97 328ic blower

[rgordin]

I have a 97 328ic and the blower does not work. in the morning it will blow for about 1 min.and then it shuts off. The display is still showing fan speed and temp. and you can adjust both fan speed and temp. but the fan will not blow
Help!

[dsmblue]

I have a 97 328ic and the blower does not work. in the morning it will blow for about 1 min.and then it shuts off. The display is still showing fan speed and temp. and you can adjust both fan speed and temp. but the fan will not blow
Help!

Sounds like you need to check and possibly replace the blower motor. There is a very good DIY here (http://www.dvatp.com/bmw/diy/hvac_blower/).

[woodyshd]

+1 resistor, that fixed mine. Does the fan blow on just HIGH? or all speeds?

[flyfishvt]

A 328 does not have a blower resistor. It has an FSU. when the FSU goes bad the fan will run only on lowest speed or not run at all.

[rgordin]

The fan will blow and you can adjust speed when the car is sitting overnight or all day.If I get into the car in the morning and turn the car on the climate control will turn on. Then I can then adjust the speed of the fan and it blows fine.After about a minute or two the fan will just stop blowing. I can still adjust the temp on the climate control and adjust the fan speed but the fan is silent

[bmwfan36]

+1 resistor, that fixed mine. Does the fan blow on just HIGH? or all speeds?

My fan is only blowing on high, tried replacing the climate control unit but it made no difference. Any ideas?

[Bianca98]

blower motor resistor, common problem. that was the issue with mine as well. only worked on the high setting. replaced the resistor (a 10 minute job even for a novice) and worked like a charm. resistors sell online for about 20-30 bucks. do a search for the DIY but trust me when I say that it is hard to picture and far easier done than explained.

[bmwfan36]

Thanks man, ill give that a try.

[flyfishvt]

Cars with Analog Climate Controls with the dials use a Blower Motor Resistor. When it fails the fan will run only on its highest settings or not at all.

Cars with Digital Climate Controls with the buttons use a Final Stage Unit. When it fails the blower will only run on its lowest speed or not at all.

They basically perform the same function but one is an adjustable resistor and the other is a digital control.

The OP on this thread said that his fan would run for a bit then shut off. He had digital controls. it makes sense that his FSU might be fine for a minute then it starts to overheat and stops working. He could also have a blower motor that is dying. The best way to test it is to replace the FSU and see what happens to the controls. They aren't very expensive and are much cheaper than a blower motor.

[bmwfan36]

Cars with Analog Climate Controls with the dials use a Blower Motor Resistor. When it fails the fan will run only on its highest settings or not at all.

Cars with Digital Climate Controls with the buttons use a Final Stage Unit. When it fails the blower will only run on its lowest speed or not at all.

They basically perform the same function but one is an adjustable resistor and the other is a digital control.

The OP on this thread said that his fan would run for a bit then shut off. He had digital controls. it makes sense that his FSU might be fine for a minute then it starts to overheat and stops working. He could also have a blower motor that is dying. The best way to test it is to replace the FSU and see what happens to the controls. They aren't very expensive and are much cheaper than a blower motor.


I have the digital climate control, and my fan is only blowing on high no matter what I do. So are you saying its my blower motor resistor or the final stage unit?

[flyfishvt]

You have digital controls so you don't have a blower motor resistor. It could be the FSU. The most common failure for the FSU causes the motor to run at lowest speed or not at all but anything is possible. As long as the digital controls respond to input. If you press the button to increase or decrease the fan speed the digital display should show that you changed the setting. As long as all that is working and its just the fan speed that is messed up then I would swap out the FSU.

[bmwfan36]

My car only blows on the highest speed no matter what I do to the fan speed. I can move it up and down and it shows up on the climate control unit but it doesn't adjust the speed, it just blows at the fastest speed. Occasionally it will let me control it but thats a very rare occurrence. So would that still be the FSU.

[fun2drive]

BMWfan36:
Since your blower motor is running on high you don't have a failing blower motor. Since you said your CCU tracks your input then you don't have a problem with the CCU. That leaves only two things that can cause this. The Final Stage Unit (FSU) or the relay/ fuse which is a rare failure and is located under the dash on the driver's side in a cluster of 5 relays (fuse 48). See a Bentley manual page 610-2, figure 3. It is unlikely it is that fuse and is likely it is your FSU...

[bmwfan36]

Appreciate all your help fun2drive and flyfishvt. Ill be working on that this weekend.

[rgordin]

replaced the FSU and everything is working fine. Thanks everyone for the help

[bmwfan36]

Same as rgordin, replaced the FSU and everything is great.