Replacing the final stage unit/blower motor resistor (E39)

I was getting ready to suck it up and take my 528i to the dealer. You probably saved me a lot of money by posting this forum. Thank you.

Keith

my a/c blows hot air, but when I had it refilled only the driver's side would cool. would this be an FSU kind of thing ?

ThomasSD, thank you immensely for the FSU DIY on your 2001 330ci. I have the same car, 2001 330ci and I'm in the middle of the FSU replacement using your instructions.

issue: I'm stuck on step 3. I have a bit of a different setup there with a white plastic piece perhaps where the "black plastic round piece" is located. Can anyone help by pointing me to the location of the black plastic round piece in the attached picture. I sincerely appreciate the help.

The 2001 330ci Convertible has a few extra pieces of hardware in front of the FSU. The passenger side floor air duct, for one is in the way and can't be removed (easily), and there is another piece (black plastic round piece holder from ThomasSD's post) directly in front of the FSU.

Picture below:

After some twisting and pulling, cursing and searching, I finally completed the Final Stage Unit replacement... The air is blowing like it should, thank you all for your posts!

Thanks to this article I was able to replace the FSU on my 2000 323i, however in the process of removing the stepper motor I broke the plastic arm that connects to the metal rod.

Now my blower fan works great but I have to leave the A/C on and not use defrost because the stepper motor arm is broken! Does anyone know where I can get this part from?

I've been able to find all the parts I need here: http://www.realoem.com/

Thanks ELVIS, just worked for me. climate control been pissin me off since i got the car. now shes perfect, THanks again for the right-up!
Steve

I can't fing the words to say to you that would mount up to how much I appreciate the advice, help that you gave me here on bimmerfest forum site. Buddy it was like magic. I got the part from an on line site called AutoHaust.com cheepest price I could find. Put in the new Final stage Unit or Blower resistor, and bam. I have hard blowing cold air in my bimmer. Thanks a whole lot.

I have the same problems with ac, i own a 2000 528i. After removing the panel, all i could find was a plug with only two wires! but the FSU has 5 wires. Am i looking at some other part, or did 2000 528is have fsu with only two wires. Confusing stuff, any ideas on this would be greatly appreciated!

Hi,

Just got back from the dealer and picked up my FSU. It seems like a good chance that is what was causing the Dual Automatic Climate control fan motor to run at a very low speed even after the ignition switch is off and key removed from the car. It also seems to have cuased the need for a jump start after a 5.5 hours of parking due to its run on.

Got the FSU for $120 cause I did not want to wait for shipment from more reasonable priced sources.

Problem is according to the instrucitons all one needs to do is remove the one screw and the carpeted panel just below the console is supposed to be able to SLIDE towards the REAR of the car and be easially removed. This is not the case I removed the screw and it will not slide back.

On my '01 X5 that panel butts up against another panel coming from the rear of the center console. There appears to be no way for it to slide over the rear panel so that it will slide back as the original author had indicated. The rest of the replacment sounds easy but getting the trim off does not appear to be easy at all.

Does anyone have instrucitons on how to access the FSU in an X5. The finely placed fitting like a glove trim in the BMW is not easy to remove. I do not want to stress any of teh parts or trim.

Any photos or diagrams from a service manual for the X5 would be greatly appreciated...or if you have a link to service manual assembly disassembly instructison PDF would be awesome.

Thanks in advance for your response.
David Justin

Elvis, thanks for the write up. It looks great!

I am trying to diagnose if this could be the fix to (one of) my problem. My fan doesn't turn on at odd times (when the car is off etc), and my battery doesn't get drained. What I am experiencing is that no matter what speed I put the A/C at (one bar, all the way to maximum, or even auto), it blows at the SAME speed, it's very weak, but I do get cold air.

Does this sound like the symtoms some of you have experienced and fixed with this?

TIA

I have just gotten my car recently so please bear with me. I have done some further observation and testing outside this evening. It seems that it's not blowing at the same speed at all settings. I have noticed a very slight increase/decrease when adjust it. I have tested it with my neighbor's X5 and on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the coldest setting on the X5, my coldest setting equates to about a 4 on the x5 On max setting not long does it not blow the coldest air, it's also not strong air like the x5.

I am guessing that the FSU is still holding up ok, but has anyone else have a weak a/c?

Originally Posted by energie

I am guessing that the FSU is still holding up ok, but has anyone else have a weak a/c?

I, for one, hate replacing parts just to see if that fixes the problem .... (see my diagnosis notes in this thread prior) but it seems in this case, the FSU is more likely the culprit than not in erratic interior fan behavior, not always the same for everyone though ...

In my case, the interior blower fan just quit after I had the fan running with the key in the ignition after a lengthy weekend brake job. I figured the FSU overheated but then a week later, my fan came back. If the FSU is the culprit, it sure is temperamental!

Even now, the fan is a little wheezy (always was), by that I mean it often blows hard and soft like a Thomas the Tank Engine with old batteries trying to pull Anna and Claribelle up a wooden grade ...

Personally, I'm going to wait for the fan to quit altogether before I just replace it willy nilly .... but that's just me ...

Originally Posted by energie

I have just gotten my car recently so please bear with me. I have done some further observation and testing outside this evening. It seems that it's not blowing at the same speed at all settings. I have noticed a very slight increase/decrease when adjust it. I have tested it with my neighbor's X5 and on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the coldest setting on the X5, my coldest setting equates to about a 4 on the x5 On max setting not long does it not blow the coldest air, it's also not strong air like the x5.

I am guessing that the FSU is still holding up ok, but has anyone else have a weak a/c?

I would first attempt a recharge in your case; go to Autozone and get a recharge bottle and kit. Very easy job, if you haven't done it before, just read the instructions and wear goggles. See if this works before doing anything else. Refrigerant does leak over time. If it gets cold then after a few weeks feels not so cold again, then you'll have to bring it to an A/C specialist to find the leak with a pressure/dye test. Good luck!

I have just re-read my post, and my sincere appologies about my poor grammer there. It must have been hard to read!

I will try to re-fill myself, thanks for the tip!

Being from Memphis, I appreciate the nickname...

Thanks for a great post. I replaced my FSU last night. Automatic A/C works like a charm now.
: )
Dominic

Thank you so much for the detailed procedure in replacing this thing. My ac would get kinda cool when I was driving above 50 mph but would vent warm/hot air when not moving or moving slow.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

For the record, part of the process of preventing BMW-induced Legionairres disease is to fumigate the BMW climate control system by access around the Final Stage Resistor.
Pictures here http://www.bmwtips.com/tipsntricks/AC/smell.htm

I just came back from the repair shop with news that my blower motor needed to be replaced at a cost of $1200.00 In an attempt to try and save a few bucks I got online to check prices for the motor and stumbled upon this forum. I figured for a hundred bucks ( the cost at my local Dealership) why not give the FSU a try. I am not at all mechanically inclined but the instuctions and pictures seemed straightforward enough. For someone who has never done anything like this before it took me a little longer, about a half an hour running back and forth to the pictures, but once it was all together WALA!! I now have A/C. You just saved me over a grand. If not for this the mechanic would have replaced a perfectly good blower motor at my expense. I hope others see this before it's too late THANK YOU

Wala? Shirley you're not French!


ps
Couldn't resist the tong in cheek ... like being caught between a rock and a hot plate ...

this worked for me too, thanks!!

Thanks for the info. You saved me a lot of money. Replaced the FSU last week and I have cold air now. It only took about 20mins to replace on my 2001 530i.

Man...........thanks so much............fixed my issues.............great job !!!

Probably a dumb question but is this located in the same place on a 98 540i?

Mine is intermittent. Happened a few times when it was over a 100***730; outside.

Rob