Airbag Recall:
Let me start by saying that I never experienced anything weird with the air bag, but I don't think I was supposed to, I think the problem is when the airbag deploys that it could cause damage to the driver. None the less I was happy to get it replaced.
NO appointment: bad idea...
I just showed up at BMW El cajon, CA. I didn't have an appointment and they told me I had to call the "appointment center" to be seen, so I went home and I made call, they told me the next day was available so I went in this morning... It took 3 hours to get it replaced. Initially I was told 1.5 hours, but let me explain why I was okay with it.
They also inspected my Blower motor wiring, which is the 2nd recall I knew about that I wanted to get fixed. Which leads me to the second part of this post....
Blower Motor Wiring Recall:
The blower motor part is available, but the cars affected by the recall need to be inspected First and given a Repair Order number. Then when the part arrives they call you to bring the car in. I was okay with them taking an extra hour to inspect my wires because this means that I am now in line to have the Blower motor/ Wires replaced. Which is what I wanted.
3 levels of "BAD":
The service representative told me that they have 3 levels of "bad", referring to the burnt wires. Level 3 means that it's bad, and it should be replaced soon. Which is what I have. He told me that I could wait a week to a couple of months for the parts to be available. Hopefully it won't take that long. Level 1 and 2 are not very serious damage, which means the wires are not burnt... yet.
Cost for Recalls: Zero
The cost of the recalls is only my time, which some may say is worth more, but I was okay with it because I got a new Airbag, and hopefully soon a new blower motor/wiring for my car.
Blower Motor Stopped Working: Temp Fix
A couple of days ago I started my car and to my surprise no air was coming out of the air vents.
So I set about to find out what was wrong.
The problem was that the wire got so hot that it burnt the wire terminals and from the heat it became corroded between the terminals to a point that no power was going to the "resistor module" that runs the Blower Motor wires.
I needed the blower to work no matter what so this is what I did to "temporarily fix" the problem. Now keep in mind that this is not meant to fix the problem, I did this to my car because I assumed the responsibility of what could happen. I assume no liability if you do this to your car, please follow this instructions at your own risk.
This fix made the blower motor work again for me.
No association with Websites, they just have the parts I needed:
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| New Airbag E90 330i 2006 |
Let me start by saying that I never experienced anything weird with the air bag, but I don't think I was supposed to, I think the problem is when the airbag deploys that it could cause damage to the driver. None the less I was happy to get it replaced.
NO appointment: bad idea...
I just showed up at BMW El cajon, CA. I didn't have an appointment and they told me I had to call the "appointment center" to be seen, so I went home and I made call, they told me the next day was available so I went in this morning... It took 3 hours to get it replaced. Initially I was told 1.5 hours, but let me explain why I was okay with it.
They also inspected my Blower motor wiring, which is the 2nd recall I knew about that I wanted to get fixed. Which leads me to the second part of this post....
Blower Motor Wiring Recall:
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| The cable is now brown, it's actually 2 RED wires, when good. |
The blower motor part is available, but the cars affected by the recall need to be inspected First and given a Repair Order number. Then when the part arrives they call you to bring the car in. I was okay with them taking an extra hour to inspect my wires because this means that I am now in line to have the Blower motor/ Wires replaced. Which is what I wanted.
3 levels of "BAD":
The service representative told me that they have 3 levels of "bad", referring to the burnt wires. Level 3 means that it's bad, and it should be replaced soon. Which is what I have. He told me that I could wait a week to a couple of months for the parts to be available. Hopefully it won't take that long. Level 1 and 2 are not very serious damage, which means the wires are not burnt... yet.
Cost for Recalls: Zero
The cost of the recalls is only my time, which some may say is worth more, but I was okay with it because I got a new Airbag, and hopefully soon a new blower motor/wiring for my car.
Blower Motor Stopped Working: Temp FixSo I set about to find out what was wrong.
The problem was that the wire got so hot that it burnt the wire terminals and from the heat it became corroded between the terminals to a point that no power was going to the "resistor module" that runs the Blower Motor wires.
Temporary Fix: Please do this at your own risk.
I needed the blower to work no matter what so this is what I did to "temporarily fix" the problem. Now keep in mind that this is not meant to fix the problem, I did this to my car because I assumed the responsibility of what could happen. I assume no liability if you do this to your car, please follow this instructions at your own risk.This fix made the blower motor work again for me.
No association with Websites, they just have the parts I needed:
If you don't want to deal with this, the easier fix is to buy a new Blower motor resistor:Amazon link at the bottom of the article.
www.Amazon.com They are $40.00 Dollars
Link to Connector, without wire : Connector replacement Website
www.autohausaz.com They are $3 dollars
If you want to fix it yourself, do this:...
I removed the board "Resistor module" and I found the bad terminals
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| Burnt Terminal |
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| I unsoldered the terminals... NOT an easy job. |
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| I sanded the PCB board to see PCB terminal connections. to make sure I knew where they were supposed to be connected. In case I ripped a trace. Back of Board |
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| Also removed the coating the board had, and the burnt materials, as Burnt material is conductive. Front of Board |
I flipped the connectors, good ones were on the left, so I soldered them on the right
After I cleaned them, I ended up sanding them clean, for a better connection.
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| Only 3 pins are used, note which, the circled one I did not install because it goes to nothing. |
More pics:
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| Known as "Resistor" module, this is the inside of the module |
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| Burnt Connector on "Resistor Module" |
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| This is the Reason for the Recall Blower motor Burnt Wire / Connector |
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| Cable is below the Blower motor. |
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BMW main dealer in Bristol UK, recall work done to the blower cable, but it harmed the blower control panel, which had to be replaced to get the blower working again. is it a unknown or known issue with this recall to the blower cable, or just lack of care when undertaking the work ?.
ReplyDeleteWhat seems a bit disappointing about this recall is that if you aren't at the level 3 of "bad", no repair will be made and the recall closed for the vehicle. And some dealers are not even disclosing that a pre-inspection is involved. That's what happened to me, I brought the car in for the recall, they said they have the parts in stock (which is odd itself, given that BMW NA says repairs are not available yet), a few hours later the car was returned with the recall completed. Obviously, they did no repair! Now this issue has been converted, at best, a post-service warranty claim if an issue arises in the next 2 years. Like if the car catches fire!
ReplyDeleteThis is absolutely the worst way to perform a recall campaign, because it does not protect against future incidents on a known issue! I'm now sorry that I brought it in without inspecting the wires myself. Where are they? Under the blower motor or somewhere else? I had no idea BMW would pull something like this and endanger people!