Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

E46 AC Blower regulator

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    E46 AC Blower regulator

    Its summer in UAE and its extremely hot so we do our best making sure that the AC system is maintained
    gas refile changing belts and pulleys etc which i already did some time back

    yesterday morning I started my car heading to work and tried to start my AC but nothing comes out of it at all
    the RPM moves when AC is on and you can clearly notice that the front fan is working fine

    doubts and thoughts would go to compressor and lots of money paying when you go to garaj as they start guessing and rubbing your pocket
    i did my homework when i came to office and search around and here is what i came with

    the symptoms would be that AC remains ON even when you switch your car off in some cases which would drain your battery
    when you switch the blower to the Max , it doesn't really feel big change between medium level , still not max blow
    you would hear some weird noise coming out of the AC also you would feel the blower power goes between up and down every while , so knowing that there is no gas leak in the pipes coming and going to compressor which can be checked by examining the compressor pressure we are mostly looking at a common problem in the E46 and from experience its in many other BMW (talking about old generation from 1995 up to 2004 mostly)
    which is the Blower Regulator or Final Stage Regulator , this part fails after sometime for some reason and it actually affects very much the blower performance (this is one of the reasons makes people hate used German cars claiming that its AC is not cool)

    I decided to give it a shot and buy that part cost of 150 Dhs and took the car for fixing
    Asked the workshop for a guessing of the problem and he started guessing and i should leave the car for checking cost would be 1000 Dhs +
    drove to another workshop and decided to use some tools myself to do it, all you need is screw driver normal one and another T18 or T20 screw based on the car model
    removed the glove box fully (6 screws for my case with normal screw driver) , set on the passenger seat upside down head down and foots up coz the place is tight and that would be the only way you can control the fixing on the side close to the gear you will find one part to be removed with T18 2 screws once you remove the same you can see the regulator that is very easy to move py pushing clip and pull the regulator, unplug it and install the new one then reverse all fixing steps and you are done
    I would strongly recommend that you remove the battery cable before you start to avoid any short or electric shock which I faced

    attached picture where you can see the original fitted regulator VS the aftermarket to the left
    also the picture of the view when you remove glove box showing the part that needs removal to reach the FSR

    you may find loads of threads online for the same with details videos if you do your homework
    the labor time took me 30 min and cost of 150 Dhs, now i can swear that my AC never performed so well as now since i ever bought the car

    hope this would benefit others and good luck with the fix
    Attached Files
    sigpic
    E46FANATIC

    #2
    Fantastic bro well done :) just to let know this a vey common issue on E46 and not so common on many other models .

    Comment


      #3
      Originally posted by shak View Post
      Fantastic bro well done :) just to let know this a vey common issue on E46 and not so common on many other models .
      Cheers mate :D
      agreed with you sure you have more experience when it comes to this
      however my old E38 i owned 3 times different car
      i always wanted to know what is the reason the AC remains ON even when i switch the car off
      it happens sometimes then disappear but never stopped the blower
      sigpic
      E46FANATIC

      Comment


        #4
        Great job on the DIY! love a DIY success story where you end up same a lot of $$$$.... this is a very useful thread for many and thank you for posting it.
        Current
        E92 M3 - Mineral White
        F80 M3 - SilverStone

        Past
        E36 318is
        E39 540i ///M sport
        VW CC
        E46 M3 - Frozen White

        Comment


          #5
          Originally posted by Wazif View Post
          Great job on the DIY! love a DIY success story where you end up same a lot of $$$$.... this is a very useful thread for many and thank you for posting it.
          Agreed Wazif, thanks for your comment
          in fact my point was to give the success feeling I had to others when ever they might need it
          saving cash, Time and the negative feeling when the car disappoint you
          above all it adds to our experience and knowledge as fans and enthusiasts which is the point after all
          I urge each and every one who loves the DIY to post the same or any experience he had to share with us that can save us alot
          sigpic
          E46FANATIC

          Comment


            #6
            That thing is a pain to get to. Glad you sorted it. I believe it's also called a hedgehog resistor, from the spikey-ness :) Touch wood I have not yet had to do one.
            Life is a journey. Enjoy the ride. Enjoy it in a BMW.

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by Andy1GP View Post
              That thing is a pain to get to. Glad you sorted it. I believe it's also called a hedgehog resistor, from the spikey-ness :) Touch wood I have not yet had to do one.
              Couldn't agree more regarding how painful is it to reach
              glad you didnt need to do that yet and hope you wont need that soon
              but it was worthy after all and the result was very much satisfying
              sigpic
              E46FANATIC

              Comment

              Working...
              X