Ten problems related to cooling fan have been reported for the 2001 BMW X5. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
In 2001 I had a recall for the electric cooling fan, it was supposed to have been fixed then in 2007 electric cooling fan goes out again, then in 2011 the electric cooling fan goes out again, then in 2018 the electric cooling fan goes out again overheat and blows the head gasket while driving back from las vegas in gilroy California ???.
Auxiliary cooling fan began began smoking and smoldering after about 15 minutes after being parked at home. Very nearly a fire. Part was on recall previously and exchanged but then recalled again as the same defective part was used as replacement during inital recall. My vehicle wasn't part of initial recall due to production date, as mine was produced 8/2000, but was stated in the second recall to be included if it had the defective part. Went to BMW and they stated there wasn't an open recall and couldn't do anything about it. I showed them the actual recall campaigns downloaded from the web and they refused to investigate further stating that the computer system was the only factor to determine if a recall was warranted and there wasn't an 'open' recall. I stated that this may be due to recalls remaining open for 15 years and this happened in 2001 and they stated it was irrelevant since no open campaigns existed. The part on my vehicle is 64 54 6908 124 (e53) which is clearly the defective part stated as part of the recall, in BMW's aftersales and parts bulletin as well. BMW service continues to refuse to acknowledge or repair.
The contact owns a 2001 BMW X5. Without warning, the motor assembly fan failed and caused extensive radiator and engine damage. The radiator was extremely hot due to the failure. The vehicle was towed to an authorized dealer who diagnosed that the motor assembly fan needed to be replaced. The contact also mentioned that there was intermittent brake failure. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who made several unknown repairs, but the failure recurred. The brake pedal was not completely stopping the vehicle when it was depressed. The vehicle was not included in NHTSA campaign numbers: 03v001000 (service brakes, hydraulic), 02v194000 (service brakes, hydraulic), 01v197000 (service brakes, hydraulic), 02v138000 (engine and engine cooling), and 01v206000 (engine and engine cooling). The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failures and provided no remedy. The approximate failure mileage was 181,060.
The contact owns a 2001 BMW X5. The contact stated that the vehicle was parked and the engine was running when he noticed that the auxiliary fan was not functioning. The contact changed the fuse for the fan and the fuse caught on fire. The vehicle was then taken to an authorized dealer where the contact was informed that the vehicle was not included in NHTSA campaign id numbers: 01v206000 (engine and engine cooling:cooling system:fan) or 02v138000 (engine and engine cooling:cooling system:fan). The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and also stated that the vehicle was not included in the recalls. The failure mileage was 108,177.
The contact owns a 2001 BMW X5. The contact was driving approximately 35 mph on normal road conditions with the air conditioning system in activation. The air conditioning system began to circulate warm air. Immediately, the air conditioning system was deactivated. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer for inspection. The failure was contributed to the cooling fan. There were two recalls under the NHTSA campaign id number 02v138000 and 01v206000 (engine and engine cooling:cooling system:fan). The VIN was excluded from the safety recall. The vehicle has not been repaired at this time. The failure mileage was 88,000. The VIN was unavailable.
The cooling fan began turning on and blow at maximum power by itself. This happened several times. I was not until we talked with a another person who also experienced the same problem, that we found it there was a recall by BMW. We took our vehicle to the dealer (in buena park,CA) and was told that we had to pay for repairs because we waited to long to bring the vehicle in! remember - neither savage BMW nor BMW north America notified us about the defect! so we had to pay for the repairs out of pocket and the dealer refused to reimburse us.
Recall 01 v 206 003/engine auxiliary cooling fan: unable to get dealer ; global import; atlanta, GA; phone# 770/951-9382 to honor recall, parts were unavailble. Feel free to provide any further information.
Recall on engine cooling fan was done. Vehicle has been taken back to dealer 4 times because of stalling and smoking. Dealer unable to remedy the problem. Please provide additional information.
My aux fan is not part of BMW's current recall due to fires however, I do have the "bad" fan and it is schedlued to be replaced as soon as they can get a part. My concern is that BMW has not expanded the recall to include all vehicles with the bad fan that starts fires under the hood.
Cooling fan comes on and off when engine gets to a certain temperature. Also, if temperature gets too hot vehicle can catch on fire. Contacted dealer and dealer stated fan was defective, but did not have switch to replace.