X5 catches fire when washing the car

[namninh]

Hi;

I have X5 3.0 2001. I am the only owner.

Yesterday (Sunday 25), I washed the car myself in the garage. When I sprayed water to finish washing, I saw the white smoke first then later the fire in the fan area (Note: I did spray a couple times in the same area first before applying the soap but I did not see fire)

Before the fire occured:
- the engine is cold (I did not drive)
- the key is not in the ignition swich

I took the car to the dealer and I was told that the fan motor is finished. But no explain about the source of the fire. I was asked to pay about 500$ for repair the fan motor

I am looking for the explain the source of the problem. It could be the fire burn the fan motor. It could be short circuit so it catched fire when I spray water to it.

Regards,


Nam

[ChadEbert]

Bizarre...sounds like there might have been an exposed live wire somewhere and the water hit it just right, causing a little electrical fire. Other than that, I have no idea.

[namninh]

Thanks.


Do you think the fan motor finish can cause the exposed live wire?

[tipha123]

Sound like so scary. I just wonder if my car got fire while I'm in the car wash, I really do not know what should I do??????......

I sugest that back to your dealer and find out the root cause of this problem. Unacceptable for simple answer like "fan motor is finished" as if I, a zero experience of mechanique, look at it I believe I can see the fan motor is burnt as result of fire.

For me, I bought the German car for my safety because of its solid body. I really do not want to get burn while I'm doing my car wash......

Waiting for your dealer explaination and thanks for posting this news on.

[namninh]

The mechanic technician from dealer told me that the root cause is the control module of the aux fan was short. There fore, when spraying water to the fan can cause the smoke or possible the fire.

This is a known problem for all early X5 and there is a recall for it. Unfortunately, my car is not in the list.

You should check to the dealer about it and ask them to fix it because it will happen any time.

If you have extended warranty, don't rely on it because the extended warranty (my case) does not cover the original BMW part. They accept after market parts. The funy thing is the BMS does not provide warranty on any none original BMW part.

[eckoman_pdx]

Originally Posted by namninh

The mechanic technician from dealer told me that the root cause is the control module of the aux fan was short. There fore, when spraying water to the fan can cause the smoke or possible the fire.

This is a known problem for all early X5 and there is a recall for it. Unfortunately, my car is not in the list.

You should check to the dealer about it and ask them to fix it because it will happen any time.

If you have extended warranty, don't rely on it because the extended warranty (my case) does not cover the original BMW part. They accept after market parts. The funy thing is the BMS does not provide warranty on any none original BMW part.

I don't own a BMW< but it seems odd to have an Extended Warrenty that covered aftermarket parts and not OEM parts. If you typed that correct, this just sounds plain out wrong. Maybe I misunderstood, will they fix it but with aftermarket parts and not BMW parts? Still, conisdering you said they won't warrent a non-bmw part, this seems to make the BMW warrenty useless. BMW should realize this isn't exactly good info that wins over new and potential customers.