Exciting Evening - FIRE in the radiator fan...

Holly sh#t, NZ mechanics are greedier than US ones! $1000 USD for replacing an AUX fan???? Ridiculous.

Originally Posted by NZ BMW

Annoyingly the warranty company will not cover it. They cover a radiator but not the fan bolted to it.

I'll add your experience to this warranty thread:
- Whether or not a replacement-part lifetime warranty make sense (1)

Originally Posted by NZ BMW

Hi Everyone,

Just got back from the side of the road where I watched my immaculate 530i be hauled onto the back of a tow truck because it looked like the radiator fan caught fire.

We were driving along when I started to smell burning plastic, I thought it was the car in front of me, then it got really strong and I pulled over straight away. Seeing what looked to be steam coming from the front grille I popped the bonnet (hood) and there was a fire in the centre of the radiator fan (the front aux fan). I flagged down a passing motorist and lucky he had some water bottles in his car which we used to douse the flames.

Has anyone had this before? What causes this, a short in the motor? Some kind of parts rubbing together? I recently had my radiator changed - I would be surprised if they were related unless they somehow pinched some wires but I think that would be unlikely.

Needless to say I'm going to purchase a fire extinguisher for the car. Also funny was that we pulled over right next to another E39, looked to be a late 1990's 528i.

At only 120,000km's (not miles) I'm a bit miffed to be honest.

Any ideas would be appreciated - it is Saturday night here so I won't see the car until Monday or Tuesday.

Thanks,

for aux fans catching fire. Check with your BMW dealer

http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/e39...oling-fan.html

I do not know about NZ, buy car is the same

Sooooo my aux fan has been running after engine was off for the last day or so. Noticed it yesterday at work, and then went home and did a little research (I've been disconnecting battery at all times and only drove from office to home and back 5miles). Decided to start with temp sensor and picked up one today at lunch. On my way home tonight I started to smell the burning smell like this gentleman. Luckily I don't work very far from home and was very close when I started to smell it. Soon as I pulled in I noticed a little bit of smoke and quickly popped the hood. At first didn't see anything but poof and there was a nice little fire going. Ran and grabbed a bucket and knocked it out fast. Looks like the wiring on the aux fan is melted. The fan looks to have been replaced by previous owner because the fan says it was made in Taiwan by JYT? JTY? I think I read in my research that this was common cheap brand some folks use. Looks like Monday I'll be getting it towed to the shop....