QuestionNathan,
I have a 2000 328ci and recently my Service Engine light came on. BMW
service informed me that my pusher/auxiliary fan wasn't turning on and that
after swapping out another they determined it wasn't the part itself but rather
the wiring. Before I purchased my car it had some front end collision repair
and it seems like they did a botched soldering/ducttape job on the wiring
harness connecting the DME to the Auxiliary fan. They said the harness
connects the DME to several peripherals and comes as a bundle. They said
given its state it would take hours if not days to locate and attempt to patch
the bad wires, giving no guarantee they could do it. So now I'm at a dilemma.
The harness from BMW is around $500 with about 3 hours of labor they said
(highballing). Do I have any other options for this repair? I would hate to
spend hours of service labor just to find out they couldn't fix the wiring or
spend $800 on the repair from BMW for something so little (I've got other
repairs on my plate as well). Any input would be greatly appreciated.
Answer
If you are willing to do the work yourself, get a wiring diagram of the car and trace the wires yourself. You may have to buy a $100 manual, or ??? Perhaps you can ask someone at www.roadfly.com for the specifics. From the DME, there are less than four wires that go to the fan. Follow them.
If you try to trace the wires back, you are likely to lose which wire is which at the DME connector.
