first.:popcorn: