Auxillary Fans coming on early - W124

[mbnz]

I have had this problem for about 2 years now, but in the last month it has gotten worse.

When I start my car in the morning (engine cold), the auxillary fans are not on. After about a few minutes of idling, the temp goes up a bit and the aux fans go on. They stay on until the temp goes to about 80 degrees. With the fans always on, it takes a very long time for the temp to go up - so the fans are on for a very long time. Sometimes they do go off before reaching 80 degrees for a minute or two, but they do go on again.

This used to happen on occasion, but now it happens everytime.

Also, if I restart the car after it has been driven (engine still warm and temperature above 40 but below 80) the auxillary fans will go on right from start and stay on until it hits 80 degrees or so.

I know the aux fans aren't supposed to go on until about 90-100 degrees.

Finally, a new thing has happened a few times. When I re-start the car after it has been driven (warm), the idle will go up and up (above 1500 rpm to 2500 rpm) after that I just hit the gas to bring down the idle (sometimes I have to do it more than once).

Any ideas please? The noise of the fans is really annoying plus it is an extra drain on the charging system.