Blower motor or final stage resistor?

Sracs · 08-21-2011, 09:49 PM

My blower fan stopped working today. Just died out of the blue. The display still works fine, just nothing happens when you dial the fan up or down.

After combing through the forums, it seems like it's either the fan motor itself or the final stage resistor.

I'd like to do the work myself - but is there any way to tell if it's the resistor or the blower? Rather than buying both parts and returning one of them later...

Thanks,

S.

Sracs · 09-08-2011, 04:35 PM

I fixed the problem and I'll post the steps here just in case someone else is having the same issue.

After reading all the posts about blowers and FSRs, I used ENINTY's great post here to remove my blower motor and FSR. http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=464807

Once I had the blower out of the car, I disconnected the cable from the blower motor to the FSR - and used a 12-volt DC wall-wart I had kicking around to give it power directly into the motor leads. The fan spun up nicely, indicating that the malfunction must either be the FSR or somewhere else in the car.

I assumed it was the FSR and ordered a new one from BIMMERSPECIALIST for about $100. Many sites also call it a BLOWER REGULATOR. I chose Bimmerspecialist because they had a picture of the part that matched up and it was made by the same company that made the original.

It arrived in about a week and I installed it on the blower, then reinstalled the entire unit back into the car in about 10 mins. Started the car up and everything worked perfectly.

In short: it was a very easy 10 min job and saved me $200-$300 bucks.

08-21-2011, 09:49 PM	#1
Sracs New Member 7 Rep 24 Posts Drives: 2006 BMW 325i Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Canada iTrader: (0)	Blower motor or final stage resistor? My blower fan stopped working today. Just died out of the blue. The display still works fine, just nothing happens when you dial the fan up or down. After combing through the forums, it seems like it's either the fan motor itself or the final stage resistor. I'd like to do the work myself - but is there any way to tell if it's the resistor or the blower? Rather than buying both parts and returning one of them later... Thanks, S.
	Appreciate 0 Tweet Quote

09-08-2011, 04:35 PM	#2
Sracs New Member 7 Rep 24 Posts Drives: 2006 BMW 325i Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Canada iTrader: (0)	Solved. I fixed the problem and I'll post the steps here just in case someone else is having the same issue. After reading all the posts about blowers and FSRs, I used ENINTY's great post here to remove my blower motor and FSR. http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=464807 Once I had the blower out of the car, I disconnected the cable from the blower motor to the FSR - and used a 12-volt DC wall-wart I had kicking around to give it power directly into the motor leads. The fan spun up nicely, indicating that the malfunction must either be the FSR or somewhere else in the car. I assumed it was the FSR and ordered a new one from BIMMERSPECIALIST for about $100. Many sites also call it a BLOWER REGULATOR. I chose Bimmerspecialist because they had a picture of the part that matched up and it was made by the same company that made the original. It arrived in about a week and I installed it on the blower, then reinstalled the entire unit back into the car in about 10 mins. Started the car up and everything worked perfectly. In short: it was a very easy 10 min job and saved me $200-$300 bucks.
	Appreciate 0 Quote