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

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?

my 2 FSU are not willing to die ... both work just fine

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.

I posted this on this thread but here it is again:

I have some new information, via the parts counter at the stealer. I asked to see the FSU, using Starless's part #. He brought out an FSU with an aluminum housing, which looks exactly like the one Starless used. Then, after asking exactly what car it was for, he said that was the "old one" and brought out the correct one, which looks EXACTLY like the one I bought from AutohausAZ, except (wait for it) it was labeled Sitronic/Valeo, made in Germany. The cost was $116 (versus the $52 I paid). It shares the part # that is in the image I posted from AutohausAZ. He noted that all their electronics are made in Germany, and that any Web site/supplier can claim OEM if the part will work. He said the part THEY use was never made by Behr. Uh oh.

Originally Posted by Josh P.

He brought out an FSU with an aluminum housing, which looks exactly like the one Starless used

That was a "Behr/Hella", made in Germany (based on photos above).

Originally Posted by Josh P.

brought out the correct one, which looks EXACTLY like the one I bought from AutohausAZ, except (wait for it) it was labeled Sitronic/Valeo, made in Germany.

Yours from AutoHauz was a Behr/Hella, made in China.
Your stealer's is Sitronic/Valeo/BMW, made in Germany.

Originally Posted by Josh P.

He said the part THEY use was never made by Behr. Uh oh.

It's really hard to tell who 'made' these things ... because of the multiple labeling - and - apparently, they no longer stamp the 'real' manufacturer on the housing (right?), so, I, for one, am having trouble concluding much of anything different from the first post of this thread.

Can someone summarize the general conclusion so far as to which is the 'good' brand and origin?

If you're the belt and suspenders type, just suck it up and buy it from BMW. I am OK using Autohaus's unit for now. If it fails, hopefully they will take it back. If they don't, then I'll be out 52 bucks and I'll just buy the stealer's. All I know is they look exactly the same. Naturally I don't know what's inside, but it's hard to believe it's not the same circuitry, since it has to do the same things.

A pic of my old FSU. Touched the FSU after about 6 hours after shutting her down and the FSU was very very warm also my battery died as a result of this test. So I will be ordering a new FSU from Josh.P source. My original has what seems to me like a date code stamped on the plastic sticker, it reads 12 / 02, but the molding has 01? it also has the BMW GKR Valeo markings. GKR is also stamped into the molding. It is the old style 12 prong version.
Sent from my PC36100 using Bimmer App

Originally Posted by 530iman

My original has what seems to me like a date code stamped on the plastic sticker, it reads 12 / 02, but the molding has 01? GKR is also stamped into the molding

My old FSU for my 2002 525i also had GKR stamped on the bottom of the tab, a sticker saying GKR/BMW/Valeo, & a clock-dial pointing to 2001.

The new replacement from AutoHauzAZ (before I was turned on to sponsors) doesn't seem to be the Sitronic; but, it has been working just fine for a couple of years now ...

I snapped this picture years ago so I never did determine what brand AutoHauz sold me (and I'm not about to pull it out now as it was so hard to get in the first place!).

Hi guys, i have been following this thead for a while and would like to contribute with my findings. Long story short my car was dead every morning but my AC controls worked fine. I suspected the FSU from researching the problem, prior to finding this thread i ordered a FSU from ebay.

Ebay FSU

Part Brand: Hamburg Technic Germany
Manufacturer Part Number: 64 11 6 923 204 / 64116923204
Got the FSU and installed, solved my battery drain for 4 days then the drain returned. Stay away from this POS, i should of known better for the price but he had good feeback so i gave it the benefit of the doubt.

Ordered another FSU but this time from Mark @ EACTUNING
On the catalog they had the BEHR and "OEM BMW" i went for the OEM BMW one that costed $67 vs the BEHR at $61. I was hoping that the OEM was the Sitronic one and i just want to confirm that its the one i received and i installed and so far no battery drain. So if anybody wants the Sitronic one you can get from him at a great price.

1+,

Stay away from Hamburg Technic, it is basically Chinese junk.


For those who need an FSR, I just happened to see the Valeo FSR on eeuroparts.com for $67:

http://www.eeuroparts.com/Main/PartD...d=64116923204G

Originally Posted by cn90

Valeo FSR on eeuroparts.com

Does Valeo actually 'make' that FSR?

Note: On the web site, it says:
"Genuine BMW part in a Valeo box" (umm... what does 'that' mean?).

The picture (shown below), appears to list:
- Sitronic
- Valeo
- BMW
and
- Made in Germany

Today, someone asked where their brand new FSU was made:
- E39 (1997 - 2003) > Where was this part made?

Their FSU seems to come from "acm", in Germany.

The strange thing is that ACM is not on the original list of E39 FSU suppliers.

Does anyone have information about ACM as an FSU manufacturer?

(Or is this yet another labeling pyramid scheme?)

Recommended: (I think)
- Sitronic/Bosch

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

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

Concurring with the fact that ACM isn't on our list (yet) of known FSU suppliers, to my knowledge, only two posters have admitted to owning ACM FSUs (one of them is little old me).

The ACM company, if my googling hit the right ACM, appears to be a wholly owned subsidiary of FABENTI GmbH (Ltd.), where ACM apparently had it origins in Italy, full name "automotive climate-control marketing GmbH" (sic).

This seems to be the web site for "acm Germany" (the logo matches):
- ACM Germany www.acm-germany.com

Contact information appears to be:

• automotive climate-control marketing GmbH, Saseler Damm 7, D - 22395 Hamburg
• Telephone (+49) 40 / 600 40 45
• Email kontakt@acm-germany.com

They're an air conditioning components company for heaven's sake!



When I ran a part number search for 0155.1017 on the acm germany home page, it brought me to "Switches and Sensors", part number 64116923204.



This brings me to the order form for the BMW FSU:

i pulled my stock one out today, it was a gkr valeo. replaced it with a altrom imports fsu from napa, no sticker or markings on it, newer million spikes style, 12 month / 12,000 warranty

https://napaonline.com/Catalog/Catal...+50006+2006010

$88 and i will let everybody know if i have any problems with it

images are of the old one, started to try and repair, but my wife got impatient and wanted to go somewhere so i gave up
will try to add pics of the new one if i get a minute to take it back out ( didnt think to take pics before i put it in, did it in the napa parking lot)

Here's what I got today from BMAParts.com for $60 shipped. I'll update which part failed on mine... I'm assuming it's original. my car is a 2002 330i @ 111k miles. It's been acting up for the past six months but yesterday shut down the air altogether then magically started working again 10 minutes later. I don't want to chance a battery drain so I ordered this up!

And BlueBee, I'm sure you're aware but in case you aren't, the E39 and E46 share the same exact FSU. So you can stop specifically referring to it as the "E39 FSU"

Originally Posted by synenergy52

And BlueBee, I'm sure you're aware but in case you aren't, the E39 and E46 share the same exact FSU. So you can stop specifically referring to it as the "E39 FSU"

Not true, they look alike but the resistance values vary.

e46= PN 64116920365 (used on e46, e53, and e83)

e39= PN 64116923204 (used on e39 and e53)

I apologize if this was covered. I did not read this thread carefully, but me fan motor stopped working abruptly. I assumed it was the FSU. I ordered one and went to install it. No go. So I found this post and did this test to see if the fan Motor was broken:

I tried jumping the fan motor by this method: http://www.bimmerforums.co.uk/forum/...822/page2.html


When I tried this the motor worked! I then hooked up the new FSU and all has worked for 2 months. I have not tried the old FSU. I prefer to leave well enough alone.

So I have to question how many FSUs are blamed for the fan being stuck or whatever happened to mine.

For the record, here is an E46 bad Ebay aftermarket FSU thread just today:
- E46 (1999 - 2006) > Bad final resistor need help.

Originally Posted by veli510

I replaced my old oem resistor with a aftermarket off eBay. After 8 months of use. It gave out and it burnt one of the wire. What should I do?

I attached pictures of what had happen. Thanks

Did we ever, tribally, come to a conclusion yet on which 'brand' of FSU to buy?

To answer a question by someone over here:
- E46 (1999 - 2006) > Bad final resistor need help.

I re-read this entire thread, and modified the (often conflicting) recommendations to the following:

Q: What would you recommend we change on this group anecdotal recommendation?

Probably recommended:
- Sitronic/Bosch (made in Germany)
- ACM (made in Germany)
- Behr/Hella (made in Germany)

Probably not recommended:
- Behr/Hella (made in China)
- GKR/Valeo (made in France)
- Valeo/Sitronic
- GKR/Siemens (made in France)

Highly probably not recommended:
- Meyle
- Uro
- GKR/Denso
- Power Pro
- Deutsche Parts/Hamburg Technic (sold on Ebay, made in China)

NOTE: Many FSUs are double branded; and very many are tri branded; some are even quad branded - so they are listed above in the order of who actually manufactured them.

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?

I think I am going to order Behr from AutoHausAZ for $52.
It seems to have the 50 prong heat sink. Seems legit?
http://www.autohausaz.com/search/pro...er=64116923204

Originally Posted by bluebee

Did we ever, tribally, come to a conclusion yet on which 'brand' of FSU to buy?

As with most things regarding these cars, there are few, if any absolutes. There is a LOT of variability in FSU quality.
I think if you have any doubts regarding FSU quality (and there is a lot of evidence to give doubt), go to the dealer, pay the premium, and install OEM (I paid about $90 at the stealer). If the cost of maintaining your E39 is starting to chafe on you, get an alternative lower cost FSU from a reputable source and roll the dice. Bottom line is that installation is an easy 10 min DIY (~$100 at the stealer) so there is minimal labor investment. If it craps out, buy another and reinstall it. If it lasts, you've saved $30-$40. If it doesn't, you're only out about $10-$30.