Is an electric fan worth the money?

[fragzem]

That pusher fan shit fails all the time, what are you tapping into it?
I wouldn't put anything you require to be reliable into there.

also, if you're bored, there's more than you need to know about coolants:
http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=46962

[Joeman892]

i am trying to find something that can power my fan relay, so that when engine temp comes to, the fan will go on, and go off. I just need to find the wire to switch the relay on... i hope that is clear. Thx for the link btw.

[BimmerBro]

Gosh It's been such a long time since I did this mod I don't remember all the details... I'm sure there is another way of doing this but here is how I did the relay switch wire.. I ran a wire to the trunk of the car. To get through the fire wall, remove the cabin filter and the plastic under that(where you access the brake fluid). There you'll see a rubber grommet. Get a straightened wire hanger and from the inside of the car carefully push the hanger through the grommet. Tie the wire on the hanger and slowly pull it through. Then just run it under the drivers side carpet and through the back seat. The back seats pop off and you'll see where the wiring harness runs. Follow it and that will lead you to the trunk. Then I just tapped into the amp remote wire. It might seem like a lot of work but I didn't want to dig under the dash or hood for a wire when I knew where I could find one. Hope this helps. Good luck fellow car enthusiast.

[boomshakalaka]

my head is spinning from trying to piece together this mod from several posters advice. Any chance someone will do a write up on this? If not I guess Ill do one when I get around to this.

[Joeman892]

i got the fan working... and i tapped into 12V power for a relay, and what seems the be an ignition ON switch because i lost all power when i turned the key in the off position. Now the only thing is I dont know what else i tapped into, and i dont know if when the fan is running and what ever other relay comes on if the fuse will blow or not. Ill take a picture of what i tapped into, but as of now the fan is mounted and tested with a lighter to get the temp switch to go on. Now i have to connect the required hoses and fill the coolant, (bleeding sounds like a hassle), and plug in some stuff. tonight everything should be up and rolling.

[Shardul]

ok now you guys have done the electric fan conversion, does anyone notice an increase in throttle response or increase in power?

[boomshakalaka]

joe, was it necessary to disconnect the hoses? From other posts it seems that you can leave your radiator installed but just "unmount" it so that you can push it around a little.

[Joeman892]

for me it seemed necessary because i couldnt get out the expansion tank with out dissconnecting the hoses below, and the uper rad hose came off because i needed to reach down to unplug some stuff and get out the fan. maybe this could of been avoided but i didnt really care about losing too much coolant.. BUT the good news is that i was able to fill the car rather easily, i just filled thru the bleeder on the upper rad hose, and it took about a gallon which is what i measured that i lost. The car isnt complaing about anything and the fan goes on with temp and with ac, and turns off when key is out of ignition. I dont know if i properly bled it, but with the car on i left the bleeders open and closed it when all the bubbles stopped coming out. And yes the car does seem to have a bit more off the line.. maybe with the 540 u cant notice it but with the 530 it seems to be... but then again its been like 3 days since i drove... lol oh well at least i have piece of mind with out a fan clutch.

[Viperian86]

In the end what electric fan did you use and what parts did you need for this. I am putting in a new lower temp thermostat and a new thermostat housing, chagning hoses as well. a list with brand names and where you got them might be asking too much but, would be ideal.

[Joeman892]

i went with a hayden 16 inch fan for 3.1-4.0 litre engines, and hayden adjustable temp switch from 160-210 degrees. Cost me 117 with tax and everything.

[BimmerBro]

my head is spinning from trying to piece together this mod from several posters advice. Any chance someone will do a write up on this? If not I guess Ill do one when I get around to this.

Sorry buddy. my digi cam is busted. I think a write up would be useless w/o pics.... wait now that I think about it I can't even post pics yet and I've been on this site since 2005 haha.. oh well.

ok now you guys have done the electric fan conversion, does anyone notice an increase in throttle response or increase in power?

I noticed great thottle response when driving hard or in warm temperatures. And when driving in those conditions I go through the rpms faster.... instead of hearing a fan turn like crazy I can hear the motor

[Joeman892]

i just took the car for a nice ride, stop and go, pulled over, stop and go, raced it a bit down long stretches, and it never went a past "a tick before 1/2" and i only heard the fan kick on once, when i was pulled over and then started driving again. The car feels very different, off the line, and even when using sport i can leave it in 3rd at like 10mph and take off and no lag, or engine bog. the only thing is that i feel a vibration in my foot on the pedal when the fan is on... i guess ill get used to that.

[thrilos5]

there is a noticable throttle response with the electric fan installed, is much more evident when the weather is warmer and in stop and go traffic,
Im very satisfied with my conversion

[Jon540i]

What is the trick to separating the overflow tank from the shroud? I started this project the other day, but that's where I got stuck.

[qcdstick]

What is the trick to separating the overflow tank from the shroud? I started this project the other day, but that's where I got stuck.

Unscrew the bleeder screw and remove the expansion tank cap. There is a clip there that connects the shroud to the expansion tank if memory serves. Remove the clip, tank swings out then up. It's kinda tricky, you may or may not have to remove your MAF (540i, not sure on i6) and the bottom coolant line (will result in a partial coolant draining)

[BimmerBro]

What is the trick to separating the overflow tank from the shroud? I started this project the other day, but that's where I got stuck.

How did it go??

[no7fish]

I kind of pieced my kit together from random stuff. I ended up with a fan from work's spare parts bin and it fit the radiator size pretty well. I got a fan mount kit from AutoZone forabout $5 and a fan controller for bout $25 I think. I found an expansion tank for $40 on ebay.

I ran the power wire from the positive battery lead on the front of the motor and hid it behind the other wires running down the side. Once at the bottom I jumped it over to behind the drivers' side headlight, which is where the controller lives. This way it is on constant power and the fan will continue to cool the motor even if the car is switched off like OEM.

Once I managed to get everything back together I discovered my radiator was leaking due to the impact on the hose cracking the plastic neck slightly. Once I replaced that everything was mostly fine except the hood of course, and I then found the fan blades had put a hole in my intake tube after the MAF sensor so it bogs occassionally.

All in all, with the free fan, I think it cost me $270, most of that being the radiator of course. Once I got it running i just drove it until it was to temp, eased the controller down until the fan switched on, then back a touch. Has never overheated on me but the fan is kinda noisy. I may be able to adjust that with a resistor to slow it down or maybe I'll just have to stop being a cheacpskate and replace it with something nicer....

[Jon540i]

How did it go??

I put it back together last time and just drove it with the mech fan. Then I dropped it off with my indy mech for PA state inspection. He still has it.

[BenPRunkle]

Bump. . .

I am really interested in doing this mod, but don’t want to just piece it together with random crap.

I am looking at going with SPAL parts. It’s the same stuff used in the Zionsville kits.

This fan or a slightly less intense one.

Then mount it to the radiator with the parts you can get from that website or mount it to the fan shroud . . . whichever you guys think is better.

The thing I don’t understand is how you get the thing to turn on and off at the right time.

I have read all about the different temp sensor relay switches, and don’t see how these will give you a proper reading unless you hook this up to a sensor that is already integrated with the cooling system? Maybe it’s that I don’t understand how the temp sensor relays actually work.

Could somebody who has successfully done a fan clutch delete and replaced it with an electric fan that works to OEM specs please post a DIY. With emphasis on minimal, and very clean wiring.

Considering the issues with our cooling systems, I am surprised nobody hasn't already done this and made it a sticky.

This mod not only prevents the exploding fan clutch, but it also has been dyno proven to free up 6-8hp on the E36 I6 engines. E39 I6 must gain something from it. I’m sure it also puts less strain on the water pump thus helping it last longer. It also makes changing belts a breeze. I see a lot of benefits to this. If somebody could do a straight forward DIY write up with good parts then I am sure many people would rather spend the money on an improved solution instead of sticking with the stock setup.

[Jackcat559]

Thanks for the bump. I just realized over the weekend my fan clutch is seized, and can use this.

Can anyone post some pics of where to tap the power, and temp sensor? I'm a bit confused.

Thanks

[Jackcat559]

Like a dog with a bone here's some more info.

http://www.bimmerworld.com/html/spal-electric-fan.htm

http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/sho...ght=FAN+DELETE

[Jason5driver]

Like a dog with a bone here's some more info.

http://www.bimmerworld.com/html/spal-electric-fan.htm

http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/sho...ght=FAN+DELETE

Thanks Jack!
So, did you buy the Spal fan?

I found this too...
http://www.beastpower.com/Merchant2/...gory_Code=spal

[BenPRunkle]

Like a dog with a bone here's some more info.

http://www.bimmerworld.com/html/spal-electric-fan.htm

http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/sho...ght=FAN+DELETE

hmmm.... The M5 guys still seem a little off with the project. I disagree with mounting the fan directly to the radiator. Consider BMWs original design. The stock fan is ment to pull air from the circular hole in the fan shroud, and as a result pulls air from the entire radiator.

Therefore, the most efficient design would be to have the fan mounted to the very opening of the fan shroud, right? You could then find a way to add on to the fan shroud to get rid of the difference in fan size. This way the shroud is flush with the outside of the fan, and this would create the most suction.

Here is a really crappy drawing of what I am talking about

fan diagram.JPG

If you could get a sheet of plastic and cut it to fit the 20"inch opening and then cut a 16" diameter hole in it to fit the new fan, you would create a new shroud to perfectly fit the new fan. This would also give you something to mount the fan onto.

Would this not be the best way to mount the fan?

Also they never give us a clear answer on how to wire the damn thing so that it would operate to OEM specs. . . so frustrating.

Does it really need to be variable speed? Why not just on/off when the coolant reaches a certain temp?

[Jason5driver]

hmmm.... The M5 guys still seem a little off with the project. I disagree with mounting the fan directly to the radiator. Consider BMWs original design. The stock fan is ment to pull air from the circular hole in the fan shroud, and as a result pulls air from the entire radiator.

Therefore, the most efficient design would be to have the fan mounted to the very opening of the fan shroud, right? You could then find a way to add on to the fan shroud to get rid of the difference in fan size. This way the shroud is flush with the outside of the fan, and this would create the most suction.

Here is a really crappy drawing of what I am talking about

fan diagram.JPG

If you could get a sheet of plastic and cut it to fit the 20"inch opening and then cut a 16" diameter hole in it to fit the new fan, you would create a new shroud to perfectly fit the new fan. This would also give you something to mount the fan onto.

Would this not be the best way to mount the fan?

Also they never give us a clear answer on how to wire the damn thing so that it would operate to OEM specs. . . so frustrating.

Does it really need to be variable speed? Why not just on/off when the coolant reaches a certain temp?

Great INFO!
Thank you!

I think there is a relay that you connect that turns on the fan when needed.
There is another member that has knowledge/ info on this.
I will find it....
Thanks!
Jason

[Jackcat559]

I'm going to purchase the hardware sometime in the next week, and an old friend who has done this for decades is comming over to assist (he was bibed with beer & burgers today ) I'll take some pics, so we might have another DIY soon