I occasionally drive my car to work and sit in a good amount of stop and go traffic in the mornings, and when the water temp hits
~220 degrees, the low speed fan comes on and shuts off at around 207-209 degrees. Of course, since i'm still stuck in stop and go traffic, the temp quickly goes back up to 220 in no time.
So my question is, is there any way to adjust when the low speed fan shuts off in the R53? I'd prefer to have the low speed fan continue to run until around 190 degrees.

 

I don't know of an adjustment for on and off temps, but you could simply turn on your A/C in those situations and just control it's temp for comfort, the low speed fan should come on whenever the A/C is on.

 

How do you know it's the low speed fan? Usually when I notice the fan going off it's the high speed one. I checked the resistor for low speed last fall and found out that my fan was no longer working at low speed. Replaced the resistor and we're back in business.

 

It's definitely the low speed fan since i use my scangauge to monitor the temps.
The high speed fan comes on at ~230 degrees and is much louder.
I had to replace the resistor on the low speed fan because my car would continue to go up to 230 waiting for the high speed fan to kick in. Once the resistor was replaced, the fan would come on @ 220 and i've never gone up to 230 since.
I can't tell whether the low speed is running since it's quiet except when i see the temps drop according to my scan gauge.

 

I always thought the high speed fan comes on when you turn on the AC but wasn't sure.
I've turned on the AC in the past to keep the coolant temps at bay. But my car is a lot more sluggish when i have the AC on.
Shifting is needed more often in crawling traffic and because the rpms drop quicker, my shifting is a lot less smoother.

 

Big shout out to @chris.j.lamb who came up with the solution to bypass the stock resistor and relocate it. Mine has been working awesome on both of my 2006 Mini Cooper S. I wish more people would learn how to read.

 

Best way is to change the start temp for engine cooling fan from ECU sw.First step start to 105degC(221F) and second step to 112degC(233F).I changed these values to the majority of my tuned files.Can set any temp you want, no limits.

 

short of ECU programming you can do these mods like I have.. and will prevent the issues you are having
1)..change your thermostat to a 180 degree F vs. stock 195
2) wire a toggle to ground on one end and feed the other side to the low speed fan relay under the bonnet and use a test light to locate the two teminal sthat DO NOT light the test lamp (they are gound connections)and determine the gound that lets you activate the fan with toggle switch. its essentially a ground bypass switch which is what the relay does at 105c. You are just bypassing the relay's function manually activating the fan.. (beware it stays on after turning off the ignition but if you dont hear it you are deaf) you can use an illuminated switch as well for a reminder . this allows you to turn on the fan at your will but will not interfere with the other systems that use stage one fan... CAVEOT IF YOUR STAGE ONE IS OUT YOUR POWER STEERING FAN IS ALSO NOT OPERATIONAL PUTTING STRAIN ON THE PWR STEERING PUMP. (not for all 1st gens i think just those that have both relays in the box vs. low speed realy on fan housing in early models before facelift
3) unless you have the chrono guage INSTALL an aftermarket coolant temp guage (install instructions beyond the scope of this reply) I got a china made one with a warning beeper at 98c.
My 06 r53 runs consistently between 83 and 97c 95% of the time without any fan, (I have my toggle wired to stage two) when i do hit the toggle it cools down back into the high 80's c in about a minute or two, usually before the stoplight has even changed

these three mods have had no ill effects or caused any DTCs and only showed improved performance across the spectrum of my r53s useage.

Heat beyond normal operating temps (which i believe is NO MORE THAN 102, 103 celcius) repeated or prolonged heat above this will cook gaskets and seals over time and robs the engine of life expectancy, eventually leading to overgheating .....You can many threads of overheating problems....My Mods have prevented me from any of this..... I frequently kickdown my engine into high performance accelerations and it performs wonderfully and has thrown no DTC's os a result of these mods.

IMHO i think the minis designed operating temperatures are too high and beyond the specs of all materials in the engine some of these materials cannot cope with these higher than normal temperature and eventually fail far before they should. Theoretically a dedicated track car is different , built different and can be built to handle these temps as one of the mods r53 track cars get is a 180 degree thermostat.

I know i may get Naysayers but proof is in the pudding and so far ive only had an improved vehicle response with smoother idling, smoother shifting, snapier acceleration and a more reliable performance in stop and go traffic. Ive done all these to my own car with no ill effects

I also have the Gold resistor/stage 1 fan resistor relocation Mod ...(a.1/3 ohm 100watt gold aluminum resistor mounted with thermal paste on the aluminum Motor mount using a single self tapping screw into housing. The OEM resistor design is flawed and gets cooked from heat, the Mod dissipates the heat to the mount in a much more efficient way thru the thermal paste via the gold aluminum outer shell of the resistor. I bought three just in case but am still on the first 6 months now 6 to 9 bucks each.... SEARCH youtube for R53 cooling resistor and find the british guy that does a headstrap gopro video and walks you thru it, a very simple mod if you are even a rookie wrench monkey.
Also found the toggle switch mod but it wasnt being done on a Mini but his explanation worked perfectly, SEARCH Cooling fan switch or some variation and you should find it in the results list not to far down. cant remember what vehicle he was doing it on.MOST IMPORTANT is using the test light to find the the two ground points in the relay socket, relay removed and ignition off.

Wasnt trying to respond with a novel but im bored and have spent significant research time on this topic and thought ide share. Ime just one guy with one car and one story so take it with that grain of salt and make your own informed choice

 

After reading through this thread, I have also completed the low speed resistor mod and my low speed fan is now working. I have the larger resistor from Mouser (4 bolt holes) which is linked earlier in this thread. I initially mounted it to the front composite support in the little cutout in front of the rubber hood seal based on what another member did. I found that this was a mistake as the temperature on the resistors surface approached 400*F after about 10 minutes of running (AC on).

A have relocated it to the aluminum trans mount as most others have done, but have not tested it again yet. My question is, has anyone here measured the surface temperature on one of these during operation? I read somewhere that 220*F was considered normal. I am hoping that having the aluminum mount to dissipate heat will do the trick. I measured this using a probe and my DVOM. The resistor itself was fine, I am just concerned about surrounding components.

For reference, I have a 2002 MCS with the 2 plug fan system. For this mod, I removed the resistor/relay pack from the fan, cut the old resistor out, and essentially wired the new resistor inline but in a remote location. I also replaced the 5 pin relay under the cover at the fan due to a melted pin. The wire I used is a bit heavier than stock as well. I will try to add some images to this later on if I can.


New location

Wrong location (don’t make my mistake)

Melted relay pin

Original resistor

 

Duplicate

 

I agree with you about the temperatures. I plan on getting a colder thermostat at some point as well and connecting a switch to the low speed fan as a backup. What scares me is the cast iron block/aluminum head and the expansion/contraction rates of these metals, especially with an MLS gasket.

Most BMWs don't even get a gauge and this one operates more like a light anyways. Always in the middle until a specific temp, then straight to red. I find myself constantly watching it while idling. Another thought, has anyone considered a mod to make the cooling fans operate at a lower temperature? On other cars, this can be achieved through ECM data parameters or by "fooling" the ECM with a resistor of some kind.

 

what is needed to make these changes?

 

Must buy a cheap flashing tool, MPPS V18 and need also a Microsoft laptop.I can do the job for you by remote.

 

Did you also apply thermal paste to the mounting surface of the resistor? Makes a huge difference for heat transfer.

 

I used the toothpaste, diaper cream, and aluminum shaving method as a temporary measure. Plan on getting the real stuff once I can find it. Just mounting it to the aluminum surface seemed to shave roughly 150* off during operation.

 

After years of working properly (albeit replacing the resistor once) now I am not getting any fan - low or high.

My daughter got her permit today and I took her out in the GP for a lesson. While I sitting there explaining something I saw the temp gauge pegged.

Immediately turned on the heat and the temp went down to normal and drove home.

I was sure it was the resistor failing again......but alas it was not. I had continuity between the two spade terminals of the resistor.

Checked all my connections and actually redid them with wago connectors just to be sure.

Then I checked for voltage at the wiring harness with the fan on 1 and AC on and no volts at all.

Checked the fuses under the hood (30a, 50a) as well as the 30a under the steering wheel. All good.

Will have to test the two relays for the low and high speed. Will also apply 12v direct to the fan on the high speed line. I don't think it's the fan.

After 18 years it is possible the relays gave out.

I'm hoping it's not a rodent issue where they chewed up wires to get nest building materials. I did just recently have a mouse die while driving on the highway when he fell into the cabin blower. I thought my engine blew up but it was him getting chopped up.

Any advice appreciated.

 

what is the part number for the low speed resistor? Is there a video of the repair steps?

 

Excellent. thanks for sharing this Modification.