FYI: Mechanical Fan to Electric Fan Swap

Yeah, I help Jake installed it today.

PEOPLE! Once you remove the main belt driven Mechanical Fan and the front Aux Fan the new Electric Fan literally drops right in place and it will plug/play into the existing Fan Shroud connector.

I'm surprised there is now EIGHT freaking pages and literally NO pics or videos showing how EASY the Electric Fan drops in.

In terms of geography the Electric Fan ONLY replaces the Mechanical Fan's Shroud adjacent to the air intake snout.


When done there will be a huge empty space where the Mechanical Fan was AND a huge empty space where the front Aux Fan was.

And NO you CANNOT have both the Electric Fan and the front Aux Fan at the same time! The Aux fan will block the Electric Fan and create a flux disturbance that will rip your engine bay apart!

The Electric Fan MUST replace both Mechanical and Aux Fan on the Steptronic car!

^ couldn't have done it if you didn't have the fan tool

Yea, a lot of space there now and it takes seconds to take it out now.

Glad it all went well. I got your PM earlier, but I was at work so I couldn't get away.

No problem Ken. Thanks anyways. Only thing left is to put in my new expansion tank then it's off to kill the auto trans

When and If I do this I will take pictures because after reading 8 pages of stoopid questions I realized like 1 or 2 pics would've shown what is going on.

Honestly had I not been with Jake when he did the swap I would've been seriously confused and unsure about this swap even if I read this entire thread.

Just wanted to give some words after using the fan for two weeks. The idle feels a lot more smoother when stopped in drive, but the fan makes the car vibrate a tiny bit everyone other second when it's at a higher speed. The car overall does in fact feel more responsive and peppy probably due to the fact of less weight and no drag on the engine. Lastly, I have no idea why I waited this long...

Originally Posted by Solidjake

Just wanted to give some words after using the fan for two weeks. The idle feels a lot more smoother when stopped in drive, but the fan makes the car vibrate a tiny bit everyone other second when it's at a higher speed. The car overall does in fact feel more responsive and peppy probably due to the fact of less weight and no drag on the engine. Lastly, I have no idea why I waited this long...

BTW, Behr electric fan, just $199 shipped.

There is one for $198 shipped, but shipping there is $40, which is too much (and if you have to return it for some reasons they won't return you these $40, even if actual shipping was $15).

I have used this forum since 2003 when I bought my car. It's nice to see there is still some very useful info here. Did the swap yesterday and works perfect. Hardest part was getting the m-tech 2 bumper back on without gaps. Thanks for sharing the info Kpeng.

Originally Posted by DFENSBMW

I have used this forum since 2003 when I bought my car. It's nice to see there is still some very useful info here. Did the swap yesterday and works perfect. Hardest part was getting the m-tech 2 bumper back on without gaps. Thanks for sharing the info Kpeng.

I'm interested to do this mod when my fan dies..

But can it work in extreme humid country? average 38°C - 42°C

Originally Posted by certify

I'm interested to do this mod when my fan dies..

But can it work in extreme humid country? average 38°C - 42°C

You'll be fine.

I have driven the car hard in 100 degree F weather

Kpeg, how is the electric fan speed, is it a single speed, or variable speed like the auxilary fan?
does it kick on when the a/c is turned on, and what if your a/c is not working at all, will it still turn on?
thanks for your in put.

Got BEHR fan for $199 shipped from here: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...=STRK:MEWNX:IT


Work in progress:



Yuck!


I am so glad I had to mess with mech fan removal for LAST time!



Now, need to cleanup the crap off the condenser and begin to assemble back.

Originally Posted by kpeng

You'll be fine.

I have driven the car hard in 100 degree F weather

Originally Posted by azshorty

Kpeg, how is the electric fan speed, is it a single speed, or variable speed like the auxilary fan?
does it kick on when the a/c is turned on, and what if your a/c is not working at all, will it still turn on?
thanks for your in put.

I believe it's variable speed. And yes, it's on even when A/C is not on.

Originally Posted by kpeng

I believe it's variable speed. And yes, it's on even when A/C is not on.

It is definitely variable speed (just tested!).

Ok, job's done!




I tested it by idling and monitoring coolant temp (func 7.0). Fan engages at 90C at slow speed (no A/C) and if I turn on A/C and temp rises up to 92C the fan starts to work faster and temp quickly goes down back to 90C. But even at high speed its noise is a whisper in comparison with aux/mech fans' noise. Later will do a test drive.

^ You will love the swap man. I freaking love it more day by day.

Btw, to those that need a diy I wrote this up the other day

All you need is is this:

floor jack and one jack stand
philips screwdriver
I think Torx 20 head
8" extension
ratchet
8mm socket or 8mm wrench
9mm socket
13mm socket
fan clutch tools
OEM electric fan: 17117561757


- Jack up one side of car (I did the drivers side) and put one jack on the metal plate
- Remove the 8mm bolts holding bumper to the fender liners
- Take out the reinforcement bolts with 9mm socket/ratchet/extension
- Slide bumper out (unclip wiring for fogs and horn)
- Take out the top air intake
- The center duct is held by four pop in screws
- Aux fan is held by four 13mm nuts, take them out
- Disconnect the aux fan by the fan shroud in the engine bay
- Slide the fan out
- Put the center duct back in and top air intake
- Put the front bumper back on in reverse order (slide in, put in the two reinforcement bar bolts and the assorted bolts to the liners.
- Next you have to take the mechanical fan out
- Pop out the fan control unit on the shroud and the other wiring and put them to the side
- Take out the 1 torx screw on the passenger side top and loosen up the fan shroud
- Use the fan clutch tool to loosen the bolt and take out the assembly
- Take your electric fan and slide it against the radiator and screw in the torx screw
- Plug the electric fan to the connector where the aux fan was plugged into
- Place back the control unit and the other wiring to the electric fan shroud

Viola, you're done.


I will make a DIY video later.

I want to know if the temp goes any hire, if the fan speeds up without turning on the a/c.