E46 heater blower stop working

Post Fri Oct 07, 2011 8:11 am

Got in my car this morning turn on the fan to de mist the front an nothing every thing lights up but no air even the fan speed setting shows speed what can this be

Post Fri Oct 07, 2011 9:22 am

Possibly a heater blower resistor. Common failure on e46's.. Its a metal spiked object that is located drivers footwell on the upper left part. Can be a right arse to take out

Post Fri Oct 07, 2011 9:34 am

yep.. as above, the classis hedgehog problem.. do the lights also work when keys out of ignition? could drain the battery

Post Fri Oct 07, 2011 9:49 am

blingsta wrote:yep.. as above, the classis hedgehog problem.. do the lights also work when keys out of ignition? could drain the battery

U mean the control lights for the blower

Post Mon Oct 10, 2011 9:48 pm

on mine the fan stays on (sometimes) even once you have switched ignitionoff - is that the hedgehog thing and what causes it precisely?

the lights are off by the way.

Post Mon Oct 10, 2011 9:58 pm

pony wrote:on mine the fan stays on (sometimes) even once you have switched ignitionoff - is that the hedgehog thing and what causes it precisely?

the lights are off by the way.

100% it will be the final stage or "hedge hog". Its the heater blower motor resistor and they short out internally causing the fan to stay on intermittently which can cause a battery drain.

VERY common on E46/E39/E53, usually a stock item at BMW dealers.

Post Mon Oct 10, 2011 10:02 pm

bss325i wrote:
pony wrote:on mine the fan stays on (sometimes) even once you have switched ignitionoff - is that the hedgehog thing and what causes it precisely?

the lights are off by the way.
100% it will be the final stage or "hedge hog". Its the heater blower motor resistor and they short out internally causing the fan to stay on intermittently which can cause a battery drain.

VERY common on E46/E39/E53, usually a stock item at BMW dealers.

what is the final stage? Hedgehog you mean the heater blower motor i presume. Is it expensive/time consuming to get rectified?

Currently, the particular fuse for this circuit is taken out so it does not happen.

Post Mon Oct 10, 2011 10:07 pm

pony wrote:
bss325i wrote:
pony wrote:on mine the fan stays on (sometimes) even once you have switched ignitionoff - is that the hedgehog thing and what causes it precisely?

the lights are off by the way.
100% it will be the final stage or "hedge hog". Its the heater blower motor resistor and they short out internally causing the fan to stay on intermittently which can cause a battery drain.

VERY common on E46/E39/E53, usually a stock item at BMW dealers.
what is the final stage? Hedgehog you mean the heater blower motor i presume. Is it expensive/time consuming to get rectified?

Currently, the particular fuse for this circuit is taken out so it does not happen.

Its what i said it is!

BMW call it the "Final stage"

Its common nick name is "hedgehog"

What it is, is the blower motors resistor, separate from the motor.

They are fiddly to change on E46's but not time consuming.

Post Mon Oct 10, 2011 11:04 pm

One of these. Hence the name "hedgehog"

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-E46-E39-X ... 5ad55d7112

Post Thu Oct 13, 2011 7:15 pm

Had to do the hedgehog and the top stepper motor for the screen vents a month or so ago. Was my first time on e46. Not to bad for the hedgehog but the stepper was a bitch x2.