The blower in my car has been chirping for a few years and so I have a spare ready to install (a Valeo unit, incl FSR). And perhaps every few months, it doesn't blow at all when I start the car... but eventually comes around after 5-10min. Today it was dead and remained that way for 15+min, and so time to replace.
It fascinates me how difficult it is to work on these cars, while at the same time one of the easiest things to do is replace the interior blower (cars I've worked on over the years required the dash to be removed). This literally drops right out (pull up on the locking tab and rotate clockwise). Getting under the passenger side dash is no fun at all (and I'm a small guy), but that aside this is pretty simple.
The failed fan shows signs of having come into contact with water (the top of the spindle is corroded). Plus he soundproofing glued to the bottom of the dash clearly shows signs of water as in the pics above. And pop the FSR open, and there are clear signs of overheating (no visible damage to the wiring, I had to open the FSR to see this).
BMW needs a recall for this, this looks like a fire hazard (to me, at least). If your interior blower is factory, you might want to seriously think about replacing it.
New unit is in place and I am off to the bar
