well i finally fixed the buzzing noise in my dash. did some searching on here and found out it was my climate control fan just clogged with dirt..
heres some pics hope this helps you guys
1. remove cupholders 2 screws behind each cupholder ( you can go thru stereo as well)
2. then reach behind and push climate control outward its just two metal clips holding it in ( as you can see in pic)
3. once you have it out pull off your wiring harness to the climate control
4. once you have your climate control disconnected seperate the front of your climate control from the back housing (little plastic clips use a flat head screw driver may help)
5.after you have it seperated slide the circuit board out
6. when you have the circuit board out youll see where the fan is and how dirty it is the fan will actually slid rite off if you pull it upward
7. what i recommend to clean the circuit board and fan is some electrical contact cleaner after i did that i sprayed a little lubricant on it right where the shaft of the fan is dont hessitate to spray a bit on it let it kinda soak into it (make sure you use a lubricant that will actually turn into a gel like grease form) not wd-40 or one of those type of lubricants..
8.last but not least put it all back together in the reverse way you took it out.
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PHOTOS:
*Edit: Since the OP's photo links are broken, I'm including a link to this DIY, done on an E38, from Qsilver7's post #25 in this thread.*
http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/posts/428942/
Last edited by jamesdc4; 03-05-2011 at 04:57 PM. Reason: Added Link
Great write up!
Vettes & Bimmers rule!
There is a slight buzzing coming from my climate controls also. It buzzes always, even with car off. Does this procedure fix that?
If it's not real bad you may get away w/ just spraying some of the contact cleaner though the right hand vents.
BTW yes, this fan runs even when the car is off. It comes on when you "wake up" the electronics. Opening the door, or just unlocking the car will do it. It also stays on for a few minutes after the car is turned off.
legend I bought my car recently and have a buzzing noise - was thinking it was going to be a nightmare - but i reckon its this.
thanks very much for the good write up!
thanx guys
i also have this problem.
I thought it was just a fan cooling the electronics even while the car was off? am i wrong? should it not make that noise if it is clean?
Would it make sense to change that fan? I don't know it's cost, but I do know fans wear out and make noise. How many of us right now have computers whose fan buzzes?
Nice job Frostone209, great write up. I had a car a few years ago, bought it with 30K miles from the dealership and told them to change that fan as it buzzed (farking annoying noise). They tried to pull me leg by spraying the fan with some lubricant as the fan began to chirp within a few weeks. I went back to the dealership and told the Manager, "Change that fan and hand me the old one." Fan was changed and problem solved.
excellent writeup!
can someone post the pics of this , the pictures no longer work for some odd reason ! thanks my climate control sounds like a dying loon right now
Ya do realize this thread is 5 months old
But I still would like to see the pictures of the hvac removal above
So when you took it apart did you disconnect the battery to stop the fan from running?
Does the HVAC face unclip from the sides or from the top and bottom?
Thanks
I wish we get the pics back...
Mine is silent and I have the cabin filters as well. Does that make a difference as to how dirty the fan gets or does it just get dirty from the inside air?
'00 540iA Sport w/235k+ Original TCG's, Vanos and transmission.*Trans failure at 244k+...FS Now
hmmm , im not sure if the cabin filters have to do with the fan getting dirty, but the bastard that had the car before me had cabin filters that looked like ..... how do I describe this .... shi$ on a filter ?
I made my own little cheap fix that works great in my opinion, Filter Floss for a saltwater aquarium (or any aquarium) you can purchase it from any fish hobby store ... cut about 4 sheets worth, stack 2x2 in each filter assembly ... I also put baby powder within the filter floss ... works great !!!
anyways .... post the pics please !
I want picture!!
The buzzing sound almost drive me crazy now..
Last edited by bmw7833; 12-10-2007 at 05:54 AM.
Live the e39..!!
Cleaning my fan did no good when I did it earlier this year. The fan itself was too worn down on the shaft and it wobbled. No amount of grease in the bushing or shaft fixed my problem so I just plucked the fan out and it is sitting on a shelf in my office. The system still works decent w/o the fan... but I always leave it in manual mode anyway because I was never happy with the auto mode. By the way, it's an induction (brushless) fan that can be removed w/o any soldering or disassembly.
Pics would help, I have the same buzzing noise in my dash :o
Bump for pics, I have the same issue.
Capn Shawn: just a comment (neither for/against, or negative/postive)
Removing the little fan thingy doesn't really change the fact that your HVAC system is automatic. I think you've only made the system a little less efficient rather than disable the "auto" function.
Think of the HVAC system in your home...the only difference being that it doesn't automatically close/open the heating registers (similar to the stepper motors opening/closing the flaps in the ducting). But let's say your home's HVAC system had a little fan on the thermostat that drew air in from the room it was located to track the rise/fall of the air temperature in the house...which corresponds to it turning the HVAC system on to either maintain consistent heating/cooling of your home.
Granted, most home HVAC systems also have a control that can turn the fan on (remove it from auto mode etc). I think all you've done by removing the fan is remove the HVAC system's ability to fine tune the accuracy of the air's temperature inside the cabin.
The AUTO and Air Direction buttons on your car's HVAC system allows you to choose between auto mode and manually selecting air direction...you can also stop the fan blower from automatically adjusting (auto fan feature is activated when AUTO appears above the fan speed dashes in the display).
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As far as pictures...since the e39, e38, and e46 were built during the same time...many components are very similar. Sometimes you can check their forums for help too...in this case the e38 auto HVAC control unit is VERY similar to the e39. The button layouts are slightly different but the little fan thingy and the way it draws cabin air in across the temp sensor is basically the same. Hopefully this link will be helpful to you e39 owners : http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/posts/428942/
Here's a teaser pic from the link above: (btw, when I opened my 97's HVAC unit...the dust was unbelievable...the image below looks CLEAN compared to what mine looked like!)
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