Dashboard blower vent fans squeal/squeak?

[delirium330]

I searched around, but surprisingly couldn't find anything related to this issue, pretty much sounds like a bearing squeal coming coming from one or both of the front/top dashboard vent fans.

Are these accessible at all? The only work I've done here is peeled back that front horizontal dashboard trim piece in order to replace the start/stop button.

Is this a "need to take the whole dashboard apart sort of a thing"? Mine squeals pretty much all the time. I did test it with Auto on/off, AC on/off and everything off except the fan itself.

I have yet to jump on Real OEM to figure out what makes up all of the parts in there, but I suppose that is my next step... thanks for any help on this.

[Three Pedal Steve]

My 2013 with 80k miles has this noise when the car is cold. After warmup, the noise goes away. My theory is deflected plastic touching the spinning blower parts. As temp rises the plastic housing expands and the interference disappears. Expect it to get worse in time. Keep the thread updated with your research.

[delirium330]

Bad timing, I just drove it last night and the fan wouldn't work at all. Tried multiple power levels and got zero response. I also tried turning the Auto and A/C on and did get a very low fan response, then it cut out entirely.

Turned it off and tried again after 15 minutes and got no response. Tried again after 25 minutes and got a bit of a response, could tell it was trying to turn, but then stopped again.

Anyway, its broken!

[jdamore]

The fan is located in the passenger foot well and could be accessed rather quick and easy. Sounds like your blower is going bad if its making noise. I would keep it off until you get it fixed. The extra load on the wires leading into the blower resistor (which already are known to burn up) could be bad.

[MyUnicorn]

My blower fan started acting up earlier this year. Bought a new one for $136.89 and installed it myself. Easy DIY. Took about 20 minutes. There are DIY videos out there. It involves a simple removal of the trim under the glove compartment in the passenger footwell. I did not remove the glove compartment as one of the videos showed. This was unnecessary. The hardest part was squeezing through the small space to get the blower to sit properly. Watch the plastic tabs - they seem like they can break easily. All in all, pretty quick and painless.

[delirium330]

Originally Posted by MyUnicorn

My blower fan started acting up earlier this year. Bought a new one for $136.89 and installed it myself. Easy DIY. Took about 20 minutes. There are DIY videos out there. It involves a simple removal of the trim under the glove compartment in the passenger footwell. I did not remove the glove compartment as one of the videos showed. This was unnecessary. The hardest part was squeezing through the small space to get the blower to sit properly. Watch the plastic tabs - they seem like they can break easily. All in all, pretty quick and painless.

Thanks for all of the feedback, I'll start hunting down the DIY videos. If you happen to have a link to any that you preferred, please send along.

Any chance you can help with part #? I've done a lot of DIY work, but never on the heat/ac system. Thought maybe 64119227670? Any other parts to replace while I am in there? I did just have the blower motor wiring recall done.

Excited to hear this isn't a "take the entire dash apart" job.

[MyUnicorn]

That is absolutely the right part number. The video I used is here:

This is great for removal and installation. No need to change the final stage resistor. Just the entire motor housing. The part you have listed is a direct replacement. Best of luck. Enjoy your new quiet system.

[delirium330]

Originally Posted by MyUnicorn

That is absolutely the right part number. The video I used is here:

This is great for removal and installation. No need to change the final stage resistor. Just the entire motor housing. The part you have listed is a direct replacement. Best of luck. Enjoy your new quiet system.

Thanks again! Looks like ACM brand is the only one in stock (other than BMW branded OEM at double the cost). Never heard of or used ACM brand before but looks like they are a OEM manufacturer... maybe the manufacturer of the BMW branded part?

[6ixSpd]

You can regularly find the Valeo one (OEM) on eBay or ecstuning/fcpeuro

[MyUnicorn]

I bought mine at FCP. It was made by Valeo - exactly the same part that I removed and discarded.

Oh, damn...I just looked at FCP - the price has gone up a lot since I bought mine in March. Now $257. I see your point...I paid half that for OEM Valeo. Even the ACM is more than I paid. Strange.

[6ixSpd]

Originally Posted by MyUnicorn

I bought mine at FCP. It was made by Valeo - exactly the same part that I removed and discarded.

Oh, damn...I just looked at FCP - the price has gone up a lot since I bought mine in March. Now $257. I see your point...I paid half that for OEM Valeo. Even the ACM is more than I paid. Strange.

I didn't realize this either. I just looked into replacing my 328's a month ago and Valeo was around $120. Now it's $170, with Vemo coming in at Valeo's old price. Damn.

https://www.rmeuropean.com/Make/Part...ch=64119227670

I'd go with the Behr version. URO can be hit or miss in quality but decent enough to try if you really want to spend as little as possible.

[delirium330]

I went with ACM, since they're a OEM manufacturer and price is at $129 for now.

[delirium330]

Did this on Friday. Easiest DIY ever. Took about 15 min. from opening the toolbox to closing up the car afterwards.

[Solo_M_Tech]

You guys that didn't replace the Final Stage Unit when doing this repair will be back in there taking the blower back out. The FSU is known to fail on these cars, taking the blower motor with it. Replacing the fan may restore function since the amperage is lower, but the FSU is damaged all the same, and will fail.

[MyUnicorn]

Mine has been working fine since the install 9 months ago. The new unit comes complete with a new final stage resistor installed on it.

[delirium330]

Mine was the blower motor only (64119227670). It would be pretty easy to replace the resistor... wouldn't even need to pull the blower motor out of the housing... wise to replace the resistor too? Looks like #64119265892 for $75.

[OneSickM]

Originally Posted by delirium330

Mine was the blower motor only (64119227670). It would be pretty easy to replace the resistor... wouldn't even need to pull the blower motor out of the housing... wise to replace the resistor too? Looks like #64119265892 for $75.

Did you notice any battery drain after blower motor got broken?

[delirium330]

Originally Posted by OneSickM

Did you notice any battery drain after blower motor got broken?

No, I kept the motor off. Also repaired within a day or two of it failing.