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      01-30-2014, 02:21 PM   #45
Obioban
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Drives: M3, M3, M5, M5
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: West Chester, PA

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2008 BMW M5  [0.00]
2017 BMW i3  [0.00]
2005 BMW M3 Coupe  [0.00]
2001 BMW M5  [0.00]
Yesterday I converted my fan setup from the stock aux/clutched fan to a Z4M inspired SPAL electronic puller fan setup (16" medium depth). Because fan capability is reduced, I retained the stock fan shroud to make the most of my SPAL fan. Side note, fans are only really used when sitting in traffic or for the AC compressor, so cooling capacity at speed should not be changed by the project.

I'm using the factory aux fan controller to control the SPAL speed. Because it's now the only fan (instead of an aux fan), I'm changing the ecu fan control values to that of the Z4M (which also only has an electronic puller fan).

Project goals, from most important to least:
longer water pump service life (as no fan/clutch wearing the bearing)
no more fan/fan clutch replacements
decreased weight
remaining weight moved inboard
decreased parasitic loss on the engine

Some pics...

Front bumper and ducting removed so I could pull the factory aux fan:



Factory aux fan controller, which I added a plug to to connect to the SPAL fan:



SPAL fan mounted on the factory shroud. I wanted it easy to remove and to not damage the radiator. This way it removed with the shroud, and just adds one plug. I reused the hardware from my trunk decontenting project (added loctite and the silver bits aren't visible once installed:





And installed. These two black bolts are all you can see once it's in, and they get further hidden by the air duct that goes on top:



From the other side:







Saw my dealer taking this down and snagged it.




A friend of mine just made this video from my bachelor party. Pretty awesome, IMO!

CNF GoKart 082413 - YouTube
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2005 M3 Coupe, 2004 M3 Wagon, 2001 M5 Sedan, 2008 M5 6MT Sedan, 2012 128i M sport
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