Questions and Answers
BMW 318i Not Moving Air
Q. Hello Vincent, Because BMWs are considered high-end cars, I've encountered many service providers who have gouged me over the years. I am the owner of a 1998 BMW 318i, 4-door, 96,000 miles. 90% of my travel is on freeway against traffic. And after being backed into about two months ago, and my car hasn't been the same.
The biggest problem I encounter is intermittent failure of climate control. 95% of the time I encounter this failure.
Even though the user interface looks and sounds (when I turn on the air and/or A/C, a buzz sound is the usual) seem normal, no air comes out from the vents. Is it possible that something was loosened up by the crash? If this is not something I can resolve on my own, can you provide me with information regarding what needs to be changed and expected pricing? I would really appreciate the insight. I'm a big fan of yours!
Couple of notes about my driving habits. Because the Climate Control defaults to an "ON' state, I usually turn it off immediately after I turn on my car.
Eugene
A. When a car develops problems after an accident, all the rules go out the window.
General Motors is exceeded only by the Germans when it comes to making a system more complicated then it has to be. If no air comes out of the vents when set to any mode, it may be that either the blower motor is bad, the blower speed signal to the blower motor is not getting to the blower motor or the ACC module is not sending out the blower speed signal. It could, also, be a bad blower motor relay or final stage module.
Check all the fuses with a meter to be sure they are good. Then check for power at the green.gray wire at the blower motor. If there is power, the blower motor is bad. Then you will need to check for power at that wire at the blower motor switch. If there is no power there check for power at the green/brown wire. if there is power there and not at the green/gray, the blower switch is bad. If you have power at both, then the green/gray wire is open somewhere. You can try swapping the blower motor relay (K4) with another relay with the same part number to eliminate that as a possibility.
