insomvamp

Hello, all, I've done some searching around, and found lots of problems with no heat, or just the dash gauge taking a while to show its warmed up, but none concerning this. I live in Ohio, and it's quite cold these days. My 530xi takes forever to produce heat from the vents. (about 20 minutes at least) I've got the heat set all the way to 80 on both sides and the back, and in the i-drive, it's set to max heat as well. I'm not sure if this is normal or if maybe the thermostat is stuck open, but until it gets down to the final two bars of the fake temp gauge, I certifiably have no heat. I'm cold, dammit!

FormerE30Owner

Is this at a cold start and waiting for the car to heat up before driving? If so, try driving immediately after starting from cold and note how long it takes to heat up. My 545i takes forever to warm up from start and just idling, but only maybe 5 minutes when driving off immediately. This is when the heated seats and backs plus heated steering wheel are appreciated. Just wish the manual shift knob were heated also.

insomvamp

No, unfortunately this is with driving from cold start. I've read enough that it's terrible to have your car idle to warm up, so I do my best to drive as soon as started. This has been a continuous problem, even when it was just slightly below freezing, it has constantly, and repetitively taken forever to get warmth from the vents. Also, when I do, I have to have recirc off to get the cabin to warm up, if my recirc is on auto, or on, the air I get is mostly cold.

insomvamp

Hmm, allow me to rephrase that last statement. I have to have the recirc on, so I can get heat. If I have recirc on auto, or off, I will lose heat. So in order to prevent my windows from fogging, I have to keep switching back and forth between recirc on, and auto.

JuniorB

It's hard to say with so little info. You need to first make sure your car is operating at normal temp,,these cars warm up quickly, and for reason. Watch the temp indicator, make sure your heater hoses are hot as well,,then you can go inside. Make sure you set yor settings in idrive, then operate your temp, then play with your hvac settings.

insomvamp

What more information can I provide? I know I have the proper coolant in, and it's at the correct level. It takes 15-20 minutes to get to normal temp according to the fake temp gauge we have. The settings are set to as hot as I can have them, the 4 red dashes on the person, and the temp dials for the auto climate control set to max. I rarely do highway driving, it's typically city driving to start, then state routes. Maybe the thermostat is stuck a bit open? I'm not sure. As I stated, I will not have heat until the temp gauge is on the last 2-3 bars. Until then, no heat to be had. Once I reach that point, I will only have heat if I have the recirc on. If I have it on auto, or off, I will still get mostly cold air.

insomvamp

What's the easiest way to check the temps of my heater hoses? Are there any valves I can check to try to pinpoint this problem?

insomvamp

Cmon, guys, anything? I just replaced my coolant cap since a piece was broken off of the bottom. If I have it on full auto climate control, it blows very cold air for 15 minutes.

amesser325

Feel the hose coming out of the driver's side of the radiator. If it's cold then there is no coolant circulating through it.
Have you connected via OBD port, either at Autozone or INPA/ISTA? Operating temperature will impact emissions and would thus likely throw a fault (ie, electric thermostat has an error). If no codes then the coolant control valve could have failed. That valve controls coolant to the cabin. You can feel the inlet and outlet hoses to that valve as another step.

Regards -

insomvamp

I got to drive it on the highway today from a cold start, and I got heat within ten minutes. Maybe it just doesn't like city driving? You'd think it would warm up faster.