Home Forums Articles How To's FAQ Register
Go Back   Xoutpost.com > BMW SAV Forums > X5 (E53) Forum
Arnott
User Name
Password
Member List Premier Membership Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read

Xoutpost server transfer and maintenance is occurring....
Xoutpost is currently undergoing a planned server migration.... stay tuned for new developments.... sincerely, the management


Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Display Modes
  #11  
Old 03-17-2017, 10:33 AM
Ricky Bobby's Avatar
Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Wake Forest, NC
Posts: 9,344
Ricky Bobby will become famous soon enough
If I lived in the tundra I wouldn't worry about it too much - but on a hot summer day I would definitely want the fan -

I also went with Sachs fan clutch mine took a dump shortly after I took ownership at 9 years of age yet only 62k miles - (another example of age taking a toll on parts rather than miles)
__________________
2018 Ram 2500 6.7L Cummins 68RFE
19k miles -Bright White/Black - Big Horn Sport - Crew Cab Short Bed
2013 X5 35D (CEO's) - Born on 5/17/2013 -
82k miles - Alpine White/Cinnamon Brown/Premium Pkg, Sport Activity/Premium Pkg and Sound/20" Style 214/Running Boards

Reply With Quote

Sponsored Links

  #12  
Old 03-17-2017, 11:57 AM
bcredliner's Avatar
Premier Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Little Elm,Texas. (40 minutes North of Dallas)
Posts: 8,105
bcredliner is on a distinguished road
When the clutch fan wobbles it attacks the water pump bearing so be sure you don't have a coolant leak at the shaft.

The electric fan is intended to be supplemental but running with only the electric fan, in most cases, will be sufficient cooling though will shorten the life of the fan. In addition, it is higher risk. If the electric fan dies you are stranded and may have overheated the engine and cooling system enough to cause other, likely costly, damage. I wouldn't have a daily driver without both fans operational even though I am a gauge scanner.

In my case, seeking to free up HP used to turn the clutch fan, I installed an electric fan in place of the clutch fan. There is a thread here that covers the install. I have a controller that allows me to adjust the temperature the fan comes on. I have it set to come on just prior to when the auxiliary fan starts. I wired it so that it continues to cool after the engine is turned off. The install is easy, the cost is reasonable.

I have been removing clutch fans in favor of electric fans for decades, certainly on race stuff but also daily drivers.
__________________
X5 4.6 2002 Black Sap, Black interior. 2013 X5M Melbourne Red, Bamboo interior
Dallas
Reply With Quote
  #13  
Old 03-17-2017, 07:40 PM
Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Ooltewah, TN
Posts: 713
bmw540san is on a distinguished road
I've deleted clutch fan on all 3 cars and replaced it with electric High Performance Spal fan. All 3 cars have slightly different setup but no issues for few years now + important benefits:
1. No stress on WP bearing, especially when clutch fan starts wobbling and accelerates the WP bearing wear.
2. Extra room when work on WP, pulleys, belts etc... I can do quite a bit without even removing fan shroud.
https://xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-forums/...ch-delete.html
http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/sh...get-this-lucky
http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/sh...on-97-BMW-528i
__________________
2010 BMW M6 * Black Saphire Metallic * Full Black Merino Leather
2019 BMW X3 M40i * Alpine White * Mocha Leather
Reply With Quote
  #14  
Old 03-18-2017, 05:13 AM
Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: Southlake, Texas
Posts: 2,094
X53Jay4.8is is on a distinguished road
Quote:
Originally Posted by williamx5 View Post
Good day!!

I put new motor mounts in when I rebuilt the motor about 20K miles ago... The original fan and clutch were used after the rebuild and it wasn't long when they exploded one bitterly cold morning... I lost my coolant sensor, hoses, and the shroud... I replaced all that with used parts... My fan exploded again just recently, again on a bitterly cold morning last month... I put on one I had from a 4.4L X5 water pump pull... Aftermarket fan, but OEM clutch... The clutch must have been bad right away... It would wobble and allow the fan to sit still with the motor running... No resistance at all on the clutch... Very odd to see actually... I pulled it and am now looking to just run electric...

Cheers!!!
Why not just replace the the Fan clutch with a new good quality OEM one instead of used????
Reply With Quote
  #15  
Old 03-18-2017, 06:22 AM
Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: South Carolina
Posts: 568
williamx5 is on a distinguished road
Quote:
Originally Posted by X53Jay4.8is View Post
Why not just replace the the Fan clutch with a new good quality OEM one instead of used????
I pretty much got the ones I had for free... they were apart of a water pump I pulled from the PIY... I never really had a problem with then on my other BMW's, but this one doesn't like mechanical fans for some reason... once this last one failed, I did the research on converting to electric and like the idea more for lots of reasons!

Cheers!
__________________
2001 E53 X5 4.4i (03-07-2001 build date) White exterior / hellbeige interior (6MT swap vehicle - Manny)
2002 E53 X5 4.6is (12-20-2001 build date) Imola Red exterior / M-texture interior (Red)
2003 E53 X5 4.4i (06-26-2003 build date) Silver exterior / Black interior (Silvester II)
2008 Mini Cooper S ragtop (04-17-2008 build date) Dark Silver exterior / Gray interior ( Topless)
BMWCCA member (#4745)
Reply With Quote
  #16  
Old 03-24-2017, 07:36 PM
Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Boston, ma
Posts: 499
kevinkay is on a distinguished road
The guys that are driving without the clutch fan - did you pull that plastic funnel that goes around the fan?

One of my plastic fan blades got knocked off - (my stupid mistake, left something there and started the car). Since then I was feeling the idle changed. I pulled out the fan today and felt it was smooth again - could an unbalanced fan make a difference in the idle??

Is in the 40's here, going to leave it off for a couple of days along with that funnel.

THANKS for posting this!
__________________
2004, X5, 3.0, 202k+
Reply With Quote
  #17  
Old 03-24-2017, 08:26 PM
740iS's Avatar
Premier Member
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: San Francisco Bay Area
Posts: 433
740iS is on a distinguished road
Quote:
Originally Posted by kevinkay View Post
One of my plastic fan blades got knocked off - (my stupid mistake, left something there and started the car). Since then I was feeling the idle changed. I pulled out the fan today and felt it was smooth again - could an unbalanced fan make a difference in the idle??
Yes, very much so! Had this happen more than once and on more than one BMW.
__________________
'01 740i Sport MKIV, Quad Brake Lights, Bi-Xenon retrofit, HID Fogs Dinan 7 Struts, Springs, camber plates, Intake, MAF, CAI, Throttle Body, NBT Retrofit, Strong Strut


'99 318ti Titanium Silver; '97 318ti Boston Green; '13 X5 3.5i Saphire Black Metallic
'84 633csi Black (sold); '88 325iC Black (sold); '97 740iL Black(sold); '01 740iS Black (sold);'97 318ti White (sold)
; '08 X5 4.8i Titanium Silver (sold); '96 318ti Alaska Blue (sold)
Reply With Quote
  #18  
Old 03-24-2017, 08:41 PM
Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: Omaha, NE
Posts: 1,609
cn90 is on a distinguished road
Update:

- Bought a brand-new Sachs, it also says Horton on the Fan Clutch. Installed it and it is nice and quiet now.

- The factory Behr Fan Clutch with 125K miles...interestingly when I tested out of the car...on certain rotations: it is stiff as designed, but after spinning some more, it free-wheels and makes noise (rao...rao...rao...in my hand), so it is definitely Kaput.
__________________
1998 E39 528i 5sp MT
2006 E53 X5 3.0 6sp MT
Reply With Quote
  #19  
Old 03-25-2017, 09:25 AM
upallnight's Avatar
Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: Cook County
Posts: 7,280
upallnight is on a distinguished road
Quote:
Originally Posted by cn90 View Post
Update:

- Bought a brand-new Sachs, it also says Horton on the Fan Clutch. Installed it and it is nice and quiet now.

- The factory Behr Fan Clutch with 125K miles...interestingly when I tested out of the car...on certain rotations: it is stiff as designed, but after spinning some more, it free-wheels and makes noise (rao...rao...rao...in my hand), so it is definitely Kaput.
You need to refill the viscus oil in the fan. There's a Youtube Video by Ivan on how to refill the fan. His youtube name is motoYam82.
__________________
2006 Infiniti G35
2001 BMW 3.0I E53 X5 Build date 08/2000 SOLD
Lotus Europa 1970 Destroyed by fire
Lotus Europa 1970 S2 Renault Powered
Lotus Type 52 1970 Twincam Webers Powered
PORSCHE 911 Targa 1982 The Garage Queen
Audi Avant donated to Kars for Kids
BMW 525IT Sold
Audi 4000CS Quattro Sold
Jensen Healey Lotus Powered Sold
Opel 1900 Sold
Triumph Spitfire 1971 Sold
Triumph Spitfire 1968 Sold
Plymouth "Cuda" 340 Six pack SOLD
Reply With Quote
  #20  
Old 03-25-2017, 09:44 AM
Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: Omaha, NE
Posts: 1,609
cn90 is on a distinguished road
Quote:
Originally Posted by upallnight View Post
You need to refill the viscus oil in the fan. There's a Youtube Video by Ivan on how to refill the fan. His youtube name is motoYam82.
Thanks.

Although I am a hardcore DIYer, in this situation, I think $85 is worth it for 120K of service.

Refilling with viscous oil is a nice idea, but I rather replace the Fan Clutch and be worry-free for the next 100K-120K.
__________________
1998 E39 528i 5sp MT
2006 E53 X5 3.0 6sp MT
Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On





All times are GMT -4. The time now is 06:58 PM.
vBulletin, Copyright 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd. Search Engine Friendly URLs by vBSEO 3.6.0
© 2017 Xoutpost.com. All rights reserved. Xoutpost.com is a private enthusiast site not associated with BMW AG.
The BMW name, marks, M stripe logo, and Roundel logo as well as X3, X5 and X6 designations used in the pages of this Web Site are the property of BMW AG.
This web site is not sponsored or affiliated in any way with BMW AG or any of its subsidiaries.