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e70 Blowers a bit weak?

Discuss your latest mods or ideas, and anything to do with the BMW X5 (E70).
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Chrispy
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e70 Blowers a bit weak?

Post by Chrispy » Mon Jun 01, 2020 12:52 pm

Hi all,

Does anyone find the HVAC blowers on the E70 a bit feeble? When mine is on full it roars away like mad but the volume of air coming out of the vents doesn't seem to match all the fuss the blower is making.

For the record I've (temporarily) removed the recirculation filter under the dash (new one on order) and replaced the 2x external filters under the passenger scuttle tray but the difference is negligable.

Additionally, if you force the car to pull in air from outside by turning off the A/C it does push out more air (but only a bit) however it's definitely worse when on recirculation, like when the A/C is on and it's hot outside, which ironically is when you need more air......

Compared to my wifes Freelander 2, that feels like a pretty strong breeze when on half power coming out of the vents - makes the E70's look a bit pathetic in comparison, but it seems not for the lack of the blower working very hard as it's loud when cranked up.

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Re: e70 Blowers a bit weak?

Post by X5Sport » Mon Jun 01, 2020 4:03 pm

The ones on my X6 (basically the same) are fine. I have 4-way climate but that shouldn’t matter. All I can think of is possibly a flap being stuck closed within the dash itself. A number of them are electric and it may be worth seeing if anything changes if you alter the airflow controls. On mine I can set air to come from different vents (mid/low/high venting positions) or auto. I hear the flap controller moving things to the selected position.
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Re: e70 Blowers a bit weak?

Post by Chrispy » Tue Jun 02, 2020 8:31 pm

Hmm - well I can manually point the air at the screen, feet or face vents so all those actuators seem ok. And when you first turn on the ignition (not engine) you can hear them all move and reset.

Also the flaps for governing whether air is recirculated or not seem ok too as I can hear the difference in sound and see the one in the passenger bulkhead move when the external filters are out.

It's strange really - before I removed the interior filter I could have sworn it would have been that, preventing decent amounts of air flow but it's in the bin and the thing still can't move a decent volume of air through the vents. What is interesting is that in order to get a good amount of air out of the rear vents (I only have dial zone climate) so the rear passengers are cooled rapidly is to put it on windscreen clear. Is this normal? If the air is aimed at face vents the rear ones are pretty feeble......

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Re: e70 Blowers a bit weak?

Post by X5Sport » Wed Jun 03, 2020 8:27 am

Fan gone ‘low speed’ perhaps? It’s about all that’s left unless the ducting has come off somewhere (unlikely unless disturbed). From what you’ve said, the actuators and flaps are all fine. My rear fan isn’t weak so I’m not sure what to suggest now. :oops:
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Re: e70 Blowers a bit weak?

Post by Chrispy » Thu Jun 04, 2020 1:51 pm

Thanks for the info and suggestions :)

I've been through all the settings and can confirm that I can control the direction of air just fine - points fine at footwells, face, windscreen etc - the blending flaps all appear to be doing what they should. I can even control (when it's not too hot outside and the temp differential isn't too great between inside and outside) the recirculation too, however the issue is definitely that there is much less air flow volume out of the vents in general when recirculation is engaged. And that was with the recirc filter completely removed too, although I have just fitted the new one.

Main problem there is that recirculation kicks in when the outside temps are high and you can't override it. Couple that with poor air flow volumes when it is on and you end up quite hot in the car!

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Re: e70 Blowers a bit weak?

Post by Chrispy » Sat Jun 06, 2020 10:39 am

Think I've figured it out.....

So, when you enable / disable recirculation there are in fact 2x flaps that need to open/ close to dictate whether the air is taken from outside or inside the cabin.

You can see one set of flaps when you pull off the cowl under the passenger side bulkhead to replace the external pollen filters - I can see that one opening and closing nicely when I fiddle with recirc. BUT, there's another flap too, inside the car, between the internal panel filter and the blower, up under the passenger side of the dash.

This is attached to a stepper motor that is easy to get to and held in with 2x screws. Simply remove the ducting as if you were to get to the interior filter, and you'll see the motor attached to the blower housing - 2x screws and off it comes. As attached.....

Now the spline that the motor attaches to moves freely as you can move it with your fingers and make the rotating flap that sits between the interior filter and the blower open and close. When I have the engine running and the motor connected to the harness but otherwise in my hand, it doesn't budge - at all, whereas the other one for the flaps under the bulkhead operates quite happily. So we have a dead motor it would seem, which explains why I think the internal flap remains closed when put onto recirculation when the external flap closes too - meaning the fan can hardly draw any air through as both flaps are closed!

Question next is does a new motor require coding in...... :|

EDIT - realised all the stepper motors for blending control are the same part number, so that part below is standard fare - however the fact there is one that works in conjunction with the one for the bulkhead flaps (when those are open this one is closed, and vice versa, which is my problem) is they key here.
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Re: e70 Blowers a bit weak?

Post by X5Sport » Sat Jun 06, 2020 12:56 pm

Have a look at newtis for your version of the E70. The comment I can see is that it states the actuators need ‘readdressing’ if replaced. I would read that as some coding action is needed. It just doesn’t say what.
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Re: e70 Blowers a bit weak?

Post by Chrispy » Sat Jun 06, 2020 1:18 pm

A chap on here (half way down, called 930rose) got a spare from a breakers from a 3 series, fitted it and it just worked. He's where I got the idea from it might be an actuator, and that coupled with the fact the air flow seems "blocked" when on recirc pointed me that way....

https://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showt ... 995?page=4

So I've found one on eBay for £11 - ordered it and going to give it a shot. If it needs programming in I'll take it to my local independent :)

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Re: e70 Blowers a bit weak?

Post by Chrispy » Thu Jun 18, 2020 10:20 am

Quick update - given that the replacement motor is from eBay, therefore from another car, fitting it myself was a non-starter.

Plugging it in and leaving it dangling (and starting the car) proved the old motor was dead as this new one started turning straight away which was nice, but it just went round and round so getting it attached back onto the flap control spline was impossible. The system clearly has no clue what flap this motor is trying to control (who knows which flap it was connected to on the donor car), where the start and stop positions are and which direction to turn to do what.

https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/e70- ... ls/Q40JlZr

So it's booked in with the independent next Tuesday to fit.

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