Member
Hello all, I'm having some electrical issues with my 97 M3 sedan.
My blower has been going from working to not working for about nine months now. Sometimes all it takes is hitting a pothole and the motor will shut off or kick on. Other times it will be for no apparent reason at all.
The fuse for the dash lights has now blown on me twice in two days.
And my passenger side tail lights don't seem to want to stay on anymore.
I'm guessing there's a bad ground somewhere that I need to find, but can anyone point me in the right direction?
I'm mechanically inclined and have done almost every major job on this car myself, but electronics are way out of my wheelhouse.
Thanks for any help.
Member
It has happened where the wiring for the blow has come loose inside. But your hitting a bump and it starting again means the brushes on the blower are done, so time for a new blower. On the sedan its more trouble than on the 2dr, the 2dr has more clearance, so be ready to curse bmw.
Your have a newer e36 so there's less chance of super bad wiring (but its possible), so for the tail lights I would say there's a good chance its the contacts on the light housing, there's going to be some resistance somewhere.
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Member
Note that for the sedan having a new blower with removable cages is almost a necessity and it looks like they are harder to find. But I've not seen a guide on how to do the job without removable cages, like I said for the sedan its a rel PITA job but the removable cages make it possible.
took a look on ebay, this one has removable cages. If you get something like this one I would use red lock tight or something with high strength when doing the final install just to be sure the nuts never come loose.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Replacement...8/283492059438
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Member
In case your not a big ebay person understand that there are a ton of shenanigans going on with some sellers. If the part does not match the description or the photos then you open a dispute, I bought one and the cages were not removable but the pictures showed that they were removable. The seller just refunds your money and you keep the item bacause its more hassle for them to take it back. I bought a different one and sold the non removable cages item on ebay lol, with proper pictures of course.
Also buying a Hella/behr unit would be better because its likely made better and the fans are more properly balanced. But your not going to find one with removable cages lol. I think mine is TYC, but I don't see them with removable cages, maybe someone else knows.
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This one here is from reputable ebay seller, pictures show removable, but description say they are not!?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/A-C-HEATER-...i/140498275414
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Driver
'96 M3, S50B32, 6MT
+ good stuff
Member
I took the cowl apart last summer when this first started happening. left it alone when the blower kicked back on for the winter, and it's still not all the way back together. So at least I have a head start.Originally Posted by Eric93se
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