bmw any ideas?

Hi, this is similar to something I have seen on my BMW 320i.

Symptom: Fan is always on but when fan needs to be on i.e. on a hot summer day in a traffic jam the fan seems less effective than it should be i.e. engine begins to overheat and you need to put the cabin heater on full blast to cool it. Confused ?

So, some analysis: If the mechanism is the same on your vehicle, you have a hydraulic clutch which links the fan belt to the fan and this part fails to work effectively. It can be replaced cheaply if you're happy to do it yourself.

Check: With the engine cold (and turned off) you should be able to grab the fan and turn it fairly readily i.e. there should not be too much resistance. Now (sorry, obvious, but...) remove hand from fan. Now turn on the engine and let it warm up whilst standing until it gets hot. Turn off the engine again and try turning the fan now - there should be much more resistance to movement. On my vehicle this was NOT the case and was the source of the problem - the fluid clutch had failed.

This ebay seller had a new one for my car for under £30: tierod69( 9667)

Be prepared to remove the radiator and a few hoses in order to fit this to your vehicle. I tried to do mine with the radiator in place and succeded but it was a very fiddly job!

Hope this helps, Rob

Robbie
January 2008