The Ultimate FDM (Fan Delete Mod) Thread

[CrazedBMW]

the fan doesn't fly off, the blades hit the shroud or something else and breaks. usually caused by the water pump going out..

. been there

[amancuso]

water pump is only 1 year old !!!!

[redline effect]

Its not the water pump. I had my water pump replaced and my old fan still broke 2 times. Do the fan delete, its worth it.

[tomas3314]

Just do it, and blame the mechanic.

[amancuso]

Not doing the FDM unless I get a secondary electric fan to cool the radiator.. thats how the system works, and I sit in a LOT of traffic. There has to be a reason why the fan grenaded, going to track that down first instead of putting a band-aid on the situation.

[Ronsupreme]

Hey Fella's Got A Question I Read All Of The Threads On This Subject And Decided This Is The Way To Go, But I Do The Florida Road Trip Every Year, I Live Here In NY, And To Protect My Investment I Will Like To Know Where To Purchase That Back Up Electric Fan. All The Post No One Put One Up On How To get Hold Of That Electric Fan.

[Zaks]

Hey Fella's Got A Question I Read All Of The Threads On This Subject And Decided This Is The Way To Go, But I Do The Florida Road Trip Every Year, I Live Here In NY, And To Protect My Investment I Will Like To Know Where To Purchase That Back Up Electric Fan. All The Post No One Put One Up On How To get Hold Of That Electric Fan.

http://www.the-fan-man.com/shop/prod...f56950784bdcb5

[blue1966coupe]

you know ive been reading up on this thread for some time now and i dont think i have ever seen anyone say they over heated when they did this mod.

has anyone ever over heated??

[Daved]

you know ive been reading up on this thread for some time now and i dont think i have ever seen anyone say they over heated when they did this mod.

has anyone ever over heated??

I overheated when my expansion tank went bad. Can you blame the FDM?

[Tochenzo]

just did the fan delete today, i can actually feel a difference at low rpm's! No overheating yet...hopefully everything's good...i just have a lot of coolant overflowing lol

[apertura2002]

I have a 98 328i with 52k,I am pretty much sold on the fan delete,along with a CAI. I have read pretty much everything I could on the FDM,there is a lot of info but not many references to using the car with this modification in a many big hill situation aka the grapevine and the likes,I would appreciate any experience that might shed some light on this matter.

[zazen]

do you guys bleed all the coolant system or just add the watter wetter? what is the right way to do it? i thought you just put all the parts on and add water wetter to your coolant, but i havent heard anything about bleeding the system? i thought you only do that if you change all the coolant entirely, is that what i should do when doning a FDM?

[beatniks325]

do you guys bleed all the coolant system or just add the watter wetter? what is the right way to do it? i thought you just put all the parts on and add water wetter to your coolant, but i havent heard anything about bleeding the system? i thought you only do that if you change all the coolant entirely, is that what i should do when doning a FDM?

anytime you do something to the cooling system that would introduce air in the system, you should bleed the system. this includes the FDM. this would not normally include something like topping off the expansion tank to the kalt line.

[NASAg03]

I live in Houston. It gets up to 100 degrees...in April. Okay, maybe not that high, that early in the year, but definately once May hits we are seeing 90 degree weather.

I'm not about to sit in 90+ degree weather, 5 months out of the year, with the AC blowing, in Houston traffic with 80% humidity.

This might work in the northern states, or the ones where the weather rarely goes above 80 degrees, but I'm not going to take my chances here in "the armpit of Texas".

If I go electrical, it will be with a real electric fan.

[doulos4jc]

I live in Houston. It gets up to 100 degrees...in April. Okay, maybe not that high, that early in the year, but definately once May hits we are seeing 90 degree weather.

I'm not about to sit in 90+ degree weather, 5 months out of the year, with the AC blowing, in Houston traffic with 80% humidity.

This might work in the northern states, or the ones where the weather rarely goes above 80 degrees, but I'm not going to take my chances here in "the armpit of Texas".

If I go electrical, it will be with a real electric fan.

This mod, if done correctly, should work even if you live in Mexico City. If you are not comfortable with it, by all means don't do it. Most states deal with high temp/humidity and traffic in larger cities, I don't see Houston as an exception.

[blue1966coupe]

well just did the mod and it was easy.

couple things i noticed:

1.) the aux. fan doesnt come on much (granted it wasnt that hot today)
2.) ive seen some people mention that the dummy gauge may not change with a 40 deg. change. that may be so but ill tell you that the system is working properly. i used a laser therm. to see how hot it actualy got. 199.5 was the hottest i saw it get, and right after that the fan turned on and it dropped to 188.5. so i will do the same test when im in very hot weather and let you know.

as for right now i do feel alot better knowing i dont have to worry about the fan exploding (witch may i add that two blades snapped off in the removal, not using much force either)

as far as power....ehh i didnt notice much, if any.

[.jordan]

im kind of a noob w/ the cooling system..is it hard to bleed the system correctly..or is it easy to get air bubbles?

[.jordan]

also on understeer i don't see 328is there for the fdm kit?

[Zaks]

also on understeer i don't see 328is there for the fdm kit?

there's only 1 kit

[Zaks]

im kind of a noob w/ the cooling system..is it hard to bleed the system correctly..or is it easy to get air bubbles?

it's not hard to bleed

[thejaff]

well just did the mod and it was easy.

couple things i noticed:

1.) the aux. fan doesnt come on much (granted it wasnt that hot today)
2.) ive seen some people mention that the dummy gauge may not change with a 40 deg. change. that may be so but ill tell you that the system is working properly. i used a laser therm. to see how hot it actualy got. 199.5 was the hottest i saw it get, and right after that the fan turned on and it dropped to 188.5. so i will do the same test when im in very hot weather and let you know.

as for right now i do feel alot better knowing i dont have to worry about the fan exploding (witch may i add that two blades snapped off in the removal, not using much force either)

as far as power....ehh i didnt notice much, if any.

I didn't notice any power either with the delete, but throttle response was a lot crisper.

[Daved]

im kind of a noob w/ the cooling system..is it hard to bleed the system correctly..or is it easy to get air bubbles?

Just do what it's explained at understeer and you will be fine.

[LuvMy328is]

So over the weekend I have:

Replaced T-stat w/ 75 degree (fdm)
Replaced Coolant Hoses; Upper, Lower & Overflow tank w/SAMCO pieces
Replaced Coolant Level Sensor
Replaced Fan Swtich to lower temp model (fdm)
Removed Mechanical Fan(fdm)
OH and Installed Zionsville Aluminum Radiator (fdm)







Replaced VANOS Solenoid
Replaced VCG
Replaced Spark Plug gaskets
Replaced Spark Plugs
Replaced O2 sensors
Replaced Intake Boot
Replaced a few dried out Vac lines w/ Silicone
Cleaned TB
Adjusted Throttle Cables

So far so good, car runs just right temp, doesnt take tooo long to warm up, but stays within range. Bleeding wasnt to difficult. Having the car on a slight inclined,(nose up) helps.

~Phil

[Zaks]

Replaced Coolant Hoses; Upper, Lower & Overlow tank w/SAMCO pieces
Replaced Coolant Level Sensor
OH and Installed Zionsville Aluminum Radiator (fdm)
Replaced VANOS Solenoid
Replaced VCG what is this?
Replaced Spark Plug gaskets what is this?
Replaced Intake Boot
Cleaned TB what did you clean it with?
Adjusted Throttle Cables what do you mean?

hey, got a few questions for you...
first of all, answer all questions in bold above...
second, how much was everything above individually, where did you purchase it, and how hard was the install ?

[Daved]

VCG=valve cover gasket