Lots Of Noise, But No Air

[ProShifter #1]

A BMW 318i (E36) 1998.

Belongs to my brother - having a slight problem with the air conditioning

The unit in the centre console works fine. The microfilters were inspected and replaced last week.

When you turn the heater on (demister, air for passengers) , there is a lot of "fan" noise, but virtually no air coming through the demisters, or through the interior air grilles. (the thing that air comes out of, not sure what it's called, distributor?)

The centre console and dash area become rather warm, so the air is going somewhere... just not where it should...

Everytime I turn the air on or off, I can hear something making a "whirring" sounds, like an electronic door opening and closing.

If I stand outside the car, I can hear the fan noise quite considerably, is this normal, or has the air passage been broken somewhere?

I've given as much information as I possibly can. If there is anything else you need to know, please ask.

Any help is always appreciated
Thanks

The name's Ray

[ProShifter #1]

Anyone?

[RIBEMR26]

Sounds like my final stage unit problem except that my fan was only on high (mine had that same noise...I could hear something opening and closing when I turned the fan on/off) Also, when mine was off, I could still hear something blowing behind the dash....I don't know if there are other "symptoms" of one of these going bad??? check out the other thread today for my link to a DIY for changing this if you decide it is the problem...

[Furious]

i got kinda lost when reading some of the post...is the problem only for passengers?

if so check under the passenger side dash there, are plastic pipes which feed the air to their proper vents..... could be that its disconnected.

[123NotIt]

I have the same problem - a lot of noise but no air. I have to turn my fan all the way up just to get out a little air, but I can hear the thing blowing really loud. Then sometimes (when I get moving on the freeway for 5 minutes or so) the air finally kicks in and starts blowing hard. The odd thing is there is no change in the fan noise, just in the volume of air coming out. When I slow down again or stop, it stops blowing hard again (this is after a 30 second or so delay). Someone please help me figure this problem out.