AC fan comes on high?

2017 BMW X1
95,000 MILES • 2.0L • TURBO • AUTOMATIC
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BHAMDOC1
  • MEMBER
  • 332 POSTS
start the car and the fan is off, soon as you turn the ac on at the lowest setting the engine fan comes on at the highest and sound like a turbine and you can feel it inside the cabin.
Aug 15, 2026 at 8:28 AM
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JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • Experienced Mechanic
  • 110,240 POSTS
Hi:

When you turn on the AC, the condenser fan should automatically turn on. Is this what happens? Has it changed?

When you say you feel the fan, do you mean there is a vibration or you actually feel air entering the vehicle from the fan?

Let me know.

Joe
Aug 15, 2026 at 8:31 PM
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BHAMDOC1
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  • 332 POSTS
ya I am aware the fan should come on but should not come on at the highest speed, which is what happens. I don't know if it has been changed. I mean when you in the cabin you feel the vibration due to the fan being so fast it shakes the whole cabin.
Aug 15, 2026 at 9:30 PM
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JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • Experienced Mechanic
  • 110,240 POSTS
Hi:

The speed of the radiator fan is dependent on the coolant temperature at the coolant outlet (radiator) and the pressure in the air conditioning system. When the car's driving speed increases, the speed of the radiator fan decreases. When it is running, is it slowing down when you reach higher speeds? Is the AC working properly? Has the system been serviced recently?

Let me know. Also, there is a fan speed control module that may be causing this as well. If we get to that point, I'm going to recommend having the computer scanned for codes that could be related.

Let me know.

Joe
Aug 16, 2026 at 6:58 PM
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BHAMDOC1
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  • 332 POSTS
AC COLD NO ISSUES. DROVE IT 100 MILES, NO IT DOES NOT SLOW ME DOWN OTHERWISE WOULD HAVE BEEN THE ELECTRIC PUMP. NO IDEA IF ITS BEEN SERVICED. I DID NOT SERVICE IT. I WILL DO A COMPLETE CODE T SEE IF THERE ARE ANY CODES
Aug 16, 2026 at 7:02 PM
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BHAMDOC1
  • MEMBER
  • 332 POSTS
I scanned it nothing under the hvac only thing under engine module are:
190302
118001
Takes about 6-7 seconds to start. Fan not on when first started and ac is off.
Soon as i turn ac on even on lowest sittings the fan goes on high. The after 10 seconds it goes down to normal spedi
After the engine started i rescanned the dme and found
140002
140010
140302
140310
140402
140410
I increased ac fan blower speed 2 notches and heard the fan a bit faster.
If i increase it more and it toes on faster.
Lower it down and it goes down quieter
Aug 17, 2026 at 2:52 PM
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STRAILER
  • Experienced Mechanic
  • 55,214 POSTS
The fact that you can feel the vibration from the fan is telling me the fan assembly with module is bad, I would replace it which should fix the problem.
Aug 19, 2026 at 6:23 AM
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