FYI: Mechanical Fan to Electric Fan Swap

Originally Posted by cnotesdip

i'm sure you where bullied in the past and now you bully others. You came on here and asked questions before and you got help, you can't help others?

You know theres a search feature right? It shows respect to a forum when you try to do your own research, then start asking if you can't find your answer. You sometimes have to work a little for your knowledge, and can't expect it to be handed to you just like that.

[QUOTE=kpeng;11682943]I don't like humiliating people, I just have a low tolerance for people who lack common sense, reading ability, and general human functionality. You humiliated yourself by saying we have 3 fans, and then being incapable of reading post #1 because this thread is 5 pages long. That's like someone asking you to look at the cover of a book, and you saying you can't do it because it's 300 pages long...

That being said, you have your answer. See ya!


As an update for everyone else, I've put a couple thousand miles on the car (in the city), with just the electric fan, and I've yet to have an issue.[/QUOTE]

we will see. good luck with your tranny Mr know it all. Your tranny is on its way to the junk yard especially with the hot Florida summer weather coming up.

1) Do you notice that the E46 M3 has an identical cooling setup as the e46 auto equiped cars? The M3 requires this setup due to the huge massive amount of heat produced by the S54 engine. The mechanical fan and aux fan setup is most efficient determined/approved/certified by BMW Engineer.

2) The non M3 e46 auto cars requires the same efficient/powerful cooling setup because it needs a HUGE temperature differential (delta change) to help cool the transmission. Your transmission is being cooled by the heat exchange. The tranny fluid is being cooled by the "cooler/colder" radiator fluid.

3) Since you orginally removed both the mechanical and aux fan, your tranny wasn't able to cool itself. If anything your tranny was being over heated by the 200 plus degree + (C) engine coolant.

4) You and your friend, Vince are not Engineers. Mr Vince might have an engineering degree but I am sure it is from phoenix online or something. Also you can't compare your result with his since he has a secondary transmission cooler. If anything, by him installing a secondary tranny cooler that action in itself should verify my statement that your tranny is overheating.

5) BMW engineers are smart people and not some tree shades mechanics. They have years of experience and use scientific equipment to test and gather data. They have concluded that in the e46 lineup, the mechanical and aux fan is the BEST SETUP for application that requires the best/most/efficient cooling such as the M3 and e46 auto

Originally Posted by ///Flash

4) You and your friend, Vince are not Engineers. Mr Vince might have an engineering degree but I am sure it is from phoenix online or something.

LMAO. So what makes you a better person to believe than an Enigineer that has worked on bmw's for years, and someone that is currently using this set up with no ill effects. The tranny is cooled by the engine coolant. If his car isn't overheating, that means that the engine coolant isn't too hot, which means it can still effectively cool that transmission.

Vince only needed that secondary cool in certain instances on his RACE CAR. If a race car, going through the punishment and sustained stress of racing only needs extra cooling occasionally, then a regular street car should really be fine.

Originally Posted by tinkwithanr

LMAO. So what makes you a better person to believe than an Enigineer that has worked on bmw's for years, and someone that is currently using this set up with no ill effects. The tranny is cooled by the engine coolant. If his car isn't overheating, that means that the engine coolant isn't too hot, which means it can still effectively cool that transmission.

Vince only needed that secondary cool in certain instances on his RACE CAR. If a race car, going through the punishment and sustained stress of racing only needs extra cooling occasionally, then a regular street car should really be fine.

Vince doesn't impress me. He is nothing but a douche bag. I remember when he was trying to sell just the INSTRUCTIONS on how to retrofit the M3 paddleshifter into our steptronic for $400.

the irony is that the instructions was so simple that even my retarded roommate could figure out. The instructions consist of like 10 steps and took less than 5 mins but Vince wanted it for $400 bucks.

what a douche.

I have an idea what about a flex fan? its lite, has no clutch(weight), no drag at mid to upper rpm's, and will cool like a mechanical fan should! For about $20!

Originally Posted by BeMyWhip

I have an idea what about a flex fan? its lite, has no clutch(weight), no drag at mid to upper rpm's, and will cool like a mechanical fan should!

I've looked into it. But like I said in the original post, the OEM fan fits like...well...OEM, and it wasn't that much more expensive than a good fan. I was looking at SPALs.

Originally Posted by kpeng

I've looked into it. But like I said in the original post, the OEM fan fits like...well...OEM, and it wasn't that much more expensive than a good fan. I was looking at SPALs.

K... Im prob going to do the electric fan since Im going to do the under drive pulleys; plus a muffler delete with a quad tip. How heavy was the fan/clutch+bolts?

Not heavy at all?

I am going to do the swap next week and what I came up with is that you only remove the mechanical fan and wire the new electric fan parallel to the aux fan ( just cut the wires and wire in). So what you gonna have is two electric fans working together.

he has no aux fan he had it removed when he sc his car so the fan plug into that aux fan plug

Originally Posted by aosipian

I am going to do the swap next week and what I came up with is that you only remove the mechanical fan and wire the new electric fan parallel to the aux fan ( just cut the wires and wire in). So what you gonna have is two electric fans working together.

Is it really so hard to understand?

I have ONE fan. Mechanical fan and aux fan are GONE.

Mechanical fan + Aux Fan = Gone
Electrical Fan = On!

I do understand that. I gave just one more alternative

Manual cars don't have aux fans?

Well the problem that I had was that something went wrong with my car's ECU, and the electric fan it came out with never received a pulse to switch on when needed, resulting in a blown headgasket and cracked head Now the cost of repairing that was rediculous, so I had the autoelectrician just make the fan run with a relay, so it's on all the time on full speed.

I can tell you, that noise was killing me. Last week I had it ripped out and replaced with a clutch fan. That's me, happy

Did the swap on my 328 AT. The result is amazing. I finally got rid off this bloody noise coming out of mech fan and the car became much more responsive and a joy to drive. So far no overheating issues ( it is 110 F here). I tried iddling with and without the AC for 30 min each. No issues. The temp gauge niddle at 12'o clock postion at all times.

Thanks kpeng.

Originally Posted by Cobra

it's more than worth it just for the fact that you won't have to worry about the mechanical fan blowing up.

i blew my mechanical fan twice, with no warning. bimmer shop(yes, that's what it's called) thinks the likely culprit was the water pump. anyhow, because of the fan blades exploding, it took out my radiator, a bunch of hoses, and even punctured the hood. i was actually going to eventually do the electric fan conversion with a SPAL fan, but that one requires a new relay, thermostat, and wiring kit, as well as a mounting kit...

so Kens route would be easier



if that's true, just go with the SPAL route, like i said.

http://store.bimmerworld.com/shared/...t=products.asp

cooling > SPAL electric fans

Did you do the SPAL Electric Fan setup? If so are these all the parts that I need?

SPAL Electric Fans
Select Model Number: 30102049 - 16" High Perf. Fan - Pull, Curved
$149.99
1 SPAL 16" Fan Shroud Gasket $11.99
1 Electric Fan Quick Mount Kit $5.99
1 SPAL Fan Bracket and Strap Mounting Kit $16.99
1 SPAL Fan Relay, Thermostat, and Wiring Kits
Select Kit: Basic Relay Harness Kit
$34.99
Total $219.95

Originally Posted by devGOD

Did you do the SPAL Electric Fan setup? If so are these all the parts that I need?

SPAL Electric Fans
Select Model Number: 30102049 - 16" High Perf. Fan - Pull, Curved
$149.99
1 SPAL 16" Fan Shroud Gasket $11.99
1 Electric Fan Quick Mount Kit $5.99
1 SPAL Fan Bracket and Strap Mounting Kit $16.99
1 SPAL Fan Relay, Thermostat, and Wiring Kits
Select Kit: Basic Relay Harness Kit
$34.99
Total $219.95

i have not yet done the conversion. but that looks like everything you'd need. but i mean, for just $25 less, would you go thru the hassle of trying to fit the SPAL fan? why not just go OEM for about the same price and be done?

Update: Many moons later, and the car is still running 100% kosher.

Originally Posted by kpeng

Update: Many moons later, and the car is still running 100% kosher.

how many miles on your auto trans? just curious...

i read every post in here

thanks for all the insight...

still unsure if i want to or not just because i cant afford to kill it the tranny

btw i got to this thread when i searched ""poopy fan suck need new electricity one"

Originally Posted by theinfamousdrew

how many miles on your auto trans? just curious...

i read every post in here

thanks for all the insight...

still unsure if i want to or not just because i cant afford to kill it the tranny

btw i got to this thread when i searched ""poopy fan suck need new electricity one"

115,000 miles.

It won't kill the tranny.