2003 530i March Production month blower motor replacement

[piancu]

I've been using some online tutorials on how to get to the blower motor but the last piece of ducting seems different than earlier model year cars. Any ideas on how to get it out? IMG-20180922-WA0002.jpgIMG_20180922_004153691.jpg

[BarryM]

If that’s the stage where you need to remove the rod then there is a difference. Mine’s a facelift model and it was a bugger to remove. Can’t remember exactly how it came out but I did a lot of pushing one way or the other so search for that and there’re also 2 tabs on the windscreen side holding the box in that I didn’t read about in any tutorial so broke one of them as I pulled it out.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[geargrinder]

If that’s the stage where you need to remove the rod then there is a difference. Mine’s a facelift model and it was a bugger to remove. Can’t remember exactly how it came out but I did a lot of pushing one way or the other so search for that

All this is exactly true for me as well... I remember the rod/shaft being a real PITA to work with but can't remember exactly what the trick was. And I've done it twice. Doh.

Sorry can't help more.

[piancu]

I got it out. There is a tab you have to push in on the rod, then pull plastic assembly to the right as you keep the tab pressed.
Check out the BMW planned obsolescence. Instead of metal fins, we get cheap plastic. They don't give a xxxx, it's all about profits.
IMG_20180922_121821388.jpg

[BarryM]

Well done, that old one is trashed - mine was seized but the blades were intact.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[geargrinder]

Oh please. What a load of horsecrap. Whoa is me it's such a tragedy the blower motor wasn't designed to last 100yrs.

These blower motors have lasted 20yrs for the most part. It's entirely reasonable to have to replace them by now.

If every part on the car was built to last that long, they would cost $200k new. If you want to get worked up about poor engineering the blower motor doesn't even show as a Firefly flicker on the radar screen. Your piston rings, or my chain guides... Now THOSE are underengineered parts.

But still not intentionally."planned obsolescence" ? These are extremely well built cars. No car can be designed to last forever thats a ridiculous expectation.

[piancu]

Oh please. What a load of horsecrap. Whoa is me it's such a tragedy the blower motor wasn't designed to last 100yrs.

These blower motors have lasted 20yrs for the most part. It's entirely reasonable to have to replace them by now.

If every part on the car was built to last that long, they would cost $200k new. If you want to get worked up about poor engineering the blower motor doesn't even show as a Firefly flicker on the radar screen. Your piston rings, or my chain guides... Now THOSE are underengineered parts.

But still not intentionally."planned obsolescence" ? These are extremely well built cars. No car can be designed to last forever thats a ridiculous expectation.

What the hell are you talking about? They could have used metal for the fins and the blower would still be working. I don't know what money they saved by using plastic for the fins.
It's not reasonable to have to replace a blower motor in the guts of the dashboard at 127k miles, what pot are you smoking? Why do Toyota and Lexus blowers last well past 400k miles?

It is planned obsolescence because if it wasn't a Diy guy like me that owned the car, what non BMW guy would have paid $600 labor to have it fixed? He probably would have taken it to the junk yard and replaced it with a newer BMW.

If you're going to smoke, at least smoke the good stuff man. A blower should not give up at 127k miles.

[JimLev]

Chill out there noobie piancu, and watch the profanity. It's not allowed.

[TerraPhantm]

If it was metal, the bearings would probably wear out quicker and you’d complain about that instead.

20 years is not unreasonable, and I wouldn’t be surprised if some Japanese cars needed them at shorter intervals that that. Mileage is pretty irrelevant in this case, who knows how much time that car spent in traffic with the blower motor running. Simply googling “Camry blower motor” shows enough DIY type links that it must be at least somewhat common. And lo and hold, it’s plastic there too.

If someone decides to junk a car over a $500 expense and spend several thousand on a new(er) one that will have its own problems, they’re idiots.

[geargrinder]

Chill out there noobie piancu, and watch the profanity. It's not allowed.

To be fair I did come out of the gate kinda hard on him for the planned obs. comment (which is still ridiculous but I coulda made the point more mellowish).

"Toyota blowers last more than 400k miles"? Again: Oh please. That IS really smoking the good crack right there.

Seriously the blower motor is NOT a major deal with these. Failure of the 'squirrel wheel' part of the fan is super rare - and this BTW comes from a guy who had to tear his out a 2nd time because the plastic on a new one broke. But that's an IDEAL place to use plastic for cost control and weight.

By the way all those fictional Toyota blower motors that don't really last 400k? PLASTIC FAN BLADES.

Dude you even TRY to find ANY automaker thats' made a metal-blade blower fan since like 1964. Fiction. They are ALL plastic.

As to blower giving it up at 127k...well... I would suggest that the determining number for the plastic is probably more about pure age, its more like the cars hitting the 15-20yrs mark now and the plastic heat-cycle-aging out.

Again - you cant expect automakers to make "infinite lifespan" parts. Yes they do plan the cars for a lifespan before they think the cars will be wrecked or worn out and discarded due to wear and tear, or, are so old that they'll be on a 3rd or more owner and indeed that's the limit of BMW giving a crap. My guess is those numbers are like 150k , and maybe 10yrs at the outside. After that BMW indeed probably doesn't really care about failures (witness - 'lifetime fluids' and non-serviceable/greasable ball joints...)

However that's not really the same as planned obsolescence. P.O. is "lets intentionally make the car crap out so people will buy more cars from us". BMW ABSOLUTELY wants their cars to run reliably for the first 2 owners.. After that... well OK they don't really care about super high miles used cars that are in the hands of people who will never buy a new car from them, but they at least need them not to have a reputation for being money pits and unreliable so that the 2nd owner tradein or sale market is tanked too hard... They do care a little bit about that but on a steeply declining scale as the cars hit their 3rd+ owners after 100k.

Real P.O. is more like the really crappy American automakers who used to for SURE plan that their crapcan cars (many of which were cool when brand new actually) would not last to even 100k. That's an entirely different story. Those cars had stuff that would break or bodies that would rust and CAUSE you to have to discard the car. But blower motor that "only" lasts 15yrs isn't because they were planning to try to force the car to be retired early so you'd buy a new one.

BTW hit up google for Toyota blower motors and you'll find:
- tons of stories of guys replacin' em on not-20yr-old-cars and not-400k-cars
- billions of pictures of plastic fan blades.

- - - Updated - - -

If it was metal, the bearings would probably wear out quicker and you’d complain about that instead.

20 years is not unreasonable, and I wouldn’t be surprised if some Japanese cars needed them at shorter intervals that that. Mileage is pretty irrelevant in this case, who knows how much time that car spent in traffic with the blower motor running. Simply googling “Camry blower motor” shows enough DIY type links that it must be at least somewhat common. And lo and hold, it’s plastic there too.

If someone decides to junk a car over a $500 expense and spend several thousand on a new(er) one that will have its own problems, they’re idiots.

Ooops didn't refresh my browser. You already said all what I said