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1999 Z3 2.5 Questions

Hello all,

Just bought a '99 Z3 2.5 stick last Saturday and am lovin' it. Owner's manual shopping on eBay as we speak (have you seen the prices for them?!!) and am sittin' in the dark here...

If you experts could be so kind as to answer a couple questions for me, that would be great. Hope I'm not in violation of the FAQs or anything about the group. If so, my apologies.

  1. After an hour or two sitting, hot or cold, for about a minute after start up, there is a "whirring" sound, like a blender on puree', that lasts for about 60 seconds (same length of time, each time). The offending unit is in the upper left hand corner of the engine bay. What the hell is it? Is hearing it typical? A pre-heater of some sort?

  1. As soon as I blast the fan blower, through the face vents, the middle vent control's on/off/flow wheel slams itself shut. grrrrr.....any suggestions (besides black electrical tape to hold it open ;-) ?

Thanks guys.

- greg

Reply to
SLGreg
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Greg:

The whirring sound is the blower that sends extra air into the exhaust to decrease the "light-off" time of the catalyst. It runs until the system reaches the correct operating temperature. Mine runs for the first few minutes after starting the car in the cold condition. If its unusually loud you might have a hole in the rubber tube that goes from the blower to the engine. It has a protective heat shield over the tubing but with time you can get a hole in the tubing very close to the point of connection with the engine. Run your hands over the tubing while the blower is runing. If you feel any air rushing out of the heat sheild you need a new rubber hose.

You AC duct needs to be replaced. Its a small part but a pain to get to. You can go to

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to fidn a drawing of the AC system along with a list of parts. Its one of those things I'd let the dealer fix just because its hard to get to and you'll usually end up breadking another componnt trying to get to it.

Good luck

Ron

Reply to
RJD

Thanks, Ron. I suspect the blower motor might need a lube. I will check the tube, also. Thank you for the education/explanation and for setting my mind at ease ;-)

Actually...I invented a great fix for it last night. Std. black electrical tape, folded onto itself in about 2" strips. Take tweezers and gently slide them in with on either side of the air-duct wheel itself (think of the strips as washers). Mine took three. You barely see them.

It tightened my center air-duct flow-wheel right up and now it easily stays put in the on position with the blower on high.

Thought I'd pass this quick fix on to anyone else having similar probs.

Thanks again, Ron. - greg

Reply to
SLGreg

IIRC, the same thing would happen on my '97 Z3 2.8 - but only at full fan speed. My solution was to gradually increase the fan speed until the vent closed, then back off a tad to keep it open. Of course, most of the time, the top was down and the heat/AC was either off or blowing warm air thru the heater vents. Enjoy your Z!

Tom K.

Reply to
Tom K.

Do BMW actually do "OWNER's MANUALS"?

Reply to
Oscar

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