Other fan clutches for M30?

[DanH]

Will a fan clutch from a M20 engine work on an M30?

Even though the M50 and M30 fan clutches have different part numbers in the ETK, the same part comes up when I look up both at BMA. But, a different one it listed for the M20 engine and its much cheaper...so it would be nice if I could use that one instead.

[winfred]

you would need the fan blade for the m20 clutch to make it work, the smaller blade may not be able to move enough air to keep it cool at idle

[DanH]

that makes sense... so the M50 must run hotter than the M20.

I was searching the car-part.com salvage parts, and it was offering fan cluches off of everything from a 1984 318i to 1987 325e to 1987 528e to 1980 733i to 1988 535i... anywhere from $20-$125. I guess you can't trust that search to find the right part. New one is $102 at BMA...

I dont know about getting a used clutch from there, they dont report how many miles are on the car. Anyone know what the average life of a fan clutch is?

[winfred]

about 6 years from looking at the date codes over the years, bmw just updated the design for every car designed after 88, like a e32/34/36, a m50 525 can be cooled by the smaller fan but the m30 runs closer to the threshold of the radiator's capacity and i wouldn't trust it to keep up in summer traffic, the blades of the fan are about half the size on the older fan, 87 and older m30s used the small fan too but it was about a 1/2 inch from the radiator and was able to draw air through it better

[DanH]

Mine has a 1997 date code, so it looks like it lasted about 8 years/120k miles both times.

So, to use a salvaged fan clutch one would have to know the difference between the date code and when the donor car was junked to estimate how good it might be.

I'm just trying to cut the costs of my engine work, right now in the process of removing the head for a gasket job (with a new set of gaskets).

[Mobius]

Whatever you do - for god's sake buy the Sachs clutch. When I first bought my 535, the fan clutch wouldn't release - so I went out and bought a new one. I didn't know anything at that time, all I knew was that my clutch had a black nut, not a silver one - so I ordered the same (thinking they might fit differently).

$170 and one month later and the new clutch is frozen, too. That's how I learned Sachs is better. It's been doing fine for 30,000 miles now. The non-Sachs one lasted less than 100.

[Jon K]

Whatever you do - for god's sake buy the Sachs clutch. When I first bought my 535, the fan clutch wouldn't release - so I went out and bought a new one. I didn't know anything at that time, all I knew was that my clutch had a black nut, not a silver one - so I ordered the same (thinking they might fit differently).

$170 and one month later and the new clutch is frozen, too. That's how I learned Sachs is better. It's been doing fine for 30,000 miles now. The non-Sachs one lasted less than 100.

I run no fan in the summer months because I A) don't drive much or B) when i do its down the NJ TPK to the shore where we never have traffic and im doing 65+ mph. But yeah at long traffic lights the needle creeps a bit, got to be careful. I know this isn't a smart practice but my (knocks on wood) fan clutch is still in great shape on my M50. When the time comes, I am going to switch to an electric unit for about $250. I'd rather replace the clutch/fan one final time than have to spend $150 or so everytime the fan craps.

[Mobius]

I'd rather replace the clutch/fan one final time than have to spend $150 or so everytime the fan craps.

It's obscene how expensive clutches are for this car, when for many other cars they're practically a dime a dozen. Spending $300 on fan clutches (Sachs one and the one that failed) was a BAD introduction to the 'BMW experience' - luckily it's become much better.

Still though - how often does your clutch fail that you've decided to run without one? I'd be too paranoid.

Are you using the Sachs one?

[Beemr750]

I bought a Behr from Maximilian for !!4.00 incl.shipping for E30.And this was 5 years ago.It might be cheaper now.I would not worry about the correct air volume as long as your aux fan works ok.

[Jon K]

It's obscene how expensive clutches are for this car, when for many other cars they're practically a dime a dozen. Spending $300 on fan clutches (Sachs one and the one that failed) was a BAD introduction to the 'BMW experience' - luckily it's become much better.

Still though - how often does your clutch fail that you've decided to run without one? I'd be too paranoid.

Are you using the Sachs one?

Mine hasn't failed yet, but I am trying to keep it from doing so. It doesn't hurt me any by removing it when I am just doing highway driving and i've mastered the whole reverse-threaded fan thing... but should mine fail, i am just doing electric. I have sachs oem clutch.