E46 Blower not working

[isherdholi]

Hi Guys,

I've got a 2001 E46 320i sedan, and I'm having a slight problem with the heaters not working on my car. The HVAC control unit seems to work ok, all the lights and stuff come up, however, when I turn the heaters on, nothing comes out of the vents! Not even at full blast. I can hear a faint sound in the background, which sounds like it could be the motor, so I think thats ok.

I've done some searching around on the internet, and most places seem to point towards replacing the final stage resistor (or final stage unit). There area some DIY's for this as well, however most are from the US, and therefore deal with LHD cars.

Can anybody tell me, where the final stage resistor is in a RHD car, and how I can go about changing it please?

Oh, I've already checked the relevant fuses and they seem to be ok.

Your help would be very appreciated.

[chinonca]

Do you hear the blower coming on at all? That resistor should be located on the housing for the blower motor somewhere underneath the passenger side of dash.

[isherdholi]

Yeah, I can hear the blower coming on.

There was a huge thread about this on E46Fanatics, it turns out the Final Stage resistor is located in the driver's footwell on RHD cars.

I'm going to try and get this done over the weekend.

[AlpineSixAndSeven]

^ nothing is comming out of the vents? is it comming out anywhere else? foot wells? defroster?

[isherdholi]

nope, nothing coming out of anywhere. the motor is working, i can hear it hum in the background. the final stage resistor which controls the blower's speed is what's at fault.

I got the part today from the stealer, going to install it on the weekend.

[chinonca]

Originally Posted by isherdholi

nope, nothing coming out of anywhere. the motor is working, i can hear it hum in the background. the final stage resistor which controls the blower's speed is what's at fault.

I got the part today from the stealer, going to install it on the weekend.

So your control panel doesnt change the speed? Only works on low? If the blower is coming on you should still feel air coming thru the vents!

[isherdholi]

That's right, the control panel is not changing the speed.

No air is coming through the vents dude, not on any speed. I can hear a hum in the background, but nothing comes out through the vents.

Maybe I'm not explaining it properly, have a look at this thread: -

HVAC Fan Speed - Weird - E46Fanatics

Its a common problem on E46's

[chinonca]

Well If Its Not Changing Speed Then Its Deffinetely The Resistor!

[dvmotorsports]

yes it's the final stage failing. and although not difficult to change, i hope you can work upside down. and make sure all the screws are out. if it doesn't fall right out, you missed a screw.

[chinonca]

^^^ Dude Any Openings At Your Job??

[isherdholi]

Final stage resistor changed. Heaters now working

[uctke502]

Dude,
I just had the same problem, and that thing was a pain in the ass to install. I don't like tearing apart a $40,000.00 car. I did probably save myself like $500.00 though from the stealer. I had to tear half of the dash apart to put mine in. It was quite difficult and took me several hours, but after installed it worked like a charm. It is really nice to have A/C and a defroster again! Good luck to those having the same problem.

[s888nas]

do you know what a chatty gearbox is? I am about to spend £11000 on an e46 convertible with one

[BimmerE39]

Sucks man, I hope everything works out for you. I remember having to replace my AC compressor on my E39. The cooling/heating system on these cars is great when it works right, but when they break, it's a completely different story...

[balyan]

Hi Guys
This forum helped me alot to fix my bmw 328ci
Blower wasnt working at all not a sign of working(i bought it like that)

Me and 2 other mechanics were sure it was the blower motor but after riding this i change the fsu or (fus dont remember ) now it works perfectly

I suggest change the fsu first if there is any problem with hit or ac than look for other solutions