E30 Auxiliary Electric Fan wiring fix

Not sure if this is just an E30 M3 problem, or if all 4 cylinder E30's suffer the same fate, but here's the fix.

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So, you found a broken wire or wires at your thermostat, or noticed that your Auxiliary Electric Fan was not operating with you’re A/C engaged or with an over-temperature condition. Unfortunately, it is a problem that is far too common, but the fix is inexpensive and very easy. Note, the resistor that controls the fan speed is also a common failure and would have similar symptoms.

Tool List
-Soldering iron and solder
-Properly sized heat shrink tubing
-Wire strippers
-Friction tape (hockey tape) and/or protective tubing
-Dielectric grease
-Torch style cigar lighter (or a standard propane torch)

Parts List
P/N's for the $8 fix (Crevier BMW pricing):
-Repair Leads: 61-13-0-007-441 Cable Socket (x3) $2.40 each
-Repair Plug (if you need it): 61-13-1-378-410 Plug Terminal (x1) $0.80

There may be an $80 "repair kit" available from BMW, but I could not find the P/N, and do not know what could possibly make it worth 10 times more than the components above.

Cut your leads to the correct length, I used 6"-7" including the lead. Strip about 3/4" of insulation off each wire, and slide a 3" section of heat shrink tubing onto the wire. These are just ballpark measurements from what I used, I'm sure that there are other solutions just as good.



Remove the black plastic shield behind the headlamp. Disconnect the battery, or be very careful not to short the bare wires out during this next step. Strip 3/4" of insulation from each of the three wires coming from the car's harness. One at a time, twist a new lead to a harness wire, solder, slide the heat shrink tubing down over the joint. Repeat 2 more times.



Now to shrink the tubing (mine is clear), a propane torch set very low will do, but a torch style cigar lighter is ideal.


Now to reclaim your old connector, just pry up the clips that hold the leads in place.


Now before you tape the new leads together, its time for the important part, installing the leads in the correct positions. Proper wiring, the connector has positions 2 and 3 labeled:
(1) Green/Black (I was originally told Green/Brown, but it was not there)
(2) Black
(3) Black/Brown

Now, you can wrap the new leads/wires together with some friction tape and add a drop of dielectric grease to the female side of each connector lead for good measure.


Or use some protective tubing, or both ;-)


Now just reconnect your repaired connector to the thermostat, replace the shield behind the headlamp, and you are done. Use that torch to light up a victory cigar!


For a quick check, start the car and turn the A/C on, is the Aux Fan in front of the radiator spinning? If so good. Now turn the A/C off, did it stop? If so great.

Hope these instructions worked for you, they worked on a U.S. spec 1989 E30 M3 with an Oct 1988 build date.

Unfortunately, this would Not work for me because 1st of all I'm a very handy Men
specially when it comes to electrical wires connections.

However I never knew if my Aux fan wasn't even working N'tll when I searched
on the A/C malfunctioning, and I discovered that 95% of the story related with the Aux fan
not functioned properly. That's when I realized that my aux fan has been failed for a while
due to some weak A/C I've been having sometime.

1st, I than checked all my fuses and they all seems to be ok.

2nd, I followed the wires plug that send power to the Aux fan, tested it with a tester
Power found there.
3rd, I than unplug the Aux fan, and send a separate power coming directly from the
battery jumper port, connected to the Aux fan inside the male plug.

The fan is not moving either left or right, at this point, I figured out my aux fan has failed.

(01 X5 4.4i)