Bought myself a older (1999) F650 last year for a bit of fun and to commute on.
After I had changed all the fluids and greased all the neglected bits, cleaned out the carbs, it is now a good reliable machine.
More so now that I've fixed the cooling system. I tested it when I bought it, ie. left it idle until the fan kicked in, waited to see if the red (idiot?) light came on etc. But it stopped working shortly thereafter.
Hmmm.
Problem seemed to be no power to the fan so I replaced the thermo switch with a generic automobile one and all seemed fine until I tested again and got a horrible shaking coming from the fan.
Pulled the fan and discovered this :




Think you can buy a new plastic fan from BMW?
Nope! You have to buy the whole lot, fan, motor, shroud and mount for a mere $245.
This for a piece of plastic worth, what, 10c, 20c, gee even a $1?

My cheap-arse solution:
I've got some aluminium that might work here, but first I need to balance it up:



Snap off the opposing blade, cut a bit of metal....





Got a nice template....


something like this...


[
Okay, looking good, now some epoxy and some rivets...


Tests just fine, reinstall and give it a whirl...

[
That was six months ago.
I tested the system yesterday and the "new" fan hums away nicely.

iddy

.....I have had quite a few BMW's....it always STAGGERS me that people buy (or consider buying) ANYTHING from a dealer....if you look around, there are guys..(Motorworks in the UK ) plus others that sell used GOOD quality parts at a fraction of the cost...if you go to ebay you can get them even cheaper..I recently picked up a speedo for an R, 2002 model for 20 pounds, works perfectly, a sender for the fuel warning light for 15 pounds....I have seen a drive on ebay for 75 pounds, another for just over 100, or 140.....WHY do SOME guys have problems then spend 1300 DOLLARS for a drive!!??, etc.etc....and wait days for it to come from wherever??

PS....NICE JOB on the fan, cheap, effective, and no-one will see it where it is, hell you can paint the blades black too if you like....!