What is the right brand of FSU (aka FSR) final stage resistor/unit to buy for the E39

PICTURES EXPECTED!
[The intent is to refer others to this thread when they ask what FSR to buy!]

There is no proof ... but anecdotal evidence abounds of people purchasing supposedly "OEM" Final Stage Units (aka Final Stage Resistors) on Ebay and elsewhere that were either dead on arrival or didn't last more than a year.
- failed blower resistor (final stage resistor) not really dead

Apparently there are many brands out there:
Recommended: (I think)
- Sitronic/Bosch

Not recommended: (I think)
- GKR
- Behr
- Valeo,
- Siemens

Certainly not recommended: (I think)
- Meyle
- Hella
- Uro
- Denso
- Power Pro

As for recommended (and not recommended) brands, the threads are all over the place ... so ... this new thread is merely an attempt to consolidate people's FSR experiences with the right and wrong FSUs to purchase.
- FAN CONTROL GOES HAYWIRE: poorly ventilated final stage resistor/final stage unit (FSR/FSU) modules that are practically sure to go haywire due to poor heat-sink design (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) ... Autopsy (1) (2) often causing the battery to drain overnight (1) (2) (3) & how to isolate and replace the blower motor (1) (2) (3)

PLEASE post a picture of your FSU if you're going to post to this thread as a big part of the story is the branding of the FSU!

Bearing in mind most FSRs have three or four brandings, and that the GKR FSR (of whatever branding) is known to be lousy ... I ask for the record ...

What is the right brand of FSU to buy for the E39?

From my experience, the FSU must have 33 spines on the heat sink, and be potted with silicone, rather than epoxy.

I don't think that one should reject any German manufacturer out of hand.

I think your info is a bit off here as well. I have personally sold tens of dozens of Behr brand FSUs with a warranty over the years and to my knowledge never have had to help anyone process a warranty claim. Can't think of a single one. The parts are affordable and everyone I have been selling them to has had good luck replacing the faulty factory unit with the Behr part.
http://www.eaceuroparts.com/parts/pa...06%20923%20204

I find it interesting you list Hella at the "do not touch" level as well. Hella and Behr are partners, look into Hella service parts. Hella electronics are some of the finest in the world, as evidenced by the xenon ballasts in our e39s which are a decade old and still working strong for most of us.

Originally Posted by Mark@EAC

sold tens of dozens of Behr brand FSUs ... Hella and Behr are partners

Hi Mark (and anyone else with info),

All the information in the OP comes from the referenced thread.

One huuuuge problem is the rebranding that goes on with the FSU is horridly confusing, at best.

Who actually MAKES the Behr/Hella-branded FSUs anyway?

Yet another 'apparent' DOA FSU is in today's thread:
- e39 heater blower not working !!! NOT THE FSU..WHAT ELSE COULD IT BE???

I'll try to get the OP to snap a picture of the label for us to help us better determine which FSUs are the right and wrong ones to get.

why uro is not recommended?

Originally Posted by bugratu

why uro is not recommended?

Everything is anecdotal from the information in the reference threads.

Did some search and found out that Sitronic is a German company, while Valeo is French. They both make electronic car parts. Sitronic specializes in the cars' electronics and sensors, including climate control systems. In fact, the FSU is featured in one of their pictures. They may be suppliers of OEM parts to BMW since they look like big, global, well-established companies. I can't find anything on GKR. I noticed on your first 2 pictures that the Valeo numbers do not match, nor the BMW numbers on the FSU's - GKR vs Sitronic. My numbers all match with MatWiz's FSU, except for the 03 10, which may be date of manufacture.

Update: Behr is also German and may also be making OEM parts for the car companies...from Stuttgart mind you!

My only consolation is this forum telling me that I'm not alone

Oops, further research makes me think that Sitronic may be subcontracting for both Behr, Bosch, and makes parts for quite a few car companies, EXCEPT BMW, but including Valeo !

http://www.sitronic.com/index.php?id=107&L=1



Now these guys think that this part works better than the one for an E46:
http://www.e46fanatics.com/forum/sho...d.php?t=390683

Looks like we all have the same problem !!! Same one for E39 and E46 (that's why FCP Groton listed it as such), but different part numbers!

Meanwhile, after Mark@EACeuroparts told me that warranty is for 12 months, their sales dept. is now telling me it's past warranty!

Originally Posted by bluebee

PICTURES EXPECTED!
[The intent is to refer others to this thread when they ask what FSR to buy!]

There is no proof ... but anecdotal evidence abounds of people purchasing supposedly "OEM" Final Stage Units (aka Final Stage Resistors) on Ebay and elsewhere that were either dead on arrival or didn't last more than a year.
- failed blower resistor (final stage resistor) not really dead

Apparently there are many brands out there:
Recommended: (I think)
- Sitronic/Bosch

Not recommended: (I think)
- GKR
- Behr
- Valeo,
- Siemens

Certainly not recommended: (I think)
- Meyle
- Hella
- Uro
- Denso
- Power Pro

As for recommended (and not recommended) brands, the threads are all over the place ... so ... this new thread is merely an attempt to consolidate people's FSR experiences with the right and wrong FSUs to purchase.
- FAN CONTROL GOES HAYWIRE: poorly ventilated final stage resistor/final stage unit (FSR/FSU) modules that are practically sure to go haywire due to poor heat-sink design (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) ... Autopsy (1) (2) often causing the battery to drain overnight (1) (2) (3) & how to isolate and replace the blower motor (1) (2) (3)

PLEASE post a picture of your FSU if you're going to post to this thread as a big part of the story is the branding of the FSU!

Bearing in mind most FSRs have three or four brandings, and that the GKR FSR (of whatever branding) is known to be lousy ... I ask for the record ...

What is the right brand of FSU to buy for the E39?

How about ACM (?) ? I see this a lot being sold as OEM.

This is a Sitronic branded one, like I had, but ad says it is by Valeo. I called a dealer and they sell Valeo, which could be this OEM/Sitronic/Valeo part.
http://www.eeuroparts.com/Main/PartD...d=64116923204G

Also, it looks like Behr/Hella FSU's are now Made in China.

I just had a Sitronic blow out on my 2001 525iA. I got a replacement Behr unit from AutohausAZ and it worked fine.

Originally Posted by msportnate

I just had a Sitronic blow out on my 2001 525iA. I got a replacement Behr unit from AutohausAZ and it worked fine.

Thanks for posting that picture of the bad FSU for our anecdotal information.

The bad FSU appears to be a Sitronic/Valeo/BMW made in Germany FSU.

Was the new Behr similarly tri-branded?

My 13 month old FSU died on Sunday, couldn't have happened at a worse time. The last few days have been the hottest so far this summer here. Attached is a photo of it. I bought it from Pelican and it's warrantied for 12 months. I called them yesterday and they offered to take it back and give me a store credit ~ $63. That's fine with me, as I'm sure I'll need to buy other parts down the road. Went to the dealer yesterday and bought the OEM FSU for $106 incl tax. It looks just like the photo in the first posting in this thread. Hopefully this one will last longer!!

I just got mine from Autohaus. Mine says "Behr" and "Hella", but also "Made in China", not Germany. Maybe they are outsourcing.

We'll see if it works tomorrow.

Originally Posted by Josh P.

Mine says "Behr" and "Hella", but also "Made in China"

Picture?

Originally Posted by bluebee

Picture?

Great picture! Thanks. See below. (I wish EVERYONE would supply a pic so we can get to the bottom of this).

It's hard to tell 'who' actually 'manufactures' these FSRs since they're all rebranded multiple times.


For example, my (failed) FSR was 'really' made by GKR (BMW & Valeo were also on the label; but it was 'made' by GKR):


Other failed FSRs, also actually made by "GKR", have wholly different rebrandings, such as GKR & Siemens:


To add exasperation to confusion, some (failed GKR FSUs) even have up to FOUR rebranded names, such as GKR, BMW, Behr, & Denso:


Interestingly, anecdotally anyway, the German-made Behr Hella FSRs don't seem to look at all like the Chinese-made Behr Hella FSRs:
And, the Chinese-made Behr Hella FSRs all (anecdotally) seem to have really lousy quality labeling (and even bent tines) in comparison to the German-made Behr Hella shown above:


But still, it's hard to tell WHAT COMPANY actually manufacturers these Chinese-made FSRs.

Besides the label (which we already know we can't trust), is there any stamping on the plastic that confirms the identity of the company that actually manufactured your Chinese FSR?

so this China Autohaus is no good ? I got the same but didnt install it so maybe its time to send it back

Ok, so here is one main point: According to the attached page at AutohausAZ, there have been multiple versions of this resistor. The older ones (which perhaps are still being sold) had just 12 rods, while the newer ones like mine (and Starless's) have 50+. Yes, one of my rods was slightly bent, I just bent it back, no big deal.

If you are using one of the units with fewer rods, that seems to mean (while it may be "new") it's been superseded by the new design.

Now, looking at the photos, mine looks like Starless's, except for the plastic housing at the top. It's also branded the same way. It just looks like they moved manufacturing to China to save a few cents of aluminum.

FYI it had zero markings on it whatsover, except for the label. I did not peel off the label to see if anything was stamped into the plastic underneath.

Originally Posted by Josh P.

FYI it had zero markings on it whatsoever

Drat. It would have been nice to ascertain the actual manufacturer.

Unfortunately, a few years ago, when I put mine in (see photo below), I didn't know enough to look for this information myself.

Note the number of tines is way less than 50!



Note: It was such a pain to put in (took me the entire superbowl!) that I don't want to remove it just to check out who made it!

EDIT: In post #38 below, we (finally, after all these years) find that my AutoHauz FSU is labeled "ACM", made in Germany.

I went into the shopping center for about twenty minutes, upon returning to my car I noticed fog on the inside windshield, once I opened the door I heard the blower motor going. I woke up the next morning and my battery was completely dead. I didn't know it until today but I have had FSU issues since last summer. The a/c would just cut off and no matter the setting it wouldn't come back on until it wanted to, I never thought to look it up as the a/c would always start to blow again before the end of my trip. Know on to the question, Have we gathered more info on the best FSU to purchase someone point me in the right direction or should I just go to my dealer?

Originally Posted by 530iman

I went into the shopping center for about twenty minutes, upon returning to my car I noticed fog on the inside windshield, once I opened the door I heard the blower motor going. I woke up the next morning and my battery was completely dead. I didn't know it until today but I have had FSU issues since last summer. The a/c would just cut off and no matter the setting it wouldn't come back on until it wanted to, I never thought to look it up as the a/c would always start to blow again before the end of my trip. Know on to the question, Have we gathered more info on the best FSU to purchase someone point me in the right direction or should I just go to my dealer?

A Behr FSU from Autohaus or another supplier is $52. Putting aside where Behr makes their FSU, I'm pretty sure the replacement part that the stealer sells is over $100...someone can look it up, or I can check, I'll be at the stealer tomorrow.

Unless BMW has switched to Bosch for the replacement part for some reason, then Behr is/should be sufficient. If my new one fails, I guess I will replace it with whatever the stealer sells.

came back from chicago area dealer looking at part it matched first post with siltronic and valeo marked on it. price was $115 so still looking better price. I've had car since new (2000 model year 67k miles)and under warrantee had the fsu replaced but never saw part. 2nd part is starting to act up on occasion some weeks no problems

Originally Posted by 528goes

came back from chicago area dealer looking at part it matched first post with siltronic and valeo marked on it. price was $115 so still looking better price. I've had car since new (2000 model year 67k miles)and under warrantee had the fsu replaced but never saw part. 2nd part is starting to act up on occasion some weeks no problems

Come again?