My car is mad, where's everyone buy their FSR?

[Whitexi]

I went to the dealer to see what cars they had and when I went to leave I had no hvac fan. So I hit the bottom of the dash and it worked. I has a feeling this was gonna happen, my fan has been funky at times.

Where does everyone get there's at a good price with decent shipping times?

[BimmerWill]

Try pelican parts or ecstuning. ECS can be a little high on shipping prices though. I haven't bought one myself but they always have the parts im looking for.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2

[danewilson77]

I would go FCPEuro......as they are an affiliate....or even compare prices with AutohausAZ, as they are also an affiliate.

FCP

http://www.fcpeuro.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&keywords=64116920365

AutohausAZ

http://www.autohausaz.com/search/product.aspx?sid=kibmbb45fql4qxraa3d3bf55&partnumber=64116920365

I would probably go with the Behr.

[BimmerWill]

Good on ya dane...forgot about the sponsors ;)

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[danewilson77]

Good on ya dane...forgot about the sponsors ;)

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2

Yup. Just a reminder. Thanks bro.

Sent from Williamsburg, VA USA

[telijah]

Since I waited too long for mine to fully fail on me, I could not wait for shipping a FSR, so I had to fork over about $125 at a local dealer here. It was Early September here in Tampa, but heat was still too brutal to not have working A/C.

[aurelius]

Behr was the OE supplier and apparently they've made some changes since then. Here's the original pulled from my June '03 ZHP, along with the new Behr unit. Note the different Behr part numbers.

Note: if you have an older E46, it may have a Behr FSU with far fewer cooling fins than what you see pictured below. Behr has updated this thing several times.

http://i1125.photobucket.com/albums/l584/aurelius3/Random%20BMW%20Pics/91fdd045.jpg

[danewilson77]

Behr was the OE supplier and apparently they've made some changes since then. Here's the original pulled from my June '03 ZHP, along with the new Behr unit. Note the different Behr part numbers.

Note: if you have an older E46, it may have a Behr FSU with far fewer cooling fins than what you see pictured below. Behr has updated this thing several times.

http://i1125.photobucket.com/albums/l584/aurelius3/Random%20BMW%20Pics/91fdd045.jpg

What was difference in number of cooling fins?

Sent from Williamsburg, VA USA

[aurelius]

In the photo above, there isn't a difference in number of fins between my factory-installed unit and the new one purchased a few months ago.

But older E46 models have a Behr FSU with maybe 12 or so fins vs like maybe 50 on the ones in the photo.

There are however internal differences between the 2 pictured even tho they look the same.

[danewilson77]

Got it. Thanks.

Sent from Corolla, NC USA = Party

[Whitexi]

Thanks everyone I'll grab one to have its working for now ha ha.

[Ryans323i]

Behr was the OE supplier and apparently they've made some changes since then. Here's the original pulled from my June '03 ZHP, along with the new Behr unit. Note the different Behr part numbers.

Note: if you have an older E46, it may have a Behr FSU with far fewer cooling fins than what you see pictured below. Behr has updated this thing several times.

http://i1125.photobucket.com/albums/l584/aurelius3/Random%20BMW%20Pics/91fdd045.jpg


What was difference in number of cooling fins?

Sent from Williamsburg, VA USA

Since I have an early e46, could this be why my a/c sucks? I've recharged with the dealer, I've recharged with the canister from the auto store, and there's no leaks in the system. The air is cold, but not like other e46s I've been in. Sorry, a little OT.

[danewilson77]

Since I have an early e46, could this be why my a/c sucks? I've recharged with the dealer, I've recharged with the canister from the auto store, and there's no leaks in the system. The air is cold, but not like other e46s I've been in. Sorry, a little OT.

If fan blows hard, constant, and has accurate speed....I believe that's all you can ask from FSR.

Sent from Corolla, NC USA = Party

[aurelius]

^^^ Correct, the FSU doesn't affect air temp.

Something I experienced 2 years ago however was a simultaneous FSU failure on a hot summer night and a sticking water valve. The latter very much affects air temp. I had burning hot air coming from the footwell ducts and roughly outside air temp at the dash vents. With the compressor switched on.

Both happened only once, therefore it was easy to procrastinate but I have since replaced both. In my case, the fan remained on even after shutting down the car. Had to pull fuses to kill it.

The water valve is very easy to replace and is a BMW-only part, so buy accordingly (I've seen it under 70 bucks). If it sticks a certain way for long enough, you'll have a huge and sudden loss of coolant. A known phenomenon in the world of both E46 and E39.

[danewilson77]

Why would you lose coolant on a stuck open/shut water valve?

Sent from Corolla, NC USA = Party

[SureShot434]

I picked mine up at a local Import Salvage yard for 15 bucks...pulled it out and it was practicaly brand new! Poor guy prolly had just replaced it before he wrecked his car. Had it for about a year now and haven't had any issues with it :)

[Ryans323i]

Dang, guess I'm just gonna have to deal. I have cold air, it even looks like fog coming from the vents sometimes, but the cabin just never seems to cool down. :dunno

[aurelius]

Why would you lose coolant on a stuck open/shut water valve?

I honestly don't know the technical reasons behind what exactly happens with the water/heater valve but I assume faulty operation can lead to a build up of pressure and the hoses either pop off or spring a leak at the fitting(s). Happened to a friend in the middle of Manhattan on a Saturday night last summer. In addition, my mechanic called me 3 years ago this month (Aug in TX = brutal heat), imploring me to replace it on a preventive basis.


Dang, guess I'm just gonna have to deal. I have cold air, it even looks like fog coming from the vents sometimes, but the cabin just never seems to cool down. :dunno

Aux fan working?

[Meric]

I think hot coolant gets around the fins and this is how you get hot air from your wents but losing coolant seems weird.

[aurelius]

^^ 2 separate issues:

1. FSR/FSU (final stage resistor/unit) controlling interior climate fan. This is what has the cooling fans as pictured in earlier post.

2. Water/Heater Valve: under the hood, controls coolant flow to heater core.

[Whitexi]

I ended up changing it out today. I took off from work and what do you know, it crapped out on the way to the DMV. I ended up not ordering it like I had said I was going to last time :facepalm but my dealer had one in stock. I payed $95, and below are the old vs new.

The top one is the old one the bottom is the new OEM one. Someone was in there before tho because there were no screws holding in the FSR, just the two holding the cover on over it.



5614

[Oli77]

^ So you are all fixed up?

[Whitexi]

Yes knock on wood.... its working again.

[telijah]

Odd you say that about the screw, as mine also was missing, but it still had the older style FSR in it. I wonder when the newer style came out.

[aurelius]

There is a spot or 2 where a screw would go but are AWOL on most if not all E46. It was mentioned in the DIY instructions I followed.


http://lh6.ggpht.com/_86lz7nzpGDQ/TEur8AsGSKI/AAAAAAAABik/dpRJoiaB8dQ/s640/FSU%20repair%209%20copy.jpg

[WOLFN8TR]

Since I have an early e46, could this be why my a/c sucks? I've recharged with the dealer, I've recharged with the canister from the auto store, and there's no leaks in the system. The air is cold, but not like other e46s I've been in.

Hey Ryan how cold does your AC get? I checked mine a few weeks ago when it was 115 degrees here and it was blowing 37 degrees with the Fan on high.

[alexandre]

Mine went bonkers this morning. Fan was looping between 0 and 100%. I'll order it ASAP as it's getting really cold around here.

Is it normal that HVAC started blowing cold air right as the fans started acting up?

[telijah]

Remember that, unless you have the wheel between your center vents on the red dots, the center vents will blow cool air regardless of temp setting. So if the center vents were active and on the blue dots, and the fan speed went nuts, you'll get a blast of cool air.

[alexandre]

They definitely are on the 3 red dots... and temp was at 65F which is what it's been on since mid-October. It's around 25F here right now so I would have noticed :)

[telijah]

Well, not too sure. I know the FSR adjusts the blower speed. If it also somehow dictates which flaps to activate, then I could see that as being possible.

[danewilson77]

I do not think FSR dictates dampers at all.

[alexandre]

It was cold because I hit recirculation while shifting and opened my drivers window at the same time :facepalm

So problem is definitely FSR. Will go pick one up at the local parts recycler :)

[danewilson77]

Don't get a cheap ass FSR. You will end up doing the job twice and will be out the extra $$$.

[alexandre]

Yeah if i can't find the latest Behr revision on an E46 I'll get a new one via Autohaus.

[LivesNearCostco]

I just proved Dane's point here. In May 2013 I bought a Uro FSR to replaced the failed one, which had lasted at least 4 years (probably longer). The Uro one just failed again after 2 years and 25,000 miles. (I do run the fan at low speed all the time while driving.) My fan won't shut off even with key out, so I pulled the HVAC fan fuse and just ordered a new OEM FSR from OEM Bimmer Parts. Hopefully it's a Behr.

Edit: Also it seems that when my FSR failed, it leaves the HVAC dampers and fan speed in whatever the last setting was, so I can't turn off my fan or change the air or temp settings or put it into Auto mode. Normally with the fan off the dampers are shut. Right now if I drive fast there is still air flowing in through teh vents. This time I pulled the main fan fuse which shuts down the fan and leaves the HVAC lights on even with the key out. Last time (2 years ago) there was another HVAC fuse I pulled that shut down the console lights, don't remember which one that was.


Don't get a cheap ass FSR. You will end of doing the job twice and will be out the extra $$$.

[LivesNearCostco]

Weird experience replacing my FSR last night.

New one was different from old replacement (which was different from original design). New Behr has 39 pins instead of 58 pins on old Uro.
New one had some pins bent on one corner, even though box looked undamaged. I bent them back with my fingers until they were mostly straight.
Put new FSR in, reinstalled fuse 50, and same problem--fan runs even with key out and can't change HVAC settings at all.
Replaced under-dash panel and glove box then realized T20 Torx bit disappeared, preventing me from reinstalling 3 of the glovebox screws. (Removed glove box and panel again to find torx bit still in the lower screw for the module in front of the FSR.)
Researched online to find the separate HVAC/fan relay. There is none, other than relay for the A/C compressor, or rather any other relay functionality is in the FSR!
Out of frustration I pulled out HVAC control panel started unplugging its 4 cables one at a time.
After unplugging and reconnecting main cable to the control panel, the fan shut off and now it works normally!
The lowest fan speed on the new Behr FSR seems lower than the lowest setting on the 2013 Uro FSR. (I always thought the Uro's lowest setting blew a lot more air and made a lot more fan noise than the lowest setting on the previous FSR.)


So was it my FSR that failed after all, or only the HVAC control panel that needed a reset? Would disconnecting the battery have fixed it, or did I cause this by not disconnecting the battery? Is this a sign that my HVAC control panel is starting to fail? I hope not as a new one is $715 from Pelican Parts or $559 from ECS Tuning.

Pictures of the previous and new FSRs. The original E46 design FSR heat sink had a small number of thick, cone-shaped pins. Then the newer design had about 58 cylindrical pins. The latest design had 38 cylindrical pins. Going from design 1 to design 2 made sense to provide more cooling surface with more, thinner pins. Not sure why they then went to fewer pins.

1883418835

[ELCID86]

^mysteries if (zhp?) life. Glad you got it sorted out.


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