BMW 5 Series E34 & 7 Series E32 Engine Fan Clutch Replacement

With the engine at operating temperature it was very easy to block the fan with a thin unfolded news paper. After switching off the engine the fan could be made to turn over 10 times by giving it a good swing.

Some people prefer to install an electrical fan when the fan clutch fails. I didn’t as installing the fan is time consuming and a complete installation kit costs about the same as a new fan clutch. There might be a small power gain as an electrical fan takes less power from the engine then the heavy fancoupling.

Temperary fix

Somehow critical things that affect the driveability always brake on a saturday evening with no place to order parts untill monday morning. As I needed the car I welded the clutch to the nut. Well welded might be an overstatement. As the clutch is made out of aluminium and the nut is made of steel they can’t be welded together. But you can melt away part of the aluminium so the weld pulls the fan.

I considered leaving the clutch welded for an unknown period of time. But as there never seems to be a cheap fix on these cars there was a small problem. The fan ran very unbalanced. I guess melting away the aluminium and adding welds kind of unbalances it 🙂 This fix worked fine for a couple of days but I can imagine the unbalanced clutch will pull the waterpump out of it’s bearings.

Clutch replacement

Put a 32mm box end wrench on the clutch and give it a good whack with a hammer. Remember the thread on the clutch goes the wrong way around!

Undo the three allen screws that hold the plastic fan blade to the fan clutch and remove the fan blade.

I read on various forums the coupling should be stored upright. But somehow it came from the dealer in a flatbox.

Now all you have to do is get it back together again.

Parts used and costs:

For M30

For other: https://bmw-autocats.ru/parts-catalog/E34/

Yes you are reading that right for a new fan clutch you will have to fork over 128 euro! And that’s without taxes.

Author Johan735.