First: Thank you to anyone who has posted a How To here - it's been very helpful. As I didn't find a how to on this, I decided I'd share my adventures.

Back story (or you can skip to the how to below): Ruby's, my '95 X300, fans started making an awful noise. They had been loud for a while but the bearings in the upper fan finally let go. After pricing a fan assembly ($1000 new) and sub $200 "universal" kits that would have required wiring, I purchased a used fan assembly from a 2003 X308 off ebay from JandJ auto wrecking for $120. FCP Euro sells fans with a forever warranty but I didn't want to figure out "universal" fans.

X300 vs X308 Fan assembly: The fans themselves do not appear to have changed between '95 and '03. They use the same connectors and bolts but the wiring harness connector and shroud to radiator mounting points are different. If you were going to swap from X300 to X300 or X308 to X308 you would have a quicker go as the whole assembly would swap with two bolts and to two plugs. As it was, I had to move the fans from the X308 shroud to the X300 shroud and harness.

How I Did It:
Skill level: 0 (Checking oil) to 10 (transmission rebuild) I would give this a 2.
Time: 15min for an assembly swap or 45min if just swapping fans.
Tools needed:
- 10mm socket (although I used a 10mm wrench to remove the shroud),
- wire cutters to cut Zipties,
- good lighting,
- a safe means of lifting the car a few inches unless you have a skinny helper.
- gloves to keep the grime off isn't a bad idea either.

Light, 10mm socket and wire cutter for the zipties

Step one: Workspace
I lifted the car because I am old and fat and couldn't access the connectors enough by feel. Having done it, I could now do it without lifting from the top of the engine. My preferred method is to lift the car and rest it on tire ramp or pad - a pair of 4x4 blocks and a board under one wheel worked for this job. I've used plastic ramps but I've found they crack over time and I don't want any part of me under 2.5 tons of Briton's finest steel without it resting on a stable platform.


I personally use a 3-ton low profile lift and and set the wheel on wooden blocks. 4x4 or larger wooden blocks have proven to be very stable and I prefer them over everything but a professional lift or an oil change pit for getting under a car.

Step 2: Out with the old
There are two connectors, one at the bottom of each fan, to unplug. You turned the car off, right? Unplug each fan. You will also need to cut the two Zipties where the harness is clipped into the shroud:


Each fan has a connector (Red arrow). The yellow arrows point to the harness clips - there is a ziptie at each clip that will need to be cut. The green arrow points to the sign of quality and craftsmanship.

Step 3: Unbolt and remove
There are two bolts holding the shroud to the radiator. You can use a 10mm socket or wrench to remove. The shroud should just lift right out now.


A bolt at the top corners hold the assembly in place. The bottom sits in a slot.

Step 4: Fan Swap
If you are changing out X300 X300 or X308 X308 you can skip this step. I unbolted the bad fan from the X300 and a good fan from the X308. Spinning the fan you can feel the difference and the bad bearing becomes obvious. Three 10mm bolts hold the fans to shroud. Make sure you don't leave off the washers. (NOTE: the X308 is a better insulated shroud and would probably have worked if I had had the two shroud mount bolts off the X308.) As only one fan was bad, I just did the one and am saving the other fan. I may see about the rebuilding the bad fan if I get in the mood to tinker.

On the left is the X300, on the right the X308.


Here you can see the thicker isolation on the X308 shroud. If not for that (or if I had the X308 bolts) I would have just swapped the whole assembly.


Three 10mm bolts hold the fan to the shroud. The new one was dirty but was quiet.

Step 5: Slide it in and button it up!
Put the assemble back in place and LOOSELY put one mounting bolt in to hold it. Plug up the fan connectors to the harness. Next I turned the key to the ON position (NOT Starting it) and checked the fans. They came on and sounded like new - quiet. NOW, knowing it works, I bolted the shroud in place and ziptied the cables (it looks like the clips would hold them, but I guess it's for security)

Final thoughts:
This is a really straight forward job that would be good for a novice that want's to take a step up from an oil change. If I could have swapped the entire assembly, it would have been just one connector and I would have left the wiring harness attached to the shroud. I will keep my eyes open for the bolts from the X308 and if the other fan goes bad, I'll use the newer shroud next time.

 

The connectors lock tabs can be brittle and overpowered and break in removing so caution needed not to bend them out too far