[qwyjibo]

for those of you not in the sf bay area - it's been freakin' hot here the past few days. over 100 each day. :1zhelp: needless to say i've been using the a/c in the car and up until yesterday it worked flawlessly.

the wife and i were out running around and stopped to eat lunch - got back in the car and were headed up the road when i felt like the car wasn't getting cold very quickly so i held my hand in front of the two center vents. drivers side was cold but the passenger side was almost room temperature. :confused2 i checked everything - all the vents opens, temp set 60 on both sides.

so, i came home and got on here to look for others with the same issue... i didn't find too much... only these two threads...

http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=95936&highlight=a/c+problem

http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=64862&highlight=a/c+problem

seems like j irwan had the same issue i'm having and had a "water valve" replaced. :dunno:

anyone else have a similar issue? how much did the dealer charge to fix it?

 

[max95se]

hvac

had the opposite happened to me. i pu the heat on 75 and it's blowing cold. it turned out it was the hvac control. got a used one and it worked no problem.

 

[supratony]

Before you spend money to replace the water valve, make sure to check that your passenger side cabin filter boxes and ducts are properly connected. I had a similar problem and it turned out that cabin filter assembly wasn't put back together properly by the shop after I had some work done.

 

[TMRM5]

It turned out i had a small leak in the AC system and it was low on freon.

 

[shopard]

You probably low in a/c gas. This is a normal behaviour in this car when the a/c gas gets too low. You might have a leak as well in the AC system. Refilling the gas will solve the problem; however if you have a leak then it will reoccur (depends on the leak). If you have a leak in the evaporator then cost might be little high.<O</O

 

[qwyjibo]

had the opposite happened to me. i pu the heat on 75 and it's blowing cold. it turned out it was the hvac control. got a used one and it worked no problem.

did you replace it or have it done? what did it end up running you?

 

[qwyjibo]

Before you spend money to replace the water valve, make sure to check that your passenger side cabin filter boxes and ducts are properly connected. I had a similar problem and it turned out that cabin filter assembly wasn't put back together properly by the shop after I had some work done.

any specific areas to check? i'm doubting this is going to be it as it was working one second and then the next it wasn't. i'll definitely check it though.

 

[qwyjibo]

It turned out i had a small leak in the AC system and it was low on freon.

doesn't make sense if the system is low on freon that one side is cold and the other isn't.

 

[gsfent]

doesn't make sense if the system is low on freon that one side is cold and the other isn't.

I tend to agree, although I do not know specifically how the BMW engineers set up the system.

Is it possible the controller is not "seeing" the temp for the passenger side temp setting? Try going full hot and then full cold, any difference? Try closing off driver's side and/or middle vents? How about Max AC setting, any difference?
Regards,
Jerry

 

[qwyjibo]

I tend to agree, although I do not know specifically how the BMW engineers set up the system.

Is it possible the controller is not "seeing" the temp for the passenger side temp setting? Try going full hot and then full cold, any difference? Try closing off driver's side and/or middle vents? How about Max AC setting, any difference?
Regards,
Jerry

tried adjusting temp, closing/opening vents, fan speeds, etc. - nothing made a difference.

off to the shop i go... :1zhelp:

 

[Lawaia]

doesn't make sense if the system is low on freon that one side is cold and the other isn't.

I thought the same thing. My X5 had the same symptoms, took a chance and charged system with R134 and voila, problem solved. :cheers:

 

[gsfent]

I thought the same thing. My X5 had the same symptoms, took a chance and charged system with R134 and voila, problem solved. :cheers:

Where is the low pressure port? Certainly would be easy (and cheap!) enough to add a can of R134 to see if it makes a difference.:thumbsup:
Regards,
Jerry

 

[shopard]

I am sure your a/c gas is low

Just give it a try.

 

[Lawaia]

Where is the low pressure port? Certainly would be easy (and cheap!) enough to add a can of R134 to see if it makes a difference.:thumbsup:
Regards,
Jerry

The low pressure (suction) hose is on the driver side.

 

[ericpark]

the exact same thing happened to my beast, i took it to the dealer. they took 2-3 hour to fix that problem.
cause: high side valve leaking
discharged, evacuated, filled, recovered, charged freon, checked, found two more leaks, recovered, and charged. it was a warrenty job. whew.

 

[britm3]

Have the same problem on my car, just became noticeable in the the Boston area the last week. I have a multimeter with a temp guage and the passenger side produces air that is 8 degrees warmer than the drivers side, no matter the setting. I have checked the microfilter ducts; will be looking at recharging the system first.

 

[britm3]

OK, to follow up. I had given the "buy a refill bottle and guage from Autozone a chance" - this approach showed my system and being full and added maybe a few ounces to the system with no change in A/C performance.

Dropped the car off for service today and the system took 1.5lbs of refrigerant and is back to normal function - no other issues besides my unused Autozone refrigerant - thinking you need real equipement to recharge the system properly.

 

[J Irwan]

to the OP (Original poster) any update??

Regardz,

J Irwan

 

[qwyjibo]

negative. haven't had time to mess with it yet.

i'm going to give the system a check with my pressure gauge and add freon if needed. i still don't think that it's going to fix it but i'll be happy if it does.

i'll post back tomorrow with an update.

 

[qwyjibo]

update to issue - don't know how, or why... but, i threw a can of r134 in just for the hell of it and sure enough, it fixed it. needless to say i'm throughly confused as to how it can work one minute and the next it doesn't but it's a freon issue.

i'm going to take it to a local shop and have them evacuate it and recharge it properly now that i know that'll fix it.

thanks for the help.