E30 Blower Motor Replacement

I thought some lubrication would help the noise, but it didn't. Two days after WD40, the blower started blowing fuses instead of hot air. I hate doing repairs in January, but no blower was really becoming a safety issue. It was time for a new blower.

Replacing the blower motor isn't as hard as it could be, because you go in through the firewall. It took me about an hour to replace it. You will need a new blower motor ($122 including discount for my E30) and about eight 9 inch nylon wire ties.

The only catch for my car (1984 325e) is that it came with two different blower motors. You can't tell from the VIN or any other information which blower motor you have. They all are labeled as Bosch. The part numbers on the blower motor aren't enough to tell which one you need (the Bosch numbers aren't cross referenced in the parts books). You have to remove the blower motor to tell if you have the Behr type (round air ducts) or the other type (squarish air ducts). The best thing to do is remove the motor and take it to the dealer. My car has the Behr blower motor (Behr is molded into the ductwork).

  1. Turn off your ignition, open the hood, and pull off the black rubber strip that is at the base of the windshield. You can see that the center of the firewall is a removable panel.
  2. The panel has a thick bunch of wires attached to it with wire ties. Cut all of these.
  3. Remove the hex headed screws that hold the panel to the rest of the firewall. Remove the panel, exposing the blower motor assembly.
  4. You will see two nylon straps that close the blower motor box. Unhook these straps and remove the blower motor box top. The motor itself is then exposed.
  5. Carefully remove the electrical connections to the motor. Unhook the metal strap that holds the motor down. Remove the motor by standing on the right side of the car, pulling the motor out slightly, then sliding it towards you. It was clear why this motor was dead: the bearing was totally missing and the shaft had about 3/8" play!
  6. Take this opportunity to clean out the blower motor box. One thing that fails on these cars is the fan speed resistor pack. You have this problem if your fan only works on high. The fan speed resistor pack which is at the middle bottom of the blower motor bracket. To remove it, just pull it up and out.
  7. Be very careful when you are installing the new motor. The blades on the fan are easily broken. Stand on the right side of the car and work the motor in, starting on the side closest to you. Rotate the motor slightly to make sure that it is in the right slot.
  8. Reattach the metal strap and the electrical connections. Turn on your ignition and check the fan operation on all speeds.
  9. Replace the panel, replace the four screws, and the rubber strip. Use your nylon wire ties to attach all of those cables to the panel.