Forward Cooling Fan Replacement

[Neil]

I've been having problems with the cooling fan on my 2014 Rex, apparently the fan has failed resulting in the CEL. I brought my car into the dealer to actually run the HV battery test as my 10 year battery warranty is up in a few months. They attempted to run the battery test but said it was being halted because of this dead fan. They wanted $1800 P&L to fix this which I thought was a bit high and that I'd have to think about it. More like try to do it myself first or find a shop. The new fans aren't cheap in any case but I'll try to find a used one. In any case, has anyone changed this fan before and can you offer any tips on the best way to get at it. I started taking apart the stuff in the way, but what might be the last thing in the way is the cross brace which I've gotten loose but it won't come out yet.

Here's a picture of the fan (not mine, a used one on ebay):

And here's a picture of the front compartment with the cross brace above the fan, with red circles around the trouble spots.


Has anyone done this before? Any advice on how you got this cross bar out?
TIA

 

[alohart]

I sent you a private message (they seem to be called "Conversations" in this new forum software).

 

[Neil]

Quick update- I found a used fan from a 2017 i3 and through much effort and improvisation, managed to change it. I was able to see it run before installing but having it plugged in and also after fully installing it. I thought it was fixed but a short time after replacement and seeing the CEL off, it came back on with the exact same fault scan items that were present with the original fan which are the following:

Does anyone have any suggestions of what else could be causing these faults?

 

[mojo]

Just a generic observation - not specifically about i3's: Modern cars typically have a PWM controller which allows the engine management system to control the speed of the fan. It may be that this has failed?

Is it fair to assume that you have a good chassis ground at the connector?

 

[Neil]

I was trying to and may still try to put a PWM signal into the control line of the original fan, although I'm speculating that it might be a single wire communication bus. There is no ground connection that I know of near the fan connector, but I was able to trace the cable back to a connector on a module nearby, removed that connector, inspected, cleaned and replaced. No change. Maybe the issue is in that module. BMW originally told me that they couldn't activate the fan with their software, so the fan must be bad and would replace it for $1800 and could therefore not run the battery test. I did find a used fan, 3 years newer, and like I said, experienced the same problem after I saw it run, and BMW was able to get that fan to run while doing the battery capacity test which they were not able to do with the original fan. It seems to indicate the root cause is not the fan.

 

[vtchevalier]

Quick update- I found a used fan from a 2017 i3 and through much effort and improvisation, managed to change it. I was able to see it run before installing but having it plugged in and also after fully installing it. I thought it was fixed but a short time after replacement and seeing the CEL off, it came back on with the exact same fault scan items that were present with the original fan which are the following:
View attachment 703
Does anyone have any suggestions of what else could be causing these faults?

Much effort - seems correct. I am facing a dead fan as well. I am trying to get that bar out but it looks like there are two metal clips that are being blocked by the headlights...except the headlights need the front bumper removed and the front bumper needs the front wheel protectors removed. Am I missing something or is this what you had to do as well just to get a stupid bar up? LOL

 

[vtchevalier]

I sent you a private message (they seem to be called "Conversations" in this new forum software).

Did you give him instructions on the bar removal? I am thinking this is a lot more work than you'd think unless I'm missing something.

 

[Neil]

Much effort - seems correct. I am facing a dead fan as well. I am trying to get that bar out but it looks like there are two metal clips that are being blocked by the headlights...except the headlights need the front bumper removed and the front bumper needs the front wheel protectors removed. Am I missing something or is this what you had to do as well just to get a stupid bar up? LOL

Yes, I found out the hard way even though I had "official" instructions which did not help very much. It appears the European version only has a rod instead of that bar, which probably did not pass US standards, but may be much easier to remove.
In any case, yes I ended up having to remove exactly what you mentioned, protectors, front bumper (one screw was a bitch and never got it back in), headlights, left and right brackets and finally the bar, not including some connectors and other stuff in the way. I also found that I could not get the fan and shroud out without cutting some of the plastic assembly in the way using a dremel tool (and epoxying it back in at the end), and finally having to use a jack to push the shroud and fan out the top from the bottom. It was a bitch and I almost gave up more than once. Did you get a quote to fix it? I was quoted $1800 to fix it from a dealer, about $1000 for the fan and $800 labor. The fan can be purchased for less from various places but it would have been worth the $800 labor instead of doing it myself (20-20 hindsight). I found a used fan from a 2017 (3 years newer than my 2014 fan) tested it in the vehicle before I installed it once I had access to the fan connector. It ran fine so I put it in, only to find the car throwing the same codes and CEL as the previous fan. The joke's on me! I hear the fan run at times but the CEL keeps cycling on and off every few runs of the vehicle. So I think something else is malfunctioning and maybe my original fan wasn't bad or something else is still faulty.
I actually don't give much of a f*k any more and I'll drive mine until it blows up.
I hope you have better luck.